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According to Rav Wikipedia, the upsherin is a custom that was brought from Muslims to Palestinian Jews to Tzfat Sephardim to Chasidim.

Recently, I've noticed mainstream (non-charedi) Orthodox Jews also holding upsherins. How and when did this come to be standard practice? How widespread is it?

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Very related (though not quite a dupe because this one's specifically about contemporary America): judaism.stackexchange.com/questions/13106/… – Isaac Moses Jan 9 at 17:14
@IsaacMoses The accepted answer there are chassidic sources. – Charles Koppelman Jan 9 at 17:17
I don't know that this is "standard practice." I went to one 15 years ago and have been to a couple more recently. But I also know people int he community who are not doing it. How is one to determine a standard minhag? Is this aspect of the question answerable? – Danno Jan 9 at 19:36
@Dan That's a good question. I think that if you can show it's not standard practice, that would answer the question. "Standard practice" here has a flexible definition, but I guess I mean "When did this become something that people would say 'Jews do this' instead of 'Chasids do this'?" – Charles Koppelman Jan 9 at 22:05
Just as a btw, is there any source to back up non-chareidi Orthodox Jews as being the mainstream? Is it clear that there are more non-Chareidi Orthodox Jews than Chareidi Jews? – Shraga Jan 9 at 23:52
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I'll try to explain this (without any sources, sorry!) as best as I can as a practical matter in modern circles in the United States (and elsewhere).

First, many non-charedi Orthodox Jews in America maintain older customs.

Second, some "neo-Hasidic" (or "Modern-Hasidic") Orthodox Jews (I'm not using any accepted nomenclature, just calling it as I see it, but I'm referring to the growing trend of people taking influence from a blend of Hasidic customs and teachings) have also embraced the practice.

Still other have embraced the practice for the symbolism of 'Orlah (not taking fruit from a tree for three years), since both people and the Torah are compared to trees.

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I understand all of that. I also understand that the growing percent of charedi teachers in MO schools (and of charedi rabbis in congregations of MO-niks) mean that charedi customs seep into MO culture. But I'm wondering when this custom became seen as "it's something we do" where "we" means MO Ashkenazi Jews. This question is entirely sociological, so I don't expect a traditional source here. – Charles Koppelman Jan 9 at 17:34
So you want a year/decade/era? – Seth J Jan 9 at 18:05
a documented year/decade/era would be sufficient. Better would be a timeline of adoption, but some things are just not fully traceable. – Charles Koppelman Jan 9 at 18:08
I mean, I can document a year on this page if you want. What type of documentation are you looking for? – Seth J Jan 9 at 18:27

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