[Avodah] Cancel Simchas Torah!

[Zev Sero via Avodah]

On 10/09/2015 04:49 AM, Prof. Levine via Avodah wrote:

> I fail to understand why when the Jews returned to EY they adopted the yearly cycle of completing the reading of the Torah rather than going back to the original 3 or 3 and half year cycle.

Why would they have done that?  Why should they have abandoned their
own minhagim and taken on those of an extinct community?  Even if they
knew of that community's minhagim, which is doubtful, how were those
minhagim relevant to them?

Recife used to have a large Spanish-Portuguese kehillah, which was
completely destroyed when Portugal conquered it.  Some of the refugees
ended up in New York and founded Shearith Israel.   Is it your position
that centuries later, when Jews once again settled in Recife, they ought
to have turned themselves into S/P?!


[Email #2]

On 10/09/2015 04:49 AM, Prof. Levine via Avodah wrote:
> Add to the this fact that one is not supposed to dance on Shabbos and
> Yom Tov.  (I know that today there are many who are maikel,  but
> still this is the halacha.)

Those of us who are meikil believe that it is *not* the halacha.
Whether because we follow Tosfos that the gezera no longer applies,
or because we hold that "rikud" means jumping, and dances in which
one always has at least one foot on the floor were never banned in
the first place.


[Email #3]

On 10/09/2015 04:54 AM, Prof. Levine via Avodah wrote:
> At 04:43 PM 10/8/2015, Micha Berger wrote:
>> But you do state your opinion when you reposted the email:
>> > I like the sentiment. Not sure about the actual suggestion.

> Not true. Again,  these were not my words, but were those of the person who sent me the email.

You sent them to the list, therefore they were your words.   Anything
you send to the list is your words, whether you composed them yourself
or copied them from someone else.   If you are quoting someone else,
it is up to you to say so.

And forwarding an article implies your endorsement, unless you
expressly say otherwise.


[Email #4]

On 10/09/2015 06:11 AM, Micha Berger via Avodah wrote:
> On Fri, Oct 09, 2015 at 04:49:19AM -0400, Prof. Levine via Avodah wrote:
> : IMO ST has no place in EY.  The Torah in EY was originally read
> : according to a 3 or 3.5 year cycle...

> I thought it was a 3 yr cycle from Shavuos to the third Shavu'os after.

No, it was not an exact number of years, and there was no particular
time that it started.  Nor was every shul in the same town on the same
schedule.   Each shul held a Simchas Torah whenever it reached Vezos
Habracha and restarted from Bereshis, and all the Jews of the town would
come and celebrate with that shul.

-- 
Zev Sero
zev at sero.name