[Avodah] Minhag America

Akiva Miller akivagmiller at gmail.com
Fri Jun 3 04:49:13 PDT 2022


.
R' Joel Rich asked:
> Is it fair to say that to a large extent Artscroll sets minhag
> America? (in its halacha publications and siddur instruction)

Yes, but there's nothing new here. There were other publishers before
ArtScroll, and there will be others after. (I still find certain words in
ArtScroll jarring, because the siddurim I grew up with 50 years ago were
different.) Whichever siddur is most popular in a given community, that
siddur tends to set the minhagim for that community, unless the leaders
make a specific effort to show the people where they diverge from it.

I once heard a version of The Golden Rule which stated, "Whoever has the
gold, makes the rules." What this means for this thread, is that if (for
example) a particular siddur becomes popular for no reason other than (for
example) its price or design, people will end up using its editors' choice
of text as well, for better or for worse. It is important to recognize that
to whatever degree ArtScroll is influencing us, we are accepting that
influence willingly. Anyone who has purchased an ArtScroll siddur did so
because the perceived benefits outweighed the perceived faults.

Is this any different than our body of Torah which is set - to a very large
extent - by which meforshim were popular enough to get printed and
reprinted over the centuries? I often think about the first printed
gemaras, and which Tosfos were chosen for publication. This is not the
thread for discussing WHO made those selections; my point is that whoever
it was, the issues and views which appeared in those particular Tosfos'n
have come to be a profound influence about everything in Torah today,
whereas the many many writings of the many many Tosifists which didn't
merit to appear in the standard Vilna Shas have much less influence.

Yes, we do often find teshuvos which reference those lesser-known writings.
My only point is that there is an imbalance, that some writings have more
influence simply because they had the mazel to be published to a wide
audience. Not at all different from ArtScroll's influence.

Akiva Miller
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