[Avodah] Reciting a benediction on a custom that is not mentioned in the Talmud

[Jay F Shachter]

I joined this mailing list in the middle of this discussion, so please
forgive me if I misunderstand what is being discussed.


R' Eli Turkel wrote:
>
> I don't think we ever say a beracha on a minhag that
> is not mentioned in the gemara.
>

I think that reading the Torah publicly in synagog on the evening of
Simxat Torah is a counterexample: benedictions are recited which may
not be recited in any other context (unlike, e.g., qiddush in synagog
on Friday night, which involves two benedictions which can both be
recited in other contexts); however, the context is one that is not
mentioned anywhere in the Talmud: there is no mention in the Talmud of
a public Torah reading on the evening of Simxat Torah.

Since I entered this discussion in res medias, it is possible that I
misunderstand what R' Eli Turkel intended to say.  Perhaps he meant a
practice that is not mentioned in the gemara, and not (as in the case
of my counterexample) a practice that is mentioned in the gemara,
albeit performed under circumstances that are not mentioned in the
gemara.  For example, although you may consider it a commendable
practice to vote in the Israeli elections, it is not a practice
mentioned in the Talmud, and we do not recite a benediction "asher
qiddshanu bmitzvotav vtzivvanu lhishtatef babbxirot" before doing so.
If this is what R' Eli Turkel meant, then it will be much more
difficult to think of a counterexample.


			Jay F. ("Yaakov") Shachter
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