[Avodah] Hallel in Shul on Pesach night - The Ashkenaz Minhag to refrain

[David Cohen]

Regarding RYBS, according to Harerei Kedem (Volume 2, siman 101b), RYBS said
that his grandfather R' Chaim held that Hallel should be recited in shul
with a berachah.  This is in stark contradiction to the article in Shorshei
Minhag Ashkenaz (Volume 1, p. 278-9), which paints RCS as a staunch opponent
of the practice.

As far as the Gra goes, while I agree that it is unusual for a significant
departure from Minhag Lita not to be noted in Maaseh Rav, it is interesting
to note Biur haGra OC 671:21 (quoted in the aforementioned piece in Harerei
Kedem), where he says that the proof of the legitimacy of the minhag of
lighting Chanukah candles with a beracha in shul is the Hallel on Pesach
night, which is really a home mitzvah, but is also done in shul for pirsumei
nisa.  It would seem a bit odd for the Gra to give this reasoning if he held
that Hallel need not be said in shul on Pesach night in the absence of
somebody who is unable to say it himself at home.

That being said, it is definitely true that many of the minhagim of the
Perushim came from the Sefaradim and not from the Gra.  This could possibly
be because when they first arrived in Jerusalem, they had to "blend in" with
the Sefaradim for a number of years before the debts incurred by R' Yehuda
heChasid's group were canceled and permission was granted to officially
establish an Ashkenazi kehilla in Jerusalem.  I would not necessarily use
the minhag haPerushim as a proof one way or another of the position of the
Gra.

One final note regarding the blog post that started the thread:  I greatly
admire the work of Mechon Moreshes Ashkenaz, and have no problem with the
blogger's spirited advocacy of the correctness of the classic Minhag
Ashkenaz.  Those who adhere strictly to Minhag Ashkenaz even in Eretz
Yisrael do so with the full backing of respected posekim, and I have no
problem with that.  However, given the reality that some (though not all) of
the minhagim of the Perushim have been nearly universally accepted by
Ashkenazim in Eretz Yisrael (even if there is not any necessarily any rhyme
or reason to why some were and others were not), the proper policy of a new
Ashkenazi kehilla in Eretz Yisrael is not entirely self-evident.  There are
valid arguments both ways, and I do take issue with the characterization of
the vast majority of Ashkenazim in EY, who do say Hallel in shul, as being
"scared of deviating from the Sefaradi minhag".  In reality, the practice
simply reflects one particular approach to the definition, scope, and
applicability of "minhag hamakom."

Mo'adim lesimcha,
D.C.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.aishdas.org/pipermail/avodah-aishdas.org/attachments/20110419/fa5bdb1b/attachment-0002.htm>