[Avodah] Problematic customs

[Micha Berger]

On Mon, Jan 08, 2018 at 05:36:16AM +0200, Ben Waxman via Avodah wrote:
: On 1/7/2018 11:32 PM, Micha Berger via Avodah wrote:
: >OTOH, a Gra or RCBrisker would simply tell you to chuck the minhag.

: More or less, someone else told me that it isn't a question of a
: source justifying either method, but of an approach. Chassidim will
: accept "questionable" customs (of course adding in "what do you mean
: "questionable?"", Briskers/Rav Ovadia type Sefardim won't.

The model I developed over years of Avodah discussion (largely due to
RRWolpoe) was that there are four different kinds of concerns that a
poseiq has to weigh. Weigh, as in shiqul hada'as. So that pesaq really
involves comparing apples to oranges, and there is no way to reduce it
to numbers or an algorithm. Different posqim will emphasize different
factors, with certain tendencies among those of certain kehillos.

1- Textual conceptual strength: which sevara / lomdus is more compelling.
2- Textual formal strength: the authority of who said it -- giving
   precedence to the Rambam or the Rosh over a less influential rishonn,
   following the Rabim, etc...
3- Mimetic strength: what was the accepted practice?
4- When all else is balanced or nearly so, one may consider aggadic
   issues to chooce between multiple black-letter viable shitos.

And then last, when all else fails (and I don't consider this a 5th
concern):
5- We can't come up with a real pesaq, so let's treat it as a safeiq
   and apply the rules of safeiq.

The AhS gives more stregnth to #3; he assumes that any long-standing
minhag was peer reviewed by generations of rabbanim and therefore
must be justified. And he will create a sevara to justify it, if he
can. It can be much weaker than that behind other pesaqim, because
the mimetic weight compensates.

What I said quoted above is that the Gra or RCBrisker give heavy weight
to #1, such that all else rarely come into play.

Whereas ROYosef leans heavily on #2 -- what does Maran hold, what do
the rov of contemporary rabbanim hold?

Yekkes lean heavily on mesorah, so that #2 (returning to the pesaqim of
the Maharil, Rama, etc...) carry a lot of weight, as does mimeticism.

Chassidim do indeed value mimeticism more than both Litvaks and
Sepharadim, but they also value aggadic -- in particular Qabbalistic
-- issues. At least, value it more than many other groups. So, while
they too give less weight to aggadita (to be clear: I am not accusing
anyone of anti-nomianism), Chassidim have a much broader sense of what
is balanced enough in terms of black-letter halakhah to consider what
fits the Chassidic worldview.

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             What we do for ourselves dies with us.
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