[Avodah] Simchas Torah & a Lost Minhag of the Gra

D Rubin dcr.man at hotmail.co.uk
Wed Oct 3 00:23:19 PDT 2018


Date: Sun, 30 Sep 2018 09:43:14 +0000
From: "Professor L. Levine" <llevine at stevens.edu>

> From Simchas Torah & a Lost Minhag of the Gra
...
>> In 1921 the great bibliographer (and much more) Yitzchak Rivkind
>> ....                On Simchas Torah they would open the Aron Kodesh
>> when saying Aleinu, both at night and during the day, and while singing
>> the Niggun of Mussaf of Yom Kippur would bow on the floor exactly like
>> we do on Rosh Hashonah and Yom Kippur. When he asked for the source of
>> this Minhag he was told it comes from the Gra...

Interesting.

The Robshitse Rov had a similar practice, falling on his face during
the hakofos.

(It is reported that one year, after bowing during hakofos [the
first time?], he commented that only he and his son Yaakov [of Melits]
understand the secret. After Yom Tov, it became known that R' Yaakov too
had participated in this rite.) (Another story tells of how the grandson
of the Kosnitse Maggid, R' Elo'ozor, spoke lightly of this minhag [made
fun?] to the Robshite Rov's son, R' Eliezer of Dzikhov, whereupon R'
Eliezer protested vehemently, saying all his father's customs have a very
high source. On his return, R' Elozor's wagon tipped and he was thrown
out of his carriage, falling, as we do on Yom Kippur, on his face. He
saw this as a retribution for having spoken lightly of the minhag.)


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