[Avodah] "Ancient" Minhagim

[T613K at aol.com]

Re: Avodah Digest, Vol 26, Issue 3 dated 2 Jan. '09
 
My father once commented to me that had he lived at the time of the Vilna  
Gaon, he would never have become a chossid.  His basic posture towards  anything 
new was similar to that of the Chasam Sofer -- "Chadash assur  min haTorah."  
Chassidus did stand the test of time and since his  father and grandfather 
had been Gerrer chassidim, my father was too.  (He  also told me that his 
grandfather -- or maybe great-grandfather, I'm not sure --  became a chossid because 
among the non-chassidim, he was the last frum person in  his town and there 
was nowhere else to go.  My father said that chassidus  saved yahadus in 
Poland.)
 

--Toby Katz
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Message:  2
Date: Fri, 2 Jan 2009




> Well as you know, I do not  look kindly on ancient minhagim
> that are less than thirty years old.  Get back to me when
> women have been reading ketubot at weddings for a  hundred
> years or more...[--TK]
R. Micha Berger  wrote:
>>How big of a breach
>>can mimetic halakhah absorb  and still survive to guide us.
 R' Harvey Benton _harveybenton at yahoo.com_ (mailto:harveybenton at yahoo.com)  
wrote:





>>In general, throughout history, what has  guided the Jewish Nation in its 
adoption and eventual acceptance of new  Minhagim??  The Arizal had many 
innovations, as did Chasidus.   Speaking Yiddish (though probably not a Minhag) and 
considering it a Heilige  Language does not go back to Har Sinai.  Kenneth 
Miller mentioned silver  Ataras on Taleisim, etc.

How are we supposed to know what is a valid  practice, and what is a Minhag 
Shtus?  Do we only find out about a  Minhag's validity after a 100 years of its 
 use??





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