[Avodah] chumrot of sefardim

[Micha Berger]

On Mon, May 14, 2007 6:42 pm, Rn Chana Luntz wrote:
: It is more complicated than that.  Basically there is are concepts in
: halacha that even if you hold one way in l'chatchila circumstances -
: l'din, if there are other poskim who hold differently, you can rely on
: those other opinions (even if it is a yachid v'rabim type debate) in
: sha'a hadachak type situations).  The idea is that if you have a vadai
: machlokus haposkim, that is a form of safek d'rabbanan, on which you
: can rule l'kula if you have extenuating circumstances.  Now if your
: ancestors happened to live in Spain or Iraq, then you hold, l'din,
: like the Shulchan Aruch against the Rema and if your ancestors
: happened to live in Germany or Lithuania, you hold l'din like the
: Rema rather than the Shulchan Aruch.  BUT there are circumstances
: where a posek may allow you to hold like the other, usually more
: lenient shita, if there is sufficient rationale to do so....

Related is RGS's recent Hirhurim post. He starts by noting two
mentions of chumros in Mesillas Yesharim and along the way asserts:
> I believe that the answer is that there are two types of chumrah:
> 1. Behaving strictly when one is unsure what the law is.
> 2. Following minority opinions that are stricter than the established
> law.

See <http://hirhurim.blogspot.com/2007/05/two-types-of-chumros.html>.
RGS relates the first to zehirus and the second to perishus.

As from earlier conversations, I find #2 to be too broad, and would
consider different motivations for going lifnim mishuras hadin
separately. (To my mind a Brisker practice to be chosheis for shitas X
and a Chassidish practice to do something for aggadic / qabbalistic
reasons are different in kind, even though both are category 2)

But more fundamentally, we also use the word chumrah to refer to:
3- Following the letter of the law as pasqened by your community or
rav, but is more lenient than others' pesaq.
4- Following a minhag which others do not have.

Simple pragmatics: defying local pesaq also entails defying a minhag.

The "chumeros of Sepharadim" in our context could be any of the four.
Chazarah is an issur of differing pesaq. Not lifnim mishuras hadin or
doubt.

The question of when one can defy local pesaq (chumrah type 3) on the
grounds that it is really a kind of doubt (chumrah type 1), as RnCL
takes for granted, I will leave to others. I do not know when one can
simply ignore a rejected shitah, and even pasqen lequlah on de'Oraisos
 -- clearly NOT safeiq behavior, and when we treat a machloqes like a
safeiq. I have asked this on-list before.

BTW, since I'm reviving the types of chumros discussion, I recommend
RYGB's article "Good Chumros?" reprinted at
<http://www.aishdas.org/avodah/vol02/v02n079.shtml#08>. His taxonomy
is:
> In broad terms, we can identify four categories of chumros:
> 1. Based on halachic issues.
> 2. Based on ahavas Hashem.
> 3. Based on yiras Hashem.
> 4. Based on separation from gashmiyus.

The first is then described as a pesaq lechumrah. What a poseiq
believes is ikkar hadin, even though other poseqim do not require it.

RGS's two categories are chumros mei'ahavah -- intentionally doing
more than is required, and chumros miyir'ah -- avoiding doubt. Whereas
RYGB's "separation from gashmiyus" sounds the most like perishus.

In either case, note that RYGB too presumes that doubt and machloqes
create taxonomically different kinds of chumrah.

Tir'u baTov!
-mi

-- 
Micha Berger             Spirituality is like a bird: if you tighten
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