[Avodah] Consumer Alert: Minhog Scams On The Rise!

[Chanoch (Ken) Bloom]

On Mon, 2011-06-20 at 12:40 +0300, Danny Schoemann wrote:
> R' Michael Poppers wrote:
> > Like RDS, I grew up in a maqom where only the SHaTZ says (more precisely, invites the tzibbur), "N'qadeish...!" but this is an example of minhag hamaqom, and in many (most?) m'qomos the tzibbur says "N'qadeish" (agreed, RnLL, that they should say this [and the subsequent non-pasuq] phrase in an undertone -- hal'vai...) before the SHaTZ says it. For those who are interested, this subject is the very first one addressed by RBShH in "Sharshei Minhag Ashk'naz." <
> 
> Wow! And here I was thinking that "we" (they) follow the MB and the
> GR"O even against their ancestors Minhag. :-)
> 
> For the record, the Machaber (125:1) says: "The congregation does NOT
> say Nakdishoch with the Shat"z, rather they keep quite and concentrate
> on what he says, until he reaches Kedusha at which point they answer
> Kodosh".
> 
> You can't get more explicit than that.

If you're looking to understand a minhag that overturns the wording of
the mechaber, the first place to look is the Ari Z"L or the Zohar.

In this case, Halachah Berurah 125:2 (R' David Yosef) says specifically
"The minhag yisrael is like the opinion of the Ari Z"L, that the whole
tzibbur says the whole nusach of kedushah word for word together with
the shalicah tzibur, from the words 'nakishach v'na'aritzach' until the
end of the whole kedushah."

The source is Sha'ar hakavanot drush 3 of chazarat ha'amidah, page 39a,
which RDY quotes toward the end of Birur Halacha footnote 1:
"One needs to say the whole seder kedushah word for word with the
shaliach tzibbur, until the end of the whole kedushah. However, the two
words of 'nakishach v'na'aritzach' should be said loudly, and the other
words (until 'kadosh kadosh kadosh') should be said quietly with the
shaliach tzibbur. After that, when you reach 'kadosh kadosh kadosh', it
should be with your voice loud, your eyes closed, and b'dilug k'lapei
malah" (I haven't figured out how to translate those last 3 words.)

I'll leave it to you to chase all of other poskim who cite the Ari Z"L.
He lists them in sha'ar hatziyun footnote 4, and they include Magen
Avraham, Rabbi Akiva Eiger, Sefer Chassidim. I do see the Mishnah
Berurah in that list, though clearly the Mishnah Berurah never mentions
the Ari Z"L.

> Conclusion: Halocho is a free for all. There's a correct way to do
> things and then there's the way everybody does it, which is OK since
> everybody does it.

Conclusion: RYL would call this a "Minhog scam", precisely because of
its source in the kitvei haAri, but it's legitimately Sephardic (and
probably Chassidic) minhag, precisely because of its source.

--Chanoch