[Avodah] Upsherin

[Prof. Levine]

At 03:42 PM 5/26/2011, R. Zev Sero wrote:

>On 25/05/2011 7:21 PM, Prof. Levine wrote:
> >> Upsherin is a generations-old minhag for many Ashkenazim.
> >
> > What is your basis for this assertion?
>
>For one thing, it was practised by the Baal Shem Tov's talmidim at least
>as long ago as 1748.

I fail to see how this is a basis for saying that 
"Upsherin is a generation-old minhag for many 
Ashkenazim," given that Chassidus changed many 
Ashkenaz minhagim for Sefardic minhogim.  The 
switch in nusach from Ashkenaz to Sefard is a prime example.

I guess it depends upon how one defines 
Ashkenazim.  Are those who have abandoned many 
Ashkenazic minhagim for Sefardic minhagim or for 
things rooted in kabbala really in the Ashkenaz 
camp?   Is someone who does not daven Nusach 
Ashkenaz to be considered Ashkenaz?   There is no 
question that such a person is not a Sefardi in 
the following sense.  From 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sephardi_Jews#Definition

A Sephardi Jew is a Jew descended from, or who 
follows the customs and traditions followed by, 
Jews who lived in the 
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iberian_Peninsula>Iberian 
Peninsula (modern 
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spain>Spain and 
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portugal>Portugal) 
before their expulsion in the late 15th century. 
This includes both the descendants of Jews 
expelled from Spain under the 
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alhambra_decree>Alhambra 
decree of 1492, or from 
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portugal>Portugal 
by order of King 
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_I_of_Portugal>Manuel 
I in 1497, and the descendants of 
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crypto-Jews>crypto-Jews 
who left the Peninsula in later centuries to 
North Africa, Asia Minor, the Philippines and 
elsewhere around the world, and the descendants 
of crypto-Jews who remained in Iberia. In modern 
times, the term has also been applied to Jews who 
may not have been born Sephardi (or even Jewish) 
but attend Sephardic synagogues and practice Sephardic traditions.

Yet is he truly Ashkenaz?  According to 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashkenazi_Jews#Definition 
"The 
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Who_is_a_Jew%3F>exact 
definition of Jewishness is not universally 
agreed upon­neither by religious scholars."  And, 
"In a religious sense, an Ashkenazi Jew is any 
Jew whose family tradition and ritual follows Ashkenazi practice."

YL


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