[Avodah] "Ancient" Minhagim

[Richard Wolpoe]

>
> 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??
>
> Good Shabbas and Go Israel!!
>
>
>
>
Minhaggim shoud be scrutnized,  and so should texts.  Just because we have a
textual source for fasting on 10th of Teves were it fto fall on Shabbas does
not mean that this is "good  halacha" or in any way normative.

Minhaggim that have stood the text of time at least can point to peer review
of sorts.  Any minhag that is "shtus" would have been protested.

For exmaple there is a VERY widespread Minhag of chatting in shul.  But we
note that chachamim and G'dolim in MANY generations have protested this
highly popular Minhag.  So the fact that it has a widespread mimetic basis
does not prove anything.

OTOH there are other minhaggim which have not aroused protest.  The
Kabblists of Tsefat started the Minhag of Kabbals Shabbos, but I am unware
of any siginificant protest.  I AM awre that some communites did not
institute Kabbals Shabbos until relatively recently, but I am not aware of
any serious oppostion to its imposition.

The larger issue of ANCIENT is a bit different.  That is because if a Minhag
was REALLY old enough it might go back to late Talmudic times or Ga'onic
times. That would lead one who is traditional to assign a higher-level of
"authority" to such a minhag. But that ONLY works if the Minhag is not
highly problematic and/or seems to have been widely accepted etc.  At a
certain time "al titosh toras imecha" sets in.

As I've posted before, often a minhag is merely a mimetic PROOF or an ealier
p'sak.  Lemashal: Take Chezkas Habattim. It does not prove a sale in and of
itself, but in the absence of a written shtar the Chazak works. Similarly if
a community has a specifc practice and it cannot point to a specific doument
[e.g a Teshuva] the mimetic Minhag is like a Chezkas Habattim, a form of
testimony to a p'sak whose origin is lost.

But remember, Chezkas habattim does NOT work in the case of mach'ah.  So if
when a Minhag starts out with many protesters then it SHOULD be scrutinized.
-- 
Kol Tuv - Best Regards,
RabbiRichWolpoe at Gmail.com
see: http://nishmablog.blogspot.com/
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