[Avodah] Seeing G'zeiros Everywhere

[Micha Berger]

On Mon, Dec 28, 2009 at 03:05:09PM +0000, R Dov Kaiser wrote:
: My Roedelheim machzor has v'khise k'vodo as a nusach acheir in Aleinu.
: Although this machzor postdates the Gra, I doubt very R. Heidenheim took
: it from the Gra. Therefore, it is likely that the Gra picked this up
: from a pre-existing nusach.

In a previous iteration, I suggested that for the Gra's changes in
general -- they weren't (intentional) inventions, they were preferences
for neglected nusachos.

I inserted "(intentional)" because it's possible that the Gra found or
reconstructed a nusach that may not have really existed in the past. But
still, not out of a belief that he had the authority to construct new
nusachos.

Here, though, the source is known. The Tur (133) says that "moshav
yeqaro" comes from Sifrei Heikhalos. That would be a huge gap, if the
first usage was by Yehoshua at Yerikho -- or at least is *arguably*
attribitutable to him -- but there is no appearance of the idiom in
writing again until the ge'onim.

The Tur attributes the Gra's nusach to machzor Roma.
R' Saadia Gaon's siddur has "umoshav". So do the various R' Amram Gaon's
siddurim. But there are so many variants, all of which tainted by local
nusachos, that I wouldn't use it to prove anything.

RYBS suggested that the Gra had a more primary reason for preferring
the nusach of "vekhisei kevodo" than the diqduq. (In Brisk-speak --
"more primary" meaning "halachic".) Leshitas haGra, one isn't allowed to
use anthropomophications that were not relayed by nevi'im. This is also
implied in the Rambam, who makes a major point that the first version of
the siddur was made by Anshei Kenesses haGedolah which included nevi'im.
See Moreh 1:59, where the Rambam invokes R' Chaninah from a beraisa on
Berakhos 33b about using adjectives that aren't from nevi'im.

Hashem is described as having a "Kisei" or (as in Chumash) "Keis",
but He isn't given a "moshav" anywhere in Tanakh.

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             The trick is learning to be passionate in one's
micha at aishdas.org        ideals, but compassionate to one's peers.
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