[Avodah] Longevity of Minhag haMakom

[Zev Sero]

On 03/10/18 17:46, Rabbi via Avodah wrote:
> On October 3, 2018 9:16:33 AM PDT, "Prof. Levine via Avodah" <avodah at lists.aishdas.org> wrote:
>> My understanding is that the GRA never meant for his minhagim to be
>> practiced by the general public,  but only by his disciples. Thus I
>> find it \ironic that his minhagim became widely accepted in EY and
>> are practiced by many there.
> 
>> Why didn't those who returned to EY practice the minhagim of EY?  For
>> example,  why didn't they go back to the 3.5 year cycle of reading the
>> Torah?
> 
> It seems that, despite the simple Halacha, when a large exodus (when they
> vastly outnumber the original community) of people land in a new country,
> they keep their Minhag and drown out the old Minhag.
> 
> So Ashkenazim who landed in the US kept their minhagim from the Alter
> Heim (and didn't become Sefardi), and when Sefardim who landed in the
> Ottoman Empire after the expulsion stayed Sefardi and didn't adopt the
> original Minhag.

That is a different issue, and one that was once controversial and that 
one can still question.    Here the issue is much simpler, because when 
Jews moved back to EY there was no local community, and thus no local 
minhag.   That's why I cited the example of the S-P Jews settling in 
England in the 17th century, and not that of the Ashkenazim who followed 
them.  Whether or not the Ashkenazim should have adopted S-P minhagim, 
there's no question that the S-P were not required and had no reason to 
adopt the (presumably French) minhagim of the medieval community.

-- 
Zev Sero            A prosperous and healthy 5779 to all
zev at sero.name       Seek Jerusalem's peace; may all who love you prosper