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For Gerer Chassidim (Polish Chassidishe Dynasty), what minhagim do they follow concerning these things:
Do they use Ashkenazi, Sephardic, or nusach Ari? Do they wind the retzuos inward or outward from their body?
Two holes or one on a tallis katan? One hole on a tallis? Black stripes or white stripes? Ashkenazi or Ari tzitzis?
Nusach Ashkenazi or Ari?
Gur Tefillin:
Square knot (edit: some wear single dalet) , Shel Yad Ashkenaz, Wrapping also Ashkenaz way, Brachos on both must be said standing.
Ksav: Ari Zal with Shin of Beys Yosef which is called a Polnisher Shin.
Ratzuos from shel rosh goes down, and behind the gartel then we wrap once and going "outside" way
Gartel must be tight high, on the level of stomach and elbows. Both ratzuos and gartel way of wearing is a reflection of Cohen Gadol garment,
Rekel black, Bekishe Black, No tish Bekishe
Hat: Round felt, High but not as high as "Kova" Hats at Boro Park, Top of the hat flat ! Hat should be made of rabbit fur.
No Strimel, Spodik is in use and there is no exception to this.
Pants are tucked in black knee high socks, no white socks in use. Now many people wear regular pants and socks and tuck on Shabbos. Again it's a lot about tradition, community you live in etc, etc.
I see a lot of "They do..." SO I'm one of "They" :) Just ask and I'll help as best as I can !
I have been trying to reconnect to my Gerrer roots. This is what I've discovered.
Tefillin:
They are standard size, not oversize like Chabad. The parchments are k'sav Beis Yosef (source: a Gerrer who related that to me with a story from his yeshivoh days). The laying of Rabbeinu Tam tefillin is added from marriage.
They are wrapped standard nusach Ashkenaz as opposed to nusach S'fard that some other Chassidim wrap or Nusach Chabad. Nusach Ashkenaz is wrapped inwards towards oneself, one on the upper arm, seven on the forearm, shin on the hand, three wraps on middle finger. I have seen some Ashkenazim that add a wrap from the ring finger to the middle finger but have not yet seen that done in Ger, although some still might.
Interestingly, I have noticed that Gerrer Chassidim wrap the straps of the shel rosh around their gartel but I am not sure why.
Both Nusach S'fard and Nusach Chabad wrap outwards.
Tallis: Tallis is tied exactly the same as Nusach Ashkenaz. The tallis itself is traditional black and white. I have not seen the practice as mentioned above of having a gold crown for a Shabbes tallis. I have only ever seen the standard white ashkenazi atarah (neck/head piece).
Tzitzis: The strings themselves once again are tied exactly like Nusach Ashkenaz however where it adjoins the garment, rather than having one hole like ashkenazim, there are two holes (a tzeirei) that are flat unlike that of Chabad which are diagonal. This is not done on the tallis because it would appear haughty but the Mishna Berurah (11:39) allows it on a tallis kottn because it is not worn quite so publicly.
The nusach for the siddur is nusach S'fard which was introduced by the Ari. This is very slightly different to Nusach Ari, the Chabad nusach, which is the Alter Rebbe's version of Nusach S'fard.
I am still researching Gerrer minhogim with the desire to reconnect with the Yiddishkeit of my great grandparents. If you find anything interesting, please contact me.
Tag: Chassidei Ger | Chassidei Gur | Gerrer Chassidim
Ger tfilin -- the shel yad is Ashkenaz (winds in toward the body) but the shel rosh has a Sfard knot at the back of the head (3 box knot)
Ger tallis -- no silver or other ornamental headpiece
