[Avodah] Chol Moed Minyan for Those Who Wear Tefillen

[Akiva Miller via Avodah]

In Avodah Digest 35:53 on Apr 19, R' Micha Berger wrote:

> The AhS OC 31:4 is okay with minyanim that are mixed between
> wearers and non-wearers.

That's not what I see in the last line there: "In a single beis
medrash, don't have some doing this and some doing that, because of Lo
Tisgodedu."

In Avodah Digest 35:55 on Apr 26, he seems to have corrected that:

> ... the MB and the AhS agree that a minyan should not be mixed
> between tefillin wearers and not.

[You seem to have missed
http://www.aishdas.org/avodah/vol35/v35n055.shtml#07
I didn't correct myself; I was forced to reread the AhS by
RHK's post. -micha]

This morning I was learning some Aruch HaShulchan about Sefiras Haomer,
and he discusses the situation where a single community has varying
observances of which days of sefira are noheg aveilus. AhS 493:8 analyzes
when Lo Tisgodedu applies and when it doesn't.

IF I understand that AhS correctly, he says that if there is only one
Beis Din in town, then everyone must follow it, so Lo Tisgodedu doesn't
apply. And if there is more than one Beis Din in town, then everyone can
follow their own beis din, so again, Lo Tisgodedu does not apply. So
when DOES Lo Tisgodedu apply? It applies to minhagim, because that is
outside of the purview of Beis Din, and it is "m'chuar" for Jews to be
factionalized like that.

That is the AhS's explanation of why each town should be united and follow
one set of days for the aveilus of Sefira: The question is totally minhag,
and not under the jurisdiction of the local posek. It is a minhag of the
people, and the people should get together and be united in one practice.

The AhS doesn't mention it in that siman, but this explanation does
help us with Tefillin on Chol Hamoed. That *is* a question of halacha,
despite the common wording of "My minhag is to do this." And since it
is a question of halacha, Lo Tisgodedu would *not* apply according to
the AhS. Except that in 31:4, the AhS says that Lo Tisgodedu DOES apply
to tefillin on Chol Hamoed.

I don't know where to go from here. Any thoughts? How can we make 31:4
consistent with 493:8?

Akiva Miller