[Avodah] Jewish customs by R Dr Zvi Ron

[Micha Berger]

On Wed, Dec 25, 2024 at 06:34:17AM +0200, Joel Rich via Avodah wrote:
> Worthwhile reading -- Jewish customs by R Dr Zvi Ron. Deeply researched in
> both halachic and secular scholarship, my general take is that one needs
> both in order to understand the likely evolution of many minhagim.
> Apparently historical realia make a difference...

I might go further and say the same about some gezeiros. Why was there a
gezeira against X but not Y? I think sometimes the only answer is that
historically, people accidentally doing X happened and the Sanhedrin
needed to put a stop to it. Y just never became a common problem.

But back to the topic... My usual list of minhagim that look like they
were influenced by the cultures we were living among.

Let's start with inyana deyoma, Chanukah:

- Frying riccotto cheese into fritters was a common seasonal thing in
  Italy before Italian Jews made it a standard part of Chanukah, or it
  evolved into the pareve and cheaper potato latke.

- In Through the Looking Glass, Alice was spinning around and the White
  Queen asked her, "Are you a child or a teetoum?" A teetotum being a
  four sided top with Latin letters on the side. (Although later, versions
  with different numbers of sides and markings were also called "teetotums".)
  The name from from the bed side to land on "T", meaning "totum" -- take
  them all!

- Also from Italy: Purim costumes. Same season as the Catholic Carnival,
  right before Lent.

- Milchigs on Shavuos may be derivative of Wittesmontag or maybe has a
  common cause.  When the cows have been eating fresh grass long enough
  for there to be an abundance and higher quality of milk, a community
  with dairy farms would likely want to celebrate the holiday with some
  of the good stuff!

I don't think any of these minhagim would exist if we didn't happen
to live among people doing similarly. And then rabbanim found a
lesson to take from common practice, so that it makes the jump from
fashion to minhag.

An enlightening and enjoyable Chanukah!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger                 Worrying is like a rocking chair:
http://www.aishdas.org/asp   it gives you something to do for a while,
Author: Widen Your Tent      but in the end it gets you nowhere.
- https://amzn.to/2JRxnDF