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<font size=3>At 05:53 PM 5/25/2011, R. Micha wrote:<br><br>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite="">On Wed the 18th, the day you
sent the original above-quoted (after the<br>
":>>"s) post about upsherin, you also posted
"Thinking Of Editing Shmoneh<br>
Esreh? Not So Fast". That post pointed us to
<<a href="http://tinyurl.com/3wrtegd" eudora="autourl">
http://tinyurl.com/3wrtegd</a>>,<br>
which (as you quoted) reads (in part, transliterations still mine):<br>
> Recently, it was reported that a Rabbi from Israel, on a visit
to<br>
> America, spoke at a (nusach Ashkenaz) Shul and urged the people
there to<br>
> add the word [le'artzeinu] at the end of the [berakhah] of [Teqa
beShofar]<br>
> in the [Shemoneh Esrei]. This Rabbi is a lover of [Eretz Yisrael]
and<br>
> presumably he wanted to strengthen the audience's connection to our
holy<br>
> land in some way with such a gesture.<br><br>
> ... And where does it end? ...<br><br>
So, on the Upsherin thread you ask some East Europeans who have the<br>
minhag of upsherin to reject it on the grounds of an argument that
it's<br>
not a valid minhag. Sevara trumping minhag.</font></blockquote><br>
I did not write this! It is from someone else. <br><br>
<br>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite=""><font size=3>But WRT adding
"le'artzeinu", which is an ancient nusach for the berakhah<br>
albeit not Ashkenazic, you argue that this rav was wrong to tell
people<br>
to change from their minhag because of a sevara.</font></blockquote><br>
I did not write this! It is from someone else.<br><br>
<br>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite=""><font size=3>The sevaros have
many points around which one can contrast them. I'm sure<br>
the minhagim do too. So, I have no doubt you can make a chiluq between
those<br>
two cases. I asked where exactly you personally place that chiluq.
You<br>
are of East European ancestry, and yet so support minhag Ashkenaz that
you<br>
advocate here repeatedly for various Yekkish practices. (I think you<br>
forwarded all 6 of the last 6 posts on the "Treasures of
Ashkenaz" blog.)<br>
Given how much time you spend discussing minhag with us, I fished
for<br>
more detail on your position.<br><br>
: Almost all of what I post on Avodah is from sources and is not my <br>
: own. I feel that it is important for people to realize that a lot
of <br>
: what is done today has either no basis or the basis is shaky at <br>
: best. For example, Upsherin has become the "in
thing," even amongst <br>
: Ashkenazim....<br><br>
Upsherin is a generations-old minhag for many Ashkenazim.
</font></blockquote><br>
What is your basis for this assertion? <br><br>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite=""><font size=3>Albeit not<br>
Litvaks or Yekkes, but still, you can't say there is no basis.
Similarly,<br>
if you feel free, as a "BT" to pick your minhagim, why can't
others pick<br>
their minhagim as well? What makes it "wrong" that you need to
comment<br>
on what they do?<br><br>
-Micha<br>
</blockquote><br>
I guess you do not realize that just because I post something does not
mean that I agree with it. Much of what I post is for informational
purposes and to generate discussion and get people thinking. <br><br>
Just because I comment does not mean that I expect anyone to follow
me. However, I do feel that many do not know the basis for some of
what they do and my posts are to, again, get people thinking. <br><br>
YL<br>
<x-sigsep><p></x-sigsep>
Yitzchok Levine</font></body>
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