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Rabbi Menachem Mendel (Manual) Poliakoff is the dean of Baltimore rabbis.
He is a grandson of the Rabbi Avraham Nachman Schwartz, who founded the
Talmudical Academy of Baltimore in 1917. (See
<font size=3><b>"</b>
<a href="http://www.jewishpress.com/pageroute.do/36516/Bringing_Torah_Education_To_Baltimore_Dr._Yitzchok_Levine.html">
Bringing Torah Education to Baltimore</a>"
</font><font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3><b>The Jewish Press,
</b>October 3, 2008, pages 57 & 75. ) After attending TA for
elementary school (there was no high for him to attend in the twenties)
in 1930 Rabbi Poliakoff went to study at the Telshe Yeshiva in Lithuania,
his grandfather's alma mater. He studied there for 9 years and
received smicha from the Trisker Rav, the Vilkomir Rav, and the Telshe
Rosh Yeshiva, Rabbi Avraham Yitzchok Bloch. He was a contemporary of
Rabbi Mordechai Gifter and Rabbi Aaron Paperman, two other bochrim who
went from Baltimore to study in Telshe. <br><br>
</font>Rabbi Poliakoff served with distinction as a chaplain in WW II and
was decorated with a Bronze Star for his distinguished service.
After the war he became the rabbi of Beth Isaac Adath Israel Synagogue.
He served in the position for 42 years.<br><br>
In 2008 Rabbi Poliakoff published his book <b>Minhagei Lita, Customs of
Lithuanian Jewry.</b> In this book he writes about how the Yiddishkeit we
see today differs in a number of ways from Yiddishkeit as it was
practiced in Eastern Europe before WW II. In particular, he focuses on
changes in Minhagim. <br><br>
He gives a number of reasons for this. He writes,
"<font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3>Ironically, one cause of
confusion about </font><i>Minhagei Lita
</i><font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3>was the Gaon of Vilna
<i>zt"l." </i>and "Another cause of deviations from
Lithuanian custom was the Chafetz Chaim </font><i>zt"l,
</i><font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3>who included a number of
decisions and recommendations in<b> </b>his </font><i>Mishnah Berurah
</i><font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3>that were contrary to the
prevailing custom, often without explicitly stating so."
"During the fifty years after publication of the </font><i>Mishnah
Berurah </i><font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3>until the
destruction of Lithuanian Jewry communities did not adopt those decisions
and recommendations of the </font><i>Mishnah Berurah
</i><font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3>that ran counter to the
traditionally accepted </font><i>minhagim.
</i><font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3>Not even in Radin, where
the Chafetz Chaim had his Yeshivah, did the community change the
traditional customs in favor of those urged by the Chafetz Chaim. Hence,
many people today mistakenly assume that whatever the </font><i>Mishnah
Berurah </i><font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3>recommended must
have been the accepted custom in Lithuania. Again, I will point out some
of these anomalies as we come upon them." For more please see
below and
<a href="http://www.stevens.edu/golem/llevine/rsrh/mb_lita.pdf" eudora="autourl">
http://www.stevens.edu/golem/llevine/rsrh/mb_lita.pdf</a> <br><br>
For those interested, one can purchase </font><b>Minhagei Lita, Customs
of Lithuanian Jewry </b>from Rabbi Poliakoff by calling
<font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3>(410) 358-5557<br><br>
</font>The statement by Rabbi Poliakoff that before WW II Lithuanian
communities did not change their customs to conform to the MB raises the
following question in my mind related to the issue of waiting to daven
Maariv on the first night of Shavuous so that one has Temimos. True, the
MB says that one should wait. But, was this actually done by the shuls in
Lithuania. In other words, was the MB's psak about waiting the accepted
practice in Lithuania or not? <br><br>
I certainly do not know the answer, but I would very much like to find
out.<br><br>
Yitzchok Levine<br><br>
<br>
<b><i>Background<br><br>
</i></b><font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3>A commonly-held
fallacy is that only within the geographical borders of today's Lithuania
did the various Jewish communities observe the Lithuanian customs.
The<br>
truth is </font><i>Minhag Lita
</i><font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3>prevailed throughout most
of Eastern Europe, from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea, including
Belarusia (White Russia) and substantial sections of Poland.<br><br>
Later, Chassidic groups living in Poland adopted </font><i>Minhag Sfarad
</i><font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3>to differentiate between
themselves and the general body of East European Jewry who were not
Chassidim and<br>
who maintained the </font><i>minhag
</i><font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3>and </font><i>nusach
</i><font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3>of </font><i>Lita. </i>It
<font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3>is plainly obvious that
</font><i>Minhag Lita </i><font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3>was
one of the most widespread </font><i>minhagim
</i><font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3>upheld by European Jewry.
Since the end of the Second World War, there have been numerous
deviations from many of the authentic Lithuanian customs. This is largely
because most of Lithuanian Jewry was annihilated or displaced during the
war. Communities were disbanded, and there was no longer any continuity
in practicing the traditions and customs constituting <i>M</font>inhag
Lita.<br><br>
</i><font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3>Today, most people rely
upon books to try to reconstruct the Lithuanian customs, because the
living </font><i>mesorah
</i><font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3>was unfortunately lost. As
a result, what is now perceived as<br>
</font><i>Minhag Lita
</i><font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3>contains many deviations
from what Lithuanian Jewry had truly followed. <br><br>
Ironically, one cause of confusion about </font><i>Minhagei Lita
</i><font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3>was the Gaon of Vilna
<i>zt"l. </i>His erudition was way beyond anyone else's in his
generation, and his prestige was overwhelming. Yet when his decisions and
recommendations ran counter to the traditionally accepted
</font><i>minhagim, </i><font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3>no one
adopted them - not even in his home town, Vilna. I will note some of
these variances as we come across them.<br><br>
Another cause of deviations from Lithuanian custom was the Chafetz Chaim
</font><i>zt"l, </i><font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3>who
included a number of decisions and recommendations in<b> </b>his
</font><i>Mishnah Berurah
</i><font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3>that were<br>
contrary to the prevailing custom, often without explicitly stating so.
As long as there were Jews in Lithuania to provide a living example, this
was not a problem. Today however,<br>
when these communities unfortunately no longer exist, people are unable
to determine the original custom. During the fifty years after
publication of the </font><i>Mishnah Berurah
</i><font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3>until the destruction of
Lithuanian Jewry communities did not adopt those decisions and
recommendations of the </font><i>Mishnah Berurah
</i><font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3>that ran counter to the
traditionally accepted<br>
</font><i>minhagim. </i><font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3>Not
even in Radin, where the Chafetz Chaim had his Yeshivah, did the
community change the traditional customs in favor of those urged by the
Chafetz Chaim. Hence, many people today mistakenly assume that whatever
the </font><i>Mishnah Berurah
</i><font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3>recommended must have been
the accepted custom in Lithuania. Again, I will point out some of these
anomalies as we come upon them.<br><br>
This teaches us how careful we must be in preserving Jewish customs. The
Torah requires us to respect and maintain </font><i>minhagim
</i><font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3>just as the earlier
generations loved and<br>
cherished them. The fundamental principle of </font><i>Al titosh toras
imecha - Do </i><font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3>not forsake
the teachings of your mother (<i>Mishlei 1:8) </i> was<br>
zealously upheld throughout the Jewish world. <br><br>
Today's generation is confused, searching to find the real <i>Minhag Lita
</i>from among the many existing customs. I hope I will be able to dispel
some of this confusion by delineating the authentic Lithuanian customs
regarding a number of select areas, the first of which will be
<i>tefillah.</font></i></body>
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