[Avodah] Defending Traditional Practices

Micha Berger micha at aishdas.org
Wed Feb 28 13:30:40 PST 2018


On Thu, Feb 08, 2018 at 03:07:41AM +0000, Rich, Joel wrote:
: Shut Beit Efraim (O"C 6) [R'Efram Zalman Margaliyot - 1762-1828) strongly
: defends the Ashkenazy practice of not duchening except on the Shalosh
: Regalim. If you are looking for a spirited defense of traditional
: practices, even ones that we can't really easily explain how they are
: supported by the halachic process( a traditional Avodah topic), this is
: a good tshuva to read!

So, kayadua, the AhS will get quite creative in trying to figure out how
accepted practices passed the "peer review" of generations of rabbis.
Basically, how to textually justify the mimetic .

Reaching shemitas kesafim (CM 67) is a notable exception. In se'if 1
he lists possible outs to allow a loan beyond shemittah w/out pruzbul.
He notes that today it's derabbanan, and practiced by the amoraim
and the posqim agree, "but we see that even in the early generations,
the world were not careful in it, as the Rosh writes in a teshuvah,
and our rabbis put in effort to find a reason for it".

Yest, he concludes that the reasons are weak, "vehayarei es devar Hashem
yinhog beshemitas kesafim" (yinhog?), and after all, it's only pruzbul,
not a major sacrifice. Many places are careful in it even today. And
then gives you the prior and next shemitah yar acording to the chashbon
of the Rambam, the geonim, and chakhmei EY.

In se'if 1 he lists the Y-mi which says about terumos uma'aseros that
the law passed to observe them in chu"l was only lands adjacent to EY,
or that shemitas kesafim derabbanan was only enacted iwhen a BD of
musmachim were beqadeish the shemitah.

In se'if 6 he discusses the idea that since a person can make any
finanacial obligation on himself, he can obligate himself after shemitah
as well. As long as it's not worded as a tenai al mah shekasuv baTorah.
And there is also a rule that anything that is convention to be included
in the contract is assumed even if not written in. We just assume it's a
scribal error, taken too for granted. Combine the two, (end of the se'if)
and in a place where everyone ignore shemitas kesafim we can assume the
loveh accepted such an obligation on himself.

And in se'if 10 he discusses Hillel's standardization of pruzbul. "Ein
kosevim pruzbul ela al loveh sheyeish lo qarqa." With galus, fewer and
fewer lovim have qarqa. These aren't the days of settlement in Bavel
and EY. It got to a point where Hillel's original concern, that the
poor would be unable to get loans, would not be addressed even with
pruzbul! And therefore, vadai nidchis tanqanta derabbanan.

And then again , he tells us not to rely on these arguments -- ubevadai
hu lemidas zekhus al Kelal Yisrael. And again "yarei es devar H'" would
make a pruzbul as they do in many places.

The possible reason for this exception? "Vekhakhah nohagim bekhol medinas
Lita" -- his primary audience lives in one of those "harbei meqomos"!

So, we know the AhS will work hard to justify a minhag Yisrael even when
it's someone else's minhag. And then work to minimize his audience from
taking it as a new-for-them leniency.


Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             In the days of our sages, man didn't sin unless
micha at aishdas.org        he was overcome with a spirit of foolishness.
http://www.aishdas.org   Today, we don't do a mitzvah unless we receive
Fax: (270) 514-1507      a spirit of purity.      - Rav Yisrael Salanter


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