[Avodah] "Ancient" Minhagim

[Micha Berger]

On Wed, Feb 04, 2009 at 01:10:22AM -0500, Yitzhak Grossman wrote:
:                             and the implication of Tosafos is that they
: are reinterpreting the Sugya to justify the Minhag to the contrary.

The following two say the same substance but IMHO betray very different
attitudes toward mesorah.

Do Tosafos reinterpret a sugyah to justify a minhag?
or
Do they realize by looking at how halakhah was practiced (and assuming
the default that practice is in line with halakhah) that the gemara
couldn't have meant what it seems to?

Did Tosafos think they were reinterpreting, or using other data to
understand how it was always understood, thus explaining how the
practice was allowed to persist.

I realize the latter presumes a connection between Ashk and the Bavli
which was stronger than it historically was. But I'm asking about
Tosafos and what they were doing -- not whether or not they got the
history right.

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             When faced with a decision ask yourself,
micha at aishdas.org        "How would I decide if it were Ne'ilah now,
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Fax: (270) 514-1507                            - Rav Yisrael Salanter