[Avodah] What's Minhag

[Rabbi Meir G. Rabi via Avodah]

Minhag, meaning it has some Halachic significance, must reflect an aspect
of Halacha.

As Rav Hershel Schachter wrote in response to my pointing out to him that
the Mishnah Berurah, Aruch HaShulchan and ShA HaRav all quote the MAvraham
re soft Matza; to suggest we now are bound to a Minhag of eating hard Matza
is like suggesting we are bound to have the Paroches a certain colour,
which is plain stupid. The colour has naught to do with Halacha.

Yet some propose that a practice which even violates Halacha can somehow
become Minhag and has some Halachic substance. Surely they jest.

It is most likely that sleeping in the Sukkah was dangerous or most
uncomfortable. In order to persuade the uneducated masses to do what was
Halachically correct, it was necessary to camouflage the apparently non
Halachic activity as ultra-Halachic.
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