Minhagim from home

Hi,

A yeshiva student whose family customs differ from those of the yeshiva should follow the yeshiva's customs when at the yeshiva.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Yoreh Deah 2:75)

פתקא טבא,
Mordechai

Re-starting a religious practice

Hi,

[Jewish law prohibits eating the gid hanasheh, a neurovascular bundle found in the hindquarters of an animal.]

In a community where the hindquarters of animals have been sold to non-Jews for generations, rather than expend the effort to remove the gid hanasheh, one who needs the hindquarters would be permitted to bring in a certified expert to remove the gid hanasheh. The non-practice does not constitute a minhag, and doing so could increase the number of Jews who opt for kosher meat over non-kosher meat.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Yoreh Deah 2:42)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Upside-down Nuns

Hi,

[First, for anyone who arrived here due to a misunderstanding - the "nun" in the title refers to the Hebrew letter nun, or נ.]

The Talmud (Shabbat 115b-116a) mentions that the verses of Bamidbar 10:35-36 are to be marked off from the rest of the Torah. Traditionally, those markers have been upside-down nuns. However, there is a debate as to whether this means that such markers appear before and after those verses in the Torah (Noda beYehudah), or whether this means that the normal letter nun which appears in the word בנסע in 10:35, and which appears in כמתאוננים in the subsequent verse, 11:1, should be upside down (Maharshal).

Our practice is to follow the view of Noda b'Yehudah. However, a sefer torah which has the markers as determined by the Maharshal is still kosher, and should not be altered. We treat this sefer torah as the "location of Maharshal", where it was appropriate to follow his practice.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Yoreh Deah 1:165)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Establishing a minhag

Hi,

One who is strict in a particular matter three times, knowing that this is not a demand of the law and choosing to do it anyway, is now bound to continue the practice as though he had taken a vow.

One who is strict because he mistakenly believes this is the law, and then finds out otherwise, is not bound to continue his strict practice.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Yoreh Deah 1:46)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Looking at one's hands by the flame of Havdalah

Hi,

The Tur and Shulchan Aruch cite midrashic sources as the basis for the custom of looking specifically at one's fingernails, and in a particular way, at havdalah. Therefore, even though one could benefit from the light in some other way, we should specifically continue this ancient practice. We keep our ancient customs.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Orach Chaim 5:20:31)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Different customs in writing Sefer Torah, Tefillin and Mezuzah

Hi,

One may use a sefer torah, mezuzah or set of tefillin which was written in accordance with a custom that is not the norm in a particular community. This is not ideal, but since the differences are known only to scribes, this would not be considered a violation of communal custom.

Certainly, we do not rule a particular custom to be 'invalid', where it is one of the traditional types of script.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Orach Chaim 5:2)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Design of the Parochet

Hi,

The parochet [curtan in front of the Ark in the synagogue] should be one piece, rather than two pieces which split apart. The custom is to make the parochet match the one which covers the entrances in the Beit haMikdash [Temple].

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Orach Chaim 4:40:22)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Obligating one's self in Tzitzit

Hi,

Technically, the law of Tzitzit requires only that one who is wearing a four-cornered garment must attach the strings of Tzitzit. There is no requirement, biblically, to put on a four-cornered garment in order to be obligated in Tzitzit.

However: Since the universal custom among observant Jewish males is to wear a four-cornered garment daily in order to fulfill this mitzvah, and since this custom enables accrual of merit, one may not diverge from this custom.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Orach Chaim 4:4)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Breaking from shul practice

Hi,

One who davens in a shul where they say Hallel on Pesach night may not leave, lest his departure be taken as a sign of disagreement with the community. He should recite Hallel, but he should avoid reciting a berachah unless that would be obvious to the community.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Orach Chaim 2:94)

Gmar tov,
Mordechai

A different nusach

Hi,

If one davens with a minyan in which the standard nusach is different from his own, then for all parts of the davening which require a minyan, whether recited aloud or recited quietly, one should use the nusach of the minyan.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Orach Chaim 2:23)

Note: In Orach Chaim 2:104 Rav Moshe stated that one should use the nusach of the minyan for everything other than the silent amidah.

המצפה לישועה,
Mordechai

Changing communal minhag

Hi,

If a community has the customs of a certain ethnic group (Ashkenazi, Sephardi, Yemenite, etc) which constitute the majority of its population, and then the population shifts such that other ethnic groups join, they should not change the original communal customs. Only if no members remain from that original ethnic group may they alter the communal custom.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Orach Chaim 2:21)

המצפה לישועה,
Mordechai

A Chutznik in Israel on Yom Tov

Hi,

Yesterday we presented the Shulchan Aruch's view that an Israeli who visits another country during Yom Tov would need to observe two days of Yom Tov when in a Jewish community.

The author of the Shulchan Aruch also ruled that a non-Israeli visiting in Israel during Yom Tov would be required to observe two days of Yom Tov, like the practices of his main residence.

This is because Rav Yosef Karo, the author of the Shulchan Aruch, believed that the issue of the second day of Yom Tov is addressed like other matters of custom - one who is not in his home community observes the stringencies of his home community as well as the community in which he is located.

(Avkat Rochel 26; see also Mishneh Berurah 496:13)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Choosing a Haftorah

Hi,

Today our Haftarot are ordained by custom and printed in our chumashim, but it was not always so; there were guidelines for selecting a Haftorah, and a community could choose any prophetic passage that matched those guidelines.

One such rule is that on a week with a double Torah portion, the Haftorah's theme must match a theme from the second portion. Similarly, on a week when we read from a single Torah the Haftorah was supposed to match a theme from the end (maftir) part of the Torah reading.

(Code of Jewish Law Orach Chaim 284:7)

Have a great day,
Mordechai