I'm a baal teshuva with Czech Jewish ancestry. I have an interest in the minhag of my ancestors as well as in common cultural practices, and perhaps pass them on where I can. Have they been documented anywhere?
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4Jakub: Welcome! Can you be a bit more specific about where your family lived? The national borders in Eastern Europe changed frequently and customs varied within the changing national borders.– Bruce JamesApr 3, 2013 at 12:45
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2The Maharal had a major influence in that area.– samApr 3, 2013 at 15:22
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2As did the Noda' BiYhudah.– Seth JApr 3, 2013 at 18:10
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+1 for casting the spotlight on the הנהגות ומנהגי פלוני genre.– WAFNov 8, 2013 at 12:55
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@BruceJames The furtherest back I know (which isn't very far back) is that they lived in rural Bohemia near Borotin towards the end of the 19th century. (Apologies for not replying earlier - I was expecting an email notification!)– JakubDec 24, 2013 at 6:39
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2 Answers
There was in minhag in the Alt-Neu Shul in Prague of saying Mizmor Shir L'Yom Ha Shabbat twice on Friday evenings.
This psalm (Song for the Sabbath Day) is usually recited toward the end of the Kabbalat Shabbat service. Traditionally, reciting this psalm was the point when the worshiper began to observe the restrictions of Shabbat. This created a conflict when under the influence of Arizal (based on Shabbat 119a), people would go out into the fields to greet the Shabbat Bride and Queen (L'cha Dodi). They would then say Mizmor Shir the first time to complete the Kabbalat Shabbat service (but not start observing the Shabbat yet), walk back into Prague to the shul, repeat Mizmor Shir again (really starting the Shabbat this time), then begin Ma'ariv.
Over time, they got away from the custom of going out into the fields, but the custom remained to say Mizmor Shir twice with a Kaddish in between them. This was seen as strange and remarked on by several observers from out of town in the nineteenth century.
The source of this information is:
Why Jews Do What They Do: The History of Jewish Customs Throughout the Cycle of the Jewish Year pp. 12–21 by Daniel Sperber (translated by Yaakov Elman)
I do not have it in front of me right now, so I apologize if I have made any mistakes in recalling this from memory. If anyone has any corrections, I welcome them.
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Indeed, the citation is imprecise, but I can't figure out the exact practice. Jun 7, 2018 at 9:48
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I recall that the reasoning for this is based on a legend of the Maharal's golem: the Maharal used to remove the piece of paper that had the word אמת on it from the golem's mouth before shabbat so the golem wouldn't work (on attacking goyim) on shabbat. One Friday evening, after mizmor shir was said, someone rushed in and told the Maharal that the golem was rampaging. The Maharal realized he forgot to remove the אמת. He rushed to do that and when he came back to shul, he told the congregation to say the mizmor again.– Harel13Feb 13, 2020 at 7:42
According to the סדר עבודת ישראל, whilst מנהג פולין say אב הרחמים on שבת מברכים החודש only during ספירת העומר, it says that ק''ק פראג (Prague) also say it on שבת מברכים החודש מנחם אב. http://www.hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=42807&st=&pgnum=252
answered Jun 1, 2015 at 20:16
