What is Deemed as a Minhag

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I. Recap

Last week we discussed minhagim, or Jewish customs. Minhagim operate on four levels: personal, family, local, and universal.

On a personal level, adopting a minhag can be binding, similar to a vow. For community customs, the Gemara illustrates that ancestral practices can obligate future generations. We explained that communal customs are binding due to the community's collective acceptance, making individual annulment challenging. Universally accepted practices are particularly enduring, as such customs cannot be abolished due to their widespread observance. Poskim emphasize that communal customs, especially those adopted as safeguards for the Torah, obligate future generations, distinguishing them from individual stringencies.

 

II. What is Deemed as a Custom

Sefer Ein Mishpat (O.C Siman 1) writes that any custom whose origin is unknown and was not established or approved generations ago by talmidei chachamim should be assumed to have been adopted independently. The fact that previous rabbis did not protest against it may be because they feared the people would not heed their advice or because they were unable to protest effectively, leaving the matter for later authorities to address. The Chida (Shiyurei Bracha, O.C. Siman 456) also notes that many customs have been spread by common people, and no definitive proof can be derived from them.

In Masechet Soferim (end of chapter 14), it is stated: "Any custom that does not have a basis in the Torah is not a valid custom, but rather an error in judgment." This is also found in the Piskei Tosafot (Menachot, ot 106). In Sefer Me'orei Or (Ben Nun, p. 146a), it is written that all customs that go beyond those of the Shulchan Aruch are meaningless, and those who are stringent in observing them are close to violating the prohibition of bal tosif (adding to the Torah).

On the other hand, the Chida (Tov Ayin, Siman 18, Seif Katan 29) also writes that one who scorns a simple custom that has been practiced by all Jewish communities since ancient times deserves to be excommunicated. Thus, customs without known origins may be viewed skeptically, but long-standing communal practices should be respected and not dismissed.

 

III. Customs Against Shulchan Aruch

It is well known and widely recognized that the Sephardic community accepted the rulings of Rabbi Yosef Karo, with one exception: when a local custom is in place. In such cases, the community follows the custom, even if it contradicts the Shulchan Aruch's rulings. As Rabbi Karo himself states in the introduction to his work Bet Yosef: "If a community in a particular region has adopted a custom to prohibit certain things, even if we would rule otherwise, they should maintain their custom. Since they have already accepted the opinion of the scholar who prohibited it, it is forbidden for them to be lenient.” In other words, the custom remains binding, whether it is stringent or lenient.

Rabbi Ben Tzion Abba Shaul (Shu”t Or LeTzion Vol. 2, Introduction, 3:3) writes that there is no distinction regarding when a custom was established. This is because our acceptance of Rabbi Karo’s rulings is not based solely on his reasoning, but rather on the consensus of the halachic authorities of his time. Therefore, if later authorities decide differently and alter a custom, we follow the new custom. Similarly, in Menuchat Shalom (Vol. 7, Siman 5, p. 46), Rabbi Yaakov Chaim Sofer writes that even a custom established after the dissemination of the Shulchan Aruch’s rulings should be followed.

However, from Rabbi Karo’s language in his introduction, it seems that he was specifically referring to customs that predated the spread of his rulings and did not intend to include those that arose after his rulings became widely accepted. This interpretation is supported by the words of Rabbi Moshe Galanti in his responsa (Siman 6 and 19), who lived during the time of Rabbi Karo, and Rabbi Yosef Molcho in Shulchan Gavoha (General Principles of the Shulchan Aruch, Principle 10). This view is also held by Rabbi Chaim Pontrimoli in Pitchei Devarim (Vol. 2, Orach Chaim Siman 232, Ot 10), Shu”t Zechor LeYitzchak Harari (Siman 74), Kaf HaChaim (Siman 468:59), and Rabbi Ovadia Yosef in Yabia Omer (Vol. 3, Choshen Mishpat 4:7).

 

IV. Customs of Bucharian Jews

In 1793, Rabbi Yosef Maman (al-Magribi), originally from Tetuan in northern Morocco, arrived in Buchara. Upon his arrival, he was deeply troubled by the spiritual state of the local Jewish community. He described his first impressions, saying, "When I arrived in Buchara in 1793, I found my fellow Jews in a state of profound ignorance. Very few could read, and there were serious lapses in Jewish observance. The community lacked competent leaders to guide them, and they had almost no religious literature—only two copies of Tanach, and even those contained only the first three books of the Tanach." This bleak picture of the community is corroborated by other historical sources.

Witnessing the dire state of Jewish life in Buchara, Rabbi Maman resolved to stay and dedicate himself to reviving the community spiritually. Historically, the Bucharian Jews had followed the prayer nusach of Rav Saadia Gaon. However, Rabbi Maman, who was deeply connected to the Sephardic tradition from his youth, decided to introduce the Sephardic nusach to the community. To achieve this, he began acquiring Sephardic religious texts. He wrote numerous letters to Jewish communities across the Diaspora—including Constantinople (Turkey), Livorno (Italy), and Vilna (Russian Empire)—urgently requesting copies of the Torah, Talmud, Talmudic commentaries, prayer books, and other essential religious works for the benefit of the Bucharian Jewish community. Through his efforts, Rabbi Maman laid the foundation for a spiritual renaissance among the Jews of Buchara.

Rabbi Pinchas Hakohen Rabin writes (haskama to Sefer Mishmeret Minhagim) that his great-grandfather, the revered Rabbi Yitzchak Chaim Rabin, the Chief Rabbi of Buchara and its surroundings, wrote a letter in 1889 to the Vienna Jewish community. In response to their inquiry about the origins of the Bucharian community, Rabbi Yitzchak Chaim Rabin wrote that for over 500 years, their ancestors had lived in Jerusalem before moving to the lands of the East (present-day Uzbekistan and surrounding areas). He also noted that their community's customs were similar to those of the Sephardic community in Jerusalem. In essence, Rabbi Rabin emphasized the importance of preserving the community's traditions and customs, which had been passed down through generations. This is also recorded by Rav Yitzhak Yosef who writes¹  that the Bucharian community also have accepted the rulings of Shulchan Aruch as binding upon themselves.

One of the most significant Ashkenazi figures to leave a lasting impact on the Bucharian Jewish community was Rabbi Shlomo Yehuda Leib Elazarov (Kazarnovsky). Born in 1863 in Russia to a distinguished family, he was a descendant of the Alter Rebbe of Chabad, Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi. In 1873, he moved with his family to Hebron, and in 1897, he was sent by the Chabad community of Hebron to the Jewish communities of Buchara. He eventually settled in Samarkand, dedicating himself to strengthening religious observance. A letter from the, author of Yisa Bracha (cited in She'eilat Shlomo by Rabbi Elazarov’s grandson, p. 59), reveals that Rabbi Elazarov committed under oath not to permit anything prohibited by the Shulchan Aruch or the rulings of the Bet Yosef, except in cases where the Shulchan Aruch permitted something and the Rema (Rabbi Moshe Isserles) was stringent. In such cases, he reserved the right to rule stringently according to the Rema. ² Thus, we see a clear precedent that the Bukharian Jews have always followed the rulings of Maran, Rav Yosef Caro.

In Likutei Dinim by Rabbi Avraham Aminoff, the Rishon Letzion, Rabbi Yisrael Yaakov Algazi, wrote in his approbation that the author compiled all the laws of Orach Chaim from the beginning to the end, based on the rulings of Maran, the Shulchan Aruch. This indicates that the rulings in the book align with Maran’s views. In the author’s introduction, he writes: “There are those who do not know the laws and walk in darkness. It is therefore obligatory to study the Shulchan Aruch daily.”

 

V. Influence of Ashkenazim on the Customs of Bucharian Jews

Rabbi Shlomo Yehuda Leib Elazarov (Kazarnovsky) succeeded in raising important Torah scholars who continued his legacy even after he moved to the Land of Israel in 1921. Many Bucharian customs were influenced by his teachings and unique personality, and this spiritual connection became deeply rooted in Bucharian tradition, lasting to this day.

In his approbation to Sefer Bikurei Illan, Rav Yitzchak Yosef notes that halachic literature documents numerous cases where Sephardic communities in various locations adopted Ashkenazic customs through the influence of Ashkenazi rabbis who taught them according to their traditions. He cites Sefer Netivi Am (Orach Chaim siman 582), which records that during a period of rabbinic scarcity in Babylon, Ashkenazi scholars arrived in Baghdad and introduced customs aligned with the Rema's rulings. These customs, diverging from classical Sephardic minhagim, were later mistaken by Rabbi Yosef Chaim of Baghdad (the Ben Ish Chai) for ancient Baghdadi traditions.

Supporting this account, Rabbi Reuven Dangoor (introduction to Tzedakah u'Mishpat) documents how repeated plagues in the 18th and 19th centuries decimated Baghdad's rabbinic leadership, creating a vacuum that was partially filled by Ashkenazi scholars. This interim period receives further confirmation from Rabbi Tzadka Moshe Chutzin (grandson of Rabbi Tzadka Chutzin), who notes that the devastating 1743 (5503) plague left Baghdad without rabbinic guidance until his grandfather's arrival - a situation that implies temporary Ashkenazi religious leadership.

Additional testimony comes from Rabbi Moshe Maya, who reported that sages of Jerusalem's Porat Yosef Yeshiva (including Rabbi Menashe ben Shimon) acknowledged how Ashkenazi Jews transmitted customs to Iraqi communities.

This pattern of Ashkenazi influence extended beyond Baghdad. In Morocco, Rabbi Rafael Baruch Toledano (in a letter published in Yabia Omer 6:48) attested that Ashkenazi teachers used Kitzur Shulchan Aruch of Rabbi Ganzfried which is the Rema-based. Rabbi Yosef Mashash (Mayim Chaim 1:179) credited Rabbi Zev Halperin, an Ashkenazi scholar, with introducing new customs in Meknes (1912/5672) Sefer Chemdat Daniel (siman 1) further confirms that Ashkenazi scholars visited Sephardic communities in India, Babylon, Persia, Morocco, and elsewhere, teaching halacha according to their customs. To this day, Jews in India follow the Kitzur Shulchan Aruch of Rabbi Ganzfried, as instituted by Ashkenazi rabbis.

Rav Rafael Shamsiyev in Bechori Yisrael (vol.4, 5:1) writes regarding whether Bucharian Jews should continue to observe Ashkenazi customs adopted in Buchara after moving to Israel, Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv ruled that it depends on how these customs were adopted. If they were adopted due to deliberate Ashkenazi influence, taking advantage of the naivety or lack of knowledge among some Bucharian Jews, they should return to their ancestral customs. However, those customs adopted lawfully, without objection from the community’s rabbis, and practiced for generations, may be continued in the Land of Israel.

Rav Ovadia Yosef, on the other hand, advocated that Sephardic Jews who had moved to Land of Israel should align their customs with the Shulchan Aruch, even if this meant deviating from their previous customs. Rav Ovadia Yosef understands that Eretz Yisrael has a unique halakhic status, where the rulings of the Shulchan Aruch take precedence. In light of this, Rav Ovadia Yosef encouraged Sephardic communities from Morocco, Buchara, Syria, Iraq, and Yemen to adapt their minhagim to conform with the prevailing customs in Eretz Yisrael.

Rabbi Yitzchak Yosef addresses³  a scenario where a Sephardic individual returns to Judaism under the guidance of an Ashkenazi rabbi.⁴  He asserts that, even in such cases, the one should adopt the customs of the Sephardic community. Although one might argue that a person is not obligated to follow their father's customs, Rabbi Yitzchak Yosef emphasizes the importance of honoring the minhagim of one's ancestors. Since the Sephardic mesorah (tradition) is rooted in the Shulchan Aruch, it is essential to uphold these customs, which have been passed down through generations.

Although Bucharian Jews outside of Israel can technically continue their customs that may differ from the rulings of the Shulchan Aruch, it has been accepted, in order to foster unity and cohesion among the diverse Sephardic communities outside the Land of Israel, to follow the rulings of the Shulchan Aruch even outside the Land of Israel.

 

¹  Ein Yitzhak vol. 3 pg. 192-194

² However, this very permission sparked a communal dispute. In a 1904 letter to the Rishon LeZion, Rabbi Yaakov Shaul Elyashar, concerns were raised that the slaughterers in Samarkand were adhering to the Rema’s stringent rulings. This resulted in a higher number of animals being deemed non-kosher, in addition to Muslim neighbors banning the purchase of Jewish meat. Consequently, there were no buyers for the animals ruled non-kosher by the shochatim trained by Rabbi Shlomo Yehuda Leib Elazarov (Kazarnovsky) to follow the Rema’s stringencies. In response to this crisis, Rav Chizkiya Rabin traveled from Bukhara to Samarkand and required the shochatim to take an oath not to deviate from the rulings of Maran, Rav Yosef Caro.

 ³ See Ein Yitzchak (volume 3, page 233), Yalkut Yosef (Nora’im, page 141)

⁴  Rabbi Yitzchak Yosef also clarifies that a student may only adopt their rabbi's customs if that rabbi is their primary teacher (rabo muvhak). This is in contrast to rabbis who solely focus on in-depth Talmudic analysis without providing practical guidance on halachah.