Hello all. I am sitting at my computer on what turned into a morning at home preparing class. 

This past Shabbos was Rosh Chodesh, Shekalim on Parshas Terumah. This hasn’t occurred for some 31 years (Shekalim is usually on Mishpatim) and won’t for another 20 or so years. Friday Purim and an Erev Pesach on Shabbos (as we have this year) will not happen again until 2045. 

I have mentioned my involvement in a local Minyan of Yekkes and Minhag Aschkenaz enthusiasts here in Brooklyn. We have been meeting on Friday nights and Motzi Shabassos. We occasionally meet for Shabbos morning as well, and we intend to hold services for the Daled Parshiyos. Although I thought I more-or-less knew the Minhagim of our Shul, it isn’t until I needed to implement them that I realized how many little things go into getting this right.  

But here is a beautiful thing that I experienced recently. We, of course, make Kiddush and Havdallah in Shul. Recently, I used the alternative tune for Kiddush, the one composed by Chazan Abraham Katz of Amsterdam and used by Chazan Frankel for many years. It is a much slower and more ornate Kiddush, with deliberate and long elaborated syllables belted out fervently. As I deliver this Kiddush, I am overcome with the moment. With the many eyes focused on my Kiddush cup. With the sanctity of receiving the Shabbos day. With the song, I am singing for Shabbos in this Kiddush. I felt like I was delivering the Star-Spangled Banner in Giants Stadium. I felt the beauty of the community accepting Shabbos together in Shul over this one small cup of wine. 

I remember how, in my youth, in the Breuers Shul, there were people who sometimes talked in Davening (as one may find anywhere). Not everyone stood for Chazoras Hashatz or Krias HaTorah. But Kiddush always commanded utter silence, and the entire shul stood.  

An interesting point of order connected to Kiddush: 

On Friday night, the Chazan makes Kiddush wearing his tallis, but on Motzi Shabbos, he does not put on a tallis to make Havdalah. I am informed that even if the Chazan was the Baal Tefilah on a Motzi Shabbos (for instance, if he is a Chiyuv), he removes it (!) for Havdalah. 

I asked Reb Yisroel Sidney for some explanation. 

He said there is no known reason why the cantor does not wear a Tallis when making havdala in shul. But that is the minhag. So much so that even if the Cantor prayed the evening prayer, he removed it for havdalah and shir Hamaalos.  

I asked why Shir Hamaalos is sung from the Almemer. 

He had two possible reasons. First, even though it already was part of the prayer, since they added a tune, they wanted to differentiate it, as is done on Friday nights, Lecha Dodi. Second, for reasons of practicality, since he is not the Baal Tefila (a member of the congregation after a Chiyuv davens Maariv on Motzi Shabbos), there would be nowhere for him to stand as he would sing it. The Baal Tefillah would have to step aside awkwardly.  
In some shuls, such as monks in Golders Green, London, the person making the mourners kaddish wears a Tallis. This is supposedly documented as the Frankfurt custom.  

Nevertheless, no one in our community whom he has spoken with who grew up in Frankfurt remembers that specifically being done there.  
He also noted that in Frankfurt, Kiddush and Havdalah were done by the Shamash and not by the Chazan at all! (This would possibly explain the reason the Chazan does not wear a Tallis for Havdalah, as this was never considered the Chazan’s responsibility, but that of the Shamash in his capacity of tending to the “guests” (I.e., wayfarers who would sleep in the Shul when passing through a town in times of yore. They were part of the reason this Minhag started.) 
 

Finally, Reb Yisroel noted that in Sharei Hatikva, where he grew up, one reciting Kadish would wear a Tallis as in Munks. Further, a mourner wore a Talis at Mincha and Maariv, even if he would not receive a  kaddish, such as in the 12th month. For this reason, in his 12th month, he avoided going for those prayers because he found it odd.  

Recently, I have been participating in a newly formed Aschkenaz Minyan in the style of our Gemran Mesorah here in Midwood, Brooklyn. The Minyan formed over the summer through the efforts of a good friend- a young man of Lithuanian descent who harbors a thirst for researching and reviving Minhag Aschkenaz through his blog, along with Moshe H. – a KAJMO expatriate who had first hosted the minyan in his home and was later instrumental in finding a dedicated space for the Minyan. 

On the last days of Sukkos, the Minyan had all Tefilos, but since then, we have only been meeting for Friday night and Motzi Shabbos. This even though we have a Sefer Torah on loan from Yehudah N. and his family. We intend to meet for Shabbos Mevorchim  Shacharis, but this has not materialized yet. 

On Sukkos, I had the chance to sit in the Kehillah Sukkah next to Mr. Michael W., who told me he has access to a very old Sefer Torah from Germany that is Pasul beyond repair. I asked if I could borrow it for Hakafos, and he agreed. The Sefer was returned to his father upon the liquidation of Cong. Beth Hillel in the year 2000- although he does not know how his father initially got it to the Shul. The inscription on the Torah was hard to read since the name of the city is not found on any map. The year of its dedication is clearly legible as תרכט= 1869 !! Upon closer look and with the input of Yitzi E. it became apparent that the city is Berlichingen. This city is on a map and is home to a famous medieval knight whose life was memorialized in his autobiography (!) and by the German writer Goethe: Gotz von Berlichingen. Knights and castles aside, the town had a Jewish community dating back to the time when Gotz’s family still governed the district!

The following is from Geni.com 

“Jews are first mentioned in records dating from 1632, when the village was ruled by the noble Berlichingen family and the Schoenthal Monastery. The Jews who were permitted to settle in the village were descendants of the Jews expelled from Spain. They were treated well but subject to paying high taxes. The congregation was established in 1632. A cemetery was consecrated that same year and also served the neighboring Jewish communities. Prayers were conducted in a private home; a synagogue was established during the mid-18th century. 

The Jews worked as cattle, sheep, and fish merchants, as well as shopkeepers, peddlers, and moneylenders. Others worked as artisans, butchers, and innkeepers. Their activities during this time boosted the village’s economy. 

The first rabbi of Berlichingen was Rabbi Jacob Berlinger (served 1809-1834), a descendant of Rabbi Akiva Eiger. During that period Berlichingen was the headquarters of the district rabbinate, which included three other nearby Jewish communities. Later the district rabbinate was moved to Bad Mergentheim. The community was led for many years by Shimon Metzger. 

The Jewish population reached its peak in 1854, with 249 people (about 16.3% of the general population) living in the town, as well as a small group of about 50 Jews who lived in neighboring Beiringen. After 1883 the Jewish population declined due to emigration and the rapid urbanization in south Germany during that period. At the turn of the 20th century there were 90 Jews living in Berlichingen.” 

Common Jewish surnames in the area were Kaufmann, Metzger, Gottlieb and Berlinger. The latter family produced several well-known rabbis and teachers. (From Allemania-Judaica.de)

The Torah scroll is enormous and was mine to hold as I danced and led the piyut “Besimchas Torah,” whirling in a circle with two other men holding their Torahs and this one retired Sefer Torah. A Torah that may not have had another Simchas Torah if not for our little Minyan.  

The sukka at 615 West 186th Street was made of green aluminum walls that hooked into each other. It was originally a hut used as an office at construction sites (before trailers were invented?). 

My father was most instrumental in retrofitting it to a sukkah. 

He created a pully attached to its door to ensure it remained closed. He also steadied the sukkah by having the main Schach beams reach the walls of the building’s rear courtyards. 

Mr. Adler owned a vinyl shower curtain and barbershop apron factory on Ft. George Hill. He would provide the sukkah with plastic tablecloths and window shades. 

About a month before Sukkos, a “Sukkah meeting” was called in the apartment of one of the Frum residents. A date for erecting the Sukkah was chosen, and jobs were assigned. The last such meeting, and perhaps the only one I was old enough to attend, was in Benny E.’s apartment in the early 90s. 

The young folk- (which included my father and Benny, as well as Mr. Zitter and several YU-affiliated families who passed through the building over the years) would assemble on a chosen Sunday morning to carry the Sukkah out of the building boiler room to the rear courtyard. The older neighbors (like Mr. Fulda-who had a watch repair shop on St. Nicholas Avenue, and Mr. Martin Lehmann, who worked for a butcher on the Upper West Side), would be given lighter jobs like bringing up the chairs and washing the walls with a garden hose. 

The Sukkah could hold eight families at once and, in the building’s Jewish heyday, had two ½ shifts. The families who ate quickly and came home from Shul early were in the first shift. My father greatly disapproved of how these people ate their meals so quickly. As I remember, the Third shift had only one or two families—ourselves and the Zitters.  

Shortly before Yomtov, the building youth would arrange to hang decorations, some from years past, and new homemade items such as paper chains and illustrations each year. 

Entry to the Sukkah was via an alleyway or via a window in the building’s lobby, but the window required a short climb over a ten-foot drop. 

The Sukkah was put out of use as the families in the building slowly moved out. My brother used part of it as his own for several years. Today, two small Schach rolls remain on my Sukkah as I write this. 

Some Sukkah memories I have: 

My mother knew Mr. Adler could not stand the smell of fried fish. To irk him a little, she would always serve this on one day of Sukkos. 

My father’s birthday was at this time of the year. Some ladies in the building would grace the occasion by making him his favorite dessert: A German-style Linzer Torte. My father would rave about how intricate the process of baking this cake is and how many fine ingredients it contains. Because he cherished it so much, and it was so rich, we could all only have a slither of the cake, then it was committed to the freezer where it would wait to be eaten one slither at a time over several months. 

For someone reading this who has never lived or eaten in a shared Sukkah, it is an experience of community and bonding. Of course, for us, it was the only way we knew. 

On a discussion board this week with Yekkes in Eretz, a post mentioned the fact that many of our parents used nothing other than an apple dipped in honey for the “simanim” on Rosh Hashanah eve. Today, many of us have a variety of fruit and vegetable on the table and a placard from an institutional mailing, to help us through the various prayers. 

What changed? 

Mostly our awareness. Today, a person has access to many publications in the English language. People know the Halachos from several sources. People have more contact with other people and their Minhagim. Our approach to Mitzvah performance seeks to cover all the bases. Scarcity is more scarce. And all of the above. 

But what I posted to this message board was that the Minhag—mentioned first in the Gemara—had been mostly forgotten by the masses until the appearance of the placards. The apple and honey were sufficient, and it was a special moment in the year—a savored moment—done with a simplicity that is not always found anymore. 

Now, there was once a writer of Jewish sociological books, who wrote in an article (1990s) abot how he remembers a simpler time that people would buy candy bars based upon just reading the ingredients. The Jewish Observer roasted him for that line, since it is like longing for ignorance and folly. 

But I know what he missed; perhaps he didn’t quite know how to express it. 

He missed the innocence (or perceived innocence) of his childhood.  

I recently saw an internet meme. It showed an old Blockbuster Video (rental store). The sign in front said: “It is not me, you miss. It is your childhood!” 

All that said, the discussion went to which Siman to use first, which is a complicated sheilo in Halachos of Brachos. Many said that even with all the variety at the table, including fruits of Israel, the apple still goes first since it has precedence as “Chaviv”. The beloved fruit. 

I smiled when I saw this. Seems I am not the only one missing my childhood. 

Hello. Today, I am writing about Minhagim again. About the utopian Jewish dream of ending all minhagim. 

Of course, this would refer to Yemos Hamoshiach. In Messianic times when the diaspora is gathered, there will need to be a merging of minhagim or a completely new order of Minhag for the united Am Yisroel. 

The community of religious Zionists considers the establishment of the State of Israel to be a manifestation of the beginning of Messianic times. Thus, in the early years of the state, they embarked on making a uniting Nusach called “Nusach Achid,” initially attempting to make it the official siddur of the IDF. 

To make a long story short…it never really caught on in Israel.  

Despite the Olim’s philosophy lending itself to the idea of leaving the ways of the Diaspora behind, they nevertheless still had an affinity for the Nusach they brought with them. 

S.Y. Agnon has a short episode in one of his lengthy books, which I enjoy recounting. It involves a pious man, a widower or a bachelor, who is introduced to a local widow in the Shtetl,  and they decide to get married. The widow had already made plans to move to Jerusalem (as it was once a tradition for widows to live out their days in Jerusalem.) Having met this man, she would marry him, and they would go to Jerusalem together. Suddenly, a few nights before the marriage, he had a dream in which “Yom Tov Sheni” appeared to him as a woman – dressed in black and crying over the fact that he would no longer be observing the Yom Tov Sheni. He was so alarmed by the dream that he called off the wedding. 

Of course, Agnon was poking fun at the Lilliputians and of the Shtetl life, but sometimes we, too, need to remember to keep our eye on the big picture. 

Well, this week, while davening Mincha in the Five Towns, I encountered a piece of the future. A “Minyan Factory”—or so I was told—has opened on Central Avenue. 

I considered this a great convenience since other times I have ventured through that great avenue of Frum-commerce and Gastric sensations, I needed to find Mincha by searching in town for local Shuls and their schedules. Now, the Minyan would be “Central”. 

Well, as I learned more about this “factory” I heard that it was started with the assistance of the Scheiner Shul of Monsey. Knowing this I understood that it would be the type of place that makes everyone feel welcome, embraced, and at home. 

Indeed, there was a very welcoming coffee station, with soda, slushies, cake, pizza in a warmer, and hot dogs on rollers under a heating lamp! 

Additionally, there were signs about regular shiurim and a most novel invention- that brings me back to the dreams of the early Zionists and their Nusach Achid:  

There was a large dial on the wall before the Chazan’s Amud. It could be turned to indicate if the current Minyan was Ashkenaz, Sefard, or Sefardi. And what, you might ask, determines the Nusach of the Minyan? Nothing other than the volunteer Chazan of that Minyan!

 _{The great Nusach Dial of the future!}

Now, why would I, a guy with a Yekkishe blog that often glorifies Minhagim, be touting something like this? 

As I begin to age, I start to look for ways that Moshiach could come amid all the craziness around us. I realize that while the Zionists initially hoped that the ingathering of the Exiles would produce a NEW Nusach, I can see in hindsight that the solution to finding a Nusach for our nation’s reunion after a two-millennia-long separation would be the inclusion of ALL Nuschaos, with a fluidity that would allow all Minhagim to find their home in Moshiach’s time.  

Perhaps, this week, I witnessed the prototype of the Shul of the Future. 

The world of Jewish political enthusiasts was energized by the appearance of a fresh-faced young man, an online influencer, and an outspoken advocate and party to a lawsuit against

the recent wave of anti-Semitism that has terrorized Jewish students at some of America’s finest and oldest universities. Shabbos (Shabsi) Alexander Kestenbaum, a recent graduate of Harvard’s Graduate School of Divinity, has spoken before Congress, and now at the RNC, about his experiences and the way that both the Democratic party and his university have abandoned a commitment to liberal arts, tolerance, and the safety of Jewish students. 

Shabbos received a top-notch education at Modern Orthodox day schools and rounded off his early schooling with a year at Aish Hatorah in Jerusalem.

Today, he sports a large velvet Yarmulka and an unapologetic pride in his Judaism and…his ancestry. You see, Shabbos is a great-grandson of Rav Breuer’s daughter Hanna Schwalbe. 

In his advocacy, he has energized the students to stand up to the agitators. In his speech, he declared that “Jewish values are American values, and American values are Jewish values!” This might raise eyebrows but is probably just a nod to the founders’ deep religious convictions and to the idea that the Bnei Yisrael—via our Torah—is meant to be an “Ohr LaGoyim” – a light unto the nations.

But what does the second clause mean?  “American values are Jewish values” does not sound like a theologically sound idea (though it makes for a great speech ender!)

In truth, we find a similar thought in Rav Hirsch’s writings, and Shabbos might be echoing his ancestry—whether he knew it or not. Here is a quote from Rabbi Meir Hildesheimer’s article on Rav Hirsch on Professor L Levine’s website.

Rabbi Hirsch was especially influenced by Hegel and Schiller. In a speech given in his school he founded on the centenary of the birth of the latter, he claimed that the universal principles of Western culture embodied in Schiller’s writings are Jewish values originating in the Torah. 

Now, as shocking as this sounds, Rav Hirsch, and arguably TIDE, are meant for us to see where Hashem’s glory is expressed in the greater human experience. And to Shun anywhere that it doesn’t. Indeed, Rabbi Hildesheimer goes on to show that Rav Hirsch’s experience with Western Culture ended where the Torah’s ethical code was absent:

Despite Rabbi Hirsch’s liberalism in matters of culture and education, he was critical of literature that he considered offensive from a religious or moral standpoint. Thus, while reading “Der Salon” by Heine, he grew so highly incensed by its blasphemous expressions that he wanted to burn the book and compensate the library for its destruction. Nevertheless, the fact that “Der Salon” was written by an apostate did not prevent Rabbi Hirsch from reading it. 

Furthermore, we see the strict adherence to Torah values in the encounter with culture elsewhere in Rav Hirsch’s writings. In an angry article addressed to the reformers in Frankfurt who labeled themselves as “Religion allied with progress,” Rav Hirsch takes great exception to 1) what the reformers called “progress”, and 2) the idea that his community is somehow “reactionary.” But before doing so, he makes the following statement in fiery language:

We hereby declare before heaven and earth that if our religion indeed would require us to denounce that which men call civilization and culture, we would be ready to do so without hesitation, precisely because we truly regard our religion as a religion, because it is to us the word of G-d, to which all other considerations must defer.

I intend to write a second installment on Shabbos Kestenbaum’s appearance at the convention, but I want to close with a short qualifier to the words of Rav Hirsch – and his young descendant- above.

Rav Schwab- in at least two of his speeches/articles among his collected works, makes the assertion that some of the affection the community in Germany had for the works of Schiller and the like would not have been so great had they known that men who could quote the poetry, philosophy, and music of the great German thinkers, could send one million children to the gas chambers. He even mentions Rav Hirsch’s name in this context. Although I assume Rav Hirsch, in his saintly ways, never had affection for the writers, only for their wisdom- Rav Schwab avers that Rav Hirsch zt’l, from his place in Gan Eden, would agree to his conclusion that the morality of Schiller did not stand the test of time. Indeed, he qutes Rav Hirsch’s commentary, wherein Avraham is chosen specifically because he can be relied on to maintain the divine morals. _{(Selected Writings pg. 81)}

This said, we, who live with the Holocaust as a backdrop to all we experience today, need to be careful when heaping praise on the values of American society…as espoused by whichever party should be in power.

As we sit in the Nine Days, we think of our place in Golus and the events we have faced as a people in the cycle of history.

Our place as a people has alarmingly become front-and-center in the media. People are talking about anti-Semitism while watching it in play with the approval of the biggest universities, municipalities, and elected representatives. People too young to know that certain verbiage, imagery, and opinions are, actually, ancient tropes and accusations- redesigned to fit a narrative meant to bolster the most sinister nations that hate both Israel and the Jewish people.

And the rest of us are sitting here watching all of this unfold.

 Politicians who made a career out of supporting Israel, marching in the parade, and shaking hands in Jewish neighborhoods now deliver condescending remarks critical of Israel that seem to have been handed to them by the White House.

All of this, we as Jews believe, is because the Jewish people are becoming distant from our Torah, our best selves, and our homeland.

In one of the first videos that I posted on the history of our Shuls, I spoke about the life of Rabbi Hanover z’l- and how he fled Germany as the last Rav of Wurzburg. He sent his youngest daughter, Ruth, to Holland as he and his wife fled to America. Sending for her later, he could not obtain a Visa. His older daughter went to Israel with his stepchildren, Rabbi and Mrs. Hanover were in America, and Ruth never made it out of Holland.

Yehudah Amichai was an Israeli poet. Perhaps Israel’s most famous poet. He was raised Orthodox but became a voice for a religiously skeptical Zionism. Still, among his poems are Jewish thoughts and struggles.

Yehudah was also Ruth Hanover’s childhood friend in Wurzburg when he was known as Ludwig Pfeuffer.

Amichai would write about Ruth at the end of his life, and it was through her that he viewed the Holocaust. According to his girlfriend from his college years, “Amichai had an argument with a childhood friend, Ruth Hanover, which led to her cycling home angrily. Ruth was caught in a traffic accident, as a result of which she had to have a leg amputated and felt guilt and responsibility. Ruth later was murdered in the Holocaust. Amichai referred to her in his poems as “Little Ruth“. _{(from Wikipedia)}

It is possible that her childhood disability complicated her Visa process and led to her being trapped in Europe.

As Amichai carried the picture of Ruth in his heart, Rabbi and Mrs. Hanover carried the guilt of separation with them as they came to these shores until word came that she was deported in 1943 and eventually perished in Sobibor.

With the memory of his daughter and his community in his heart, Rabbi Hanover set out to lead the Shaarei Hatikvah community in Washington Heights.

Analogous to the heavy memories these refugees carried with them, Rabbi Hanover brought something else with him. He brought a stone from the destroyed Shul in Wurtzburg, which he was to embed in the new structure on 179^th Street.

It is now some 80 years since that stone was embedded on these shores and that structure is now up for sale. I hope someone will salvage that stone one more time and deliver it to the city of Jerusalem one day soon.

(Much of the content from Yad Vashem)

From the Google group of Avraham Aumann (Google translate from Hebrew with corrections):

“I received the following story from a friend of Ben Ashkenaz,

Maybe it can strengthen us in the beautiful custom of blessing the children.”

My father, Shlit” a, taught for many years in Neve Yerushalayim in the Har Nof neighborhood in Jerusalem.

English-speaking girls who knew nothing about their Jewish heritage received lessons in Judaism, faith, and knowledge of the mitzvot at “Neveh.”

But much more important than the lessons they received were the life lessons learned when they saw the conduct of Torah and mitzvot observant homes.

My parents would invite girls to almost every Shabbat meal to taste the taste of Shabbat.

The special Siyata Dashmia that accompanies those engaged in repentance is very miraculous.

The Almighty brings them success in various forms they have not even dreamed of.

One day, one of the women – a Baalas Teshuvah, told my mother (HKM) that at the very beginning of the road, when there were still many debates about whether to take this bold step,

she was invited to a Shabbat meal with a few other friends.

Of course, everything was so new and intriguing that they followed everything closely and with pleasure, even to things we don’t usually notice.

“When I saw all the children approach in order, first to the father and then to the mother, and bow their heads to receive the blessing of the sons, I was moved.

The scene really touched my heart, and I decided that I wanted such a family!

This was my main drive to repent and build a Torah house.”

“A Jew for All Seasons” was the name of a play put on by the ladies Achdus group of our community in the 1980s. If someone is interested in seeing it (women only, please) please contact me.

But today I am talking about the Sefira. 

The Minhag not to shave, cut hair, or listen to music in the Sefira is observed as a remembrance of the loss of the 24,000 students of Rabi Akiva in the third century. As such, it is a form of mourning (see an earlier blog post about this point here). 

It has become almost ubiquitous in America to observe the “first” Sefirah. In Israel it is already the de facto Minhag, and they refrain from weddings after Lag Ba’Omer as well- until Chodesh Sivan. But one of my students was surprised that the Rema’s Sefirah Minhag (Rosh Chodesh Iyar until early Sivan) is not given precedence by Ashkenazi Americans over the Beis Yoseif’s.

I am aware that some people who are in the workplace among non-Jews need the first Minhag so that they can grow a beard over the Pesach vacation and return to work with a beard as opposed to stubble. Others might have chosen the first Minhag since Pesach already precludes shaving and allows music, and this removes a whole week of Sefirah and ends it earlier. Oka-a-a-y.  

But I want to point out that the idea of waiting for Sefirah until a time that the festivities of Pesach have fully passed makes a lot of sense and avoids the seeming contradiction. (Although the Rema’s minhag does have Sefirah observance on Rosh Chodesh…so there is some overlap of Aveilus and Simcha in this Minhag as well.) Interestingly, the Ezras Torah calendar calls for Av Horachamim to be said this past Shabbos, despite the no-Tachanun rule of Nissan and the Mevorchim Hachodesh of Iyar because “it is Sefirah”. 

Therefore, there is a good argument for American Ashkenazi Jews to cling to the Rema’s Minhag. (Elsewhere I have discussed our local Minhag.)

Our Halachos are meant to “dictate” our behavior-  and also guide our emotions and thoughts. Sefira calls for refraining from song and haircuts and therefore should remind us that this was once a time of great sadness. While listening to acapella Jewish music seems to have become popular, wouldn’t it be appropriate to “swallow the pill” and engage in the relevant mood?

Another “breach” in the minhag has become increasingly popular with events to mark Lag Ba’omer on the night of the 33rd, where Halachah would dictate that we wait until the morning of Lag before relaxing the Halachos of Sefira. I opened the popular “Dirshu” Mishnah Berurah and found that they had no support for this, other than that the respect for Rabi Shimon Bar Yochai is considered a Mitzvah. One cannot draw support from the festivities at Meron because many of the adherents of Chasidus are keeping the entire 49 days as mourning, they therefore are not relying on the partial day of Lag Be’Omer. Of course, if one follows a Rov with Kabalistic or Chassidic leanings this is fine. It is for us to remember (I wrote about this last year here.)that we have to follow our Poskim just the same. (One could wonder if an adherent to the local KAJ Minhag would need to wait until Lag Be’Omer morning – meaning, is it part of the 33 days?)

This post is long in the making like most things I plan to do – that quickly become victims of procrastination. Things just hit a peak so I am sitting down to write this at a school b-ball game. 

A renewed interest in Minhag Aschkenaz is emerging in the broader Jewish communities and Yekkes outside WH. It is manifested in various forms such as, in new minyanim in Lakewood and Passaic, a Kolel in Eretz with a very robust webpage (see icon above) and a thirst for research, three WhatsApp groups, a Google email by Professor Auman’s son in Israel, and several Facebook pages. I am not even mentioning my websites and social media among this, since I have very little minhag content on my site containing research or documentation. 

The minyan in Lakewood already has a periodical, as does the Kollel in Israel. The Whatsapp groups feature regular posts of Minhag-related shiurim from the Monk’s Shul in London and by the Israel Kollel. 

The Whatsapp group was begun by a Zurich IRG member living in England. While the content on that group is posted by admins only ( I am one, but rarely post), he has since opened a second group as an open forum. The chatter is constant and the group is slowly making its way through all the old topics – and some new ones. Some of it is minutiae and some of it is quite informative.

For many of us who carry the guilt of leaving the Heights upon our shoulders or the collective worry for its future, the question arises: Where does it all lead?

The main contribution among all of the chatter- in my opinion- is exposure to several communities abroad and the chance to learn a bit about them.

Is all the Minhag chatter minutia? I am not the one to say. I know that in every other community in Judaism today, there is an increased focus on Halacha and a mixing of cultures. People are even keeping other people’s Minahgim and Segulahs in our age of social media. Women in Teaneck are baking Challahs in the shape of a key, and people in Flatbush are flying to Uman. Should we not have a seat at the table?

There is rumbling this week about the possibility of opening an Aschkenaz minyan in Flatbush. So for all it is or isn’t, third-wave Aschkenaz is coming to a neighborhood near you!