[Avodah] unity

[Micha Berger]

On Tue, May 1, 2007 12:23 pm, R Eli Turkel wrote:
: I think there are 2 levels of lechatchila:

: 1. In an ideal world minhag hamakom wins and there is only 1 minhag
: determined by the Sanhedrin (or perhaps 1 for each tribe)

: 2. Given the present status the lechatchila is for each community to
: follow minhag avot. There is no basis to impose unity....

I fail to see the consistency between your reisha and your seifa. I
seem to recall Aleinu's phrasing of our mission statement is that we
strive to create an ideal world, lesaqein olam bemalkhus Shakkai.
Thus, there is a basis to strive for unity.

The question is the means to do so. You seem to be saying there is no
such mechanism.

However, since Ashkenaz itself was once an amalgam of refugees who
normalized their minhagim into a single kehillah, one would think it
must be doable somehow.

To me the question wasn't whether we ought to have a single minhag,
but how one goes about doing so. I ruled out fiat because it would
seem that by definition, one can't be gozeir a minhag. But this idea
was already pointed out as being flawed since it only leaves the
alternative of minhag evolving by people who defy their minhag avos to
follow their neighbors -- making a virtue of forgetfulness or
intentionally breaking minhag.

: In EY there are few generally accepted country-wide minhagim by
: they are rare. Though I have not made a study I suspect that this
: occurred when the Gra and/or Shulchan Arukh haRav agreed with
: Sefardi psak against the Ramah. For example not wearing tefillin on
: chol hamoed or saying She-he-chiyanu at a Brit Milah.

Well, that makes sense since talmidei haGra, Chabad and Sepharadim
comprised nearly all of the yishuv hayashan.

However, here we again see the existence a mechanism for changing
minhag. Some condemned groups like talmidei haGra for changing their
minhagim, just as the Gra himself objected when Chassidim did so. And
yet, they still stand as strong precedent on the strength of their own
members. The notion that one may change minhag must have been held by
the Briskers as well. RSRH. The list goes on quite a bit.

Tir'u baTov!
-mi

-- 
Micha Berger             Spirituality is like a bird: if you tighten
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Fax: (270) 514-1507                            - Rav Yisrael Salanter