Friday 27 August 2010

Who is Stirring the Pot - Besides RRW :-)

Disclaimer:
Having been on several cyber discussion lists there can be no doubt I've stirred the pot myself
Rarely has this been subtle or clandestine

OTOH I'm referring to an "unseen hand" stirring the pot and I suspect they're in the Land of Israel.

What do I Mean:

Item: A 17-year-old young women "Tzippora" comes back from Israel. We are both guests in a sukkah.

Tzippora: "How can Ashkenazi women say a brachah l'vatalah on Yeshivat Sukkah and Netilat Lulav?"

She says with half a rant

RRW: But #gxzyprf
[Being that my wife has kicked me under the table so my message is garbled]

I then tell a third party

RRW: What's this girl's[woman?] Issue? The Beth Yosef brings the Ashkenazi position in the name of the Ran - Rabbenu Nissim of Gerona! Hardly a flaming Ashkenazi Qannai, and this is the Rema's cited source!

Since when does quoting Beth Yosef besheim the Ran some kind of Ashkenazi plot to make S'pharadim look bad or whatever.

The only apparent agenda was a dig [or a shtoch] against Ashkenazim. I don't recall the converse

Several Years later a young Sephardic Rabbi [Elkanah] comes to the USA from Israel [EY]

Similarly Elkanah kvetches about all the crazy humrot the Ashkenazim and Rema have.

Elkanah: every daat yaheed that the Rema can find - he codifies as Halachah!

Woe I say to Myself Rema almost always codifies the consensus as practiced in Poland and mostly as MINHAG not as Base Halachah when it goes beyond Halachah

These illustrations seem to portend a disturbing trend.

Qitniyyos-bashing and demands that all Ashk'nazim should follow Minhag S'pharad.

Whose hidden hands stir this pot?

Shalom
RRW

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