Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
Ohr Somayach in Monsey is great, and I believe the money issue is flexible. Its not in NYC, but its close
In the sefer Minhagei Lita by Rabbi Menachem Mendel Poliakoff he writes as follows (pg. 69) “A new custom has sprung up among Jews today – to refrain from cutting a young boy’s hair until he is three years old. His parents cut his hair on the Lag B’omer following his third birthday, if possible, at the tomb of Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai in meron. In Yiddish this haircut is called Upsherren.
Before WWII, few people outside of Eretz Yisrael even knew there was a small group of Sfardi Jews who practiced this haircutting at the tomb of Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai on Lag B’omer. Except for a small group of chassidim, no one else adopted this extraordinary minhag.
After the state of Israel was established, observance of this haircutting became more widely known, and a new trend came into being. Although it was new to most Ashkenazi Jews, it was by no means a new idea. It was an old idolatrous practice mentioned in the Mishnah (Avodah Zara 8a). The gentiles of old used to cut boys’ hair at puberty as a pagan ritual. It was for this reason the sages forbade Jews from conducting business with these idol worshippers on that day. So what did today’s frum Jews do? They adopted this heathen custom and have become frum idol worshippers. This ceremony is absolutely a violation of halachah, as it is chukas hagoyim (a gentile custom), and should be discontinued. This is another example of the importance of heeding the principle of al titosh toras imecha, and not rushing headlong into adopting every newfangled idea.
According to my research, the Upsherren was an innovation introduced by the Kabbalists of Safed in Eretz Yisrael in about the 16th century. It was apparently not widespread, because before WWII, it was not well-known or much followed.”
Don’t worry Mr. yekke2, I wasn’t being too serious. After all, three hours has very little mekor (if at all) so I wouldn’t seriously suggest everyone should keep it unless that was their mesorah. (Although washing before Kiddush the Rama does say ‘v’ein leshanos’ which means all Ashkenazim should be doing it, but Sfardim still wouldn’t so I wouldn’t have said that seriously either.)
I am yekke and I wash before Kiddush and wait three hours, as all Jews should
Those people who are saying ‘I’m not yekke but my ancestors were’ remind me of not frum Jews who say ‘we’ll I’m not Jewish but my ancestors were’ (except that Judasim goes by the mother and Yekki-ness goes by the father). If your ancestors were then so are you, perhaps it is time to get in touch with your heritage. (Maybe they should start yekke birthright tours or something.)
nishtdayngesheft
It is quite well known that in Lita before the war (including Vilna) almost everyone wore tefillin on chol hamoed. your mistake is in assuming that people followed minhagei hagra in Lita. In fact, even in Vilna, they did not follow this minhag or many others(except in the Gra’s kloiz). Only in Eretz Yisrael did the talmididei HaGra begin to implement his shittos. R Moshe has a tshuva (I believe it’s in the back of R Eiders sefer on hilchos niddah) where he has complaints against those who follow minhagei HaGra lekulah in Eretz Yisrael and says they never dared to do such a thing in Vilna (he is talking about zmanim there, I’m just using it to point out that the minhagei HaGra were not kept in Vilna).