<div dir="ltr"><br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Tue, Aug 12, 2008 at 11:14 AM, Rich, Joel <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:JRich@sibson.com">JRich@sibson.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
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</div><div><span><font size="3" color="#0000ff" face="Arial"> I suppose it depends on how you define prevailing
minhag. For example, when the gemara says we always follow the opinion of
R' X over R'Y, in the absence of other circumstances would you say it's OK to
follow R'Y because the case was not a practical issue till years later? You
seem to be arguing that when there is no prevailing minhag that it's kol
hayashar beinav yaaseh but why wouldn't we follow our usual dynamics of
psak</font></span></div>
<div><span><font size="3" color="#0000ff" face="Arial"><br>The nerot example has always interested me - I'm sure R'RW has some
comment on how the practice developed to follow the Rambam - I'd love to know
historically what the actual transition was (I assume at some time they
followed tosfot opinion in Europe?)<br>KT<br>Joel
Rich</font> </span></div></blockquote><br><br><table style="color: black;" bgcolor="white"><tbody><tr><td><br></td></tr></tbody></table></div></blockquote></div><br>I really do NOT know why Rema paksens like Rambam over Tosafos in this case.<br>
<br><br>But let me digress to a larger issue. Some talmiddi mof mine "heard" that Ashkenazim ALWAYS follow Rema. Thsat is simply false. <br><br>The term Klal means a generality. For computer geeks it is analogous to a default setting. It is NOT a 100% a hard and fast rule. For some reason, people take things to extremes, such as<br>
thinking: <br><div style="margin-left: 40px;"> since we USUALLY follow MB therefore we must ALWAYS follow MB. <br></div>I was even wrong when I said Teimanim ALWAYS follow Rambam. They do not and someone posted a URL to about 40+ documented exceptions.<br>
<br>Amont the hundreds of yet to be posted artciles in my life, One is who is the TRUE heir to the Rabmam's legacy, the Rema or RY Karo. Ture the Maran BY follows Rambam MUCH more often in p'sak, but in Hashkafa, Rema's FIRST hagah has a quote from the Moresh, something the BY rarely quoted. The Rema wa MUCH more in tune with the Rambam as a hybrid philosopher-Halachisist.<br>
<br>The Rema thus had a high regard for the Rambam. How this minhag followed the Rambam by the time the Rema rolled around I do not know. <br><br>Now a close reading of this Rambam will tell you that the Rambam HIMSELF paskened agaisnt the prvailing minhag. [Now here RYKaro is more like Rambam and REma is less like the Rambam]. Another case where Rambam protested the prevlaent minhag is with regard to [wrt] birchos hashachar where the Rambam insists on a more literal Talmudic approach. <br>
<br>I am a big fan of Tosfaos. But when for some reason Tosafos' p'sak was rejected by Asheknazic tradition I USUALLY favor the tradition. Thus if Rema, who mostly ruled by Ashkenazic consensus, is against Tosafos, I would favor the Rema's p'sak. <br>
<br>Now if you read a lot of Darchee Moshe] Especially that of Darchie Moshe ho'orach] you will see that even Asheknazim did not always agree. with each other. And there is a lot of lattitude there.<br><br>For an example of a really flexible menu approach see Shach and Chochmas Ada re: when an egg inside the chicken becomes parve [YD 87:4 iirc]. Shach givess 4 stages, Minhag, Din, ,bedi'avad, nd sha'as hadechak. it is a classic and hte Chochmas Adam brillinatly sumarizes it in a few lines. A major trend in Ashkenaz is more cholices and less-black-and white. Thus Rambam afaik has nearly zero yeish Omirims. SA a lot more, but Rema MANY more.<br>
-- <br>Kol Tuv / Best Regards,<br>RabbiRichWolpoe@Gmail.com<br>see: <a href="http://nishmablog.blogspot.com/">http://nishmablog.blogspot.com/</a><br>
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