[Avodah] What is a minhag?

[rabbirichwolpoe at gmail.com]

Ilana Sober Elzafun:
> Rav Broyde's guest post on Hirhurim
> http://hirhurim.blogspot.com/2009/11/halacha-first.html
> includes several paragraphs, towards the end, about different types
> of minhagim and the different degrees to which they are binding.

I found some points disturbing

First:
Rabbi Michael J. Broyde:
> First, Nodah beYehuda observes (correctly in my view) in OC 2:18 that
> when there is a clear minhag yisrael to do something (in this case, to
> have 12 windows in a shul), but that minhag is an obstacle to serious
> religious growth, then if the minhag is not grounded in halacha, we ought
> to abandon the minhag in that particular case. Most of us think that the
> Noda beYehuda's formulation is correct, and if that is true, then all
> arguments of minhag without any serious reference to halacha will not
> really persuade anyone who is not already persuaded. They will always
> respond in reference to the Nodah beYehuda: non-halachic minhagim need
> to change as the reality of life changes. To really persuade someone,
> we need to speak the language of halacha first and foremost»

FWIW this argument has been used to overturn 12 windows but Mehitzah as
well! Because Mehitzah is arguably nothing more than a Minhag and if it
impedes sprituality - presto we can can it.

[FWIW I also found "Beyehuda" disturbing when Tehillim 74 has
"Beehuda!" Talk about a minhag ta'us! Using a popular but grammatically
incorrect format to decry popular minhag in favor of fundamental halachah
- how ironic!]

Second:
> We have to be a halachic community before we can be a traditional
> community.

IMHO this can be quite a dangerous tool. Strict letter-of-the-law
w/o tradition can lead to highly undesirable results and forms of
fundamentalism.

Note AFAICT the Noda Beehuda was not a big fan of Minhaggim, and he lived
just before Reform. I wonder if he would have been more sympathetic to
the Hassam Sofer's position had he lived 50 years later?

KT
RRW
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