Questions tagged [ashkenazi]
Literally "Germany". Questions about the Jews of all the area that was once medieval Germany, more generally of all Catholic and Protestant (and some Eastern Orthodox) lands, and their laws and customs.
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Ashkenazic Practice of the Chazan saying only certain phrases (rashei perkaim) out loud [duplicate]
What is the source of the Ashkenazic practice of the Chazzan saying only certain words out loud? That is, in your typical Artscroll siddur, there are markings for the Chazzan to raise his voice and ...
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Hashkiveinu Avinu Vs Hashkiveinu Hashem Elokeinu
In the bracha of Hashkiveinu, in ma'ariv, Ashkenazim (at least, all Ashkenazi communities and siddurim I've seen) start the bracha with
השכיבנו ה' אלוקינו
Whereas all Sefardi communities and ...
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Ashkenazi speed-mumble davening: origins and halachic basis? [duplicate]
What are the origins of the Ashkenazi practice of mumbly-speed-through davening? I refer both to:
Shemoneh Esrei where the words are not articulated with the mouth (albeit silently) but rather the ...
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What is the approximate date of the demarcation between Ashkenazim and Sephardim?
Based on this article it would seem that the transition from a unified people into two groups, Ashkenazim and Sephardim, began in the 9th century and proceeded over time. I would like to know if there ...
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Various groups and individuals and their relation to a specific tribe
1.Is there anyone who attributes the tribe/kingdom of Yehudah to Sefardim, and the tribe/kingdom of Yosef to Ashkenazim (at least in the spiritual sense), as per Ovadiah 1:18?
are there any pairs of ...
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Wearing teffilin of different minhag
Are Sephardim allowed to wear ashkenazi teffilin or Ashkenazim allowed to wear Sephardic teffilin? If so, would they still make a berakha?
Could one purchase kosher teffilin of a different custom if ...
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What is the source for the differences of coverings between a Sephardic and Ashkenazik Sefer Torah
Typically an Ashkenazik Sefer Torah (image 1) scroll is covered first by a cloth binding ('gartel') and then a cloth cover. a Sephardic Sefer Torah (image 2) is typically enclosed in a wooden box. Is ...
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Rambam introduction to MT, ashkenazi equivalent?
In the Rambam's introduction to the Mishneh Torah, he claims he received a direct transmission of the true rabbinic tradition from the academies of Babylonia to him and traces it.
For Ashkenazim, is ...
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Birkat Kohanim in entirely Israeli minyan in chutz laaretz
According to the book Hilchot Tzava by Harav Zecharya Ben Shlomo a minyan of entirely Israeli soldiers in chutz laaretz should have the kohanim go up and duchan. What is the halachic rationale for ...
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Why "hayom yom rishon", not "echad"?
Rabbi Menachem Greenblatt (St. Louis, Missouri) mentioned at s'uda sh'lishis (Shabas parashas "Ki Setze" 5772) that the correct name for Sunday is echad b(a?)shabas, as is written in k'suvos and ...
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fringes on sephardic tiztzit
I saw many Ashkenazim have fringes on wool Tzitzit like on a Tallit. I don't see Sephardim having it on tzitzit though. Is this an Ashkenazi Minhag? Basically, fringes look like this
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Tallit for teenager
Does an Ashkenazi teenage boy wear a tallit gadol at all if he doesn't wear a tallit katan? Is it required to wear during shacharit if he doesn't have any other tzitzit?
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Soft Matzah for Ashkenazim
The Rama in 460:4 writes that one should make thin matzos and the Mishna Brurah 16 writes it should be thin. Rav Nebontzol (in his notes on the Mishna Brurah) points out the Be'er Heitiv 8 which ...
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Was the Nusach Sefaradi used in the Ashkenazi communities?
As far as we know, the Nusach Sefaradi penetrated the Ashkenazi through the Hasidim, among whom it became Sefard. Although, in fact, most of its varieties are 80% identical to Sefardai, and its ...
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When and why did the black velvet yarmulke become the standard for some communities?
Ashkenazi yarmulkes from around 200 years ago closely resemble the Yerushalmi style - white knitted with a tassel on top. Today, the vast majority of Chasidim and Yeshivish Jews seem to wear black ...
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Missing Traditional Half-Kaddish Melodies
In his article "How Music Articulates Liturgical Structure, Meaning, and Perception: The Kaddish" published in the recent volume of the Journal of Synagogue Music (vol. 47 no. 1), Dr. Boaz ...
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What does the munach say?
I'm asking according to Ashkenazi leining. The trop mark i have trouble with is the munach. It has two different sounds - a sort of "shaky" sound when it's on its own, and a sort of nothing sound when ...
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Are there any corrections one might suggest to this table of different Hebrew pronounciations? [closed]
Sound
Modern Israeli (Based on Sephardic pronounciation)
Ashkenazi Chabad (inc. other non-Oberland / Unterland Chassidim.
Ashkenazi Chassidic (Oberlander, Unterlander and Galitzer, e.g. Satmar)
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If bagels are an Ashkenazi Jewish food, why didn't it reach South America with it's Jewish immigration? [closed]
I've been to the US lately and discovered bagels, to find out later that it's considered a typical Jewish food.
I'm Ashkenazi myself and I've been living in the Jewish community of Buenos Aires my ...
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Is the Ashkenazi pronunciation of the kamatz "aw" or "uh"?
I have seen sources, for example the Artscroll transliterated siddur, that say that the Ashkenazi pronunciation of the kamatz vowel is "aw," as in the first syllable of "often," ...
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Why has a single daled knot become the "standard" on tefillin?
It has been brought to my attention that originally, both Ashkenazim and Sephardim used a square knot (also called the "double-daled knot") on the tefillin shel rosh, but when the daled knot was ...
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What is the significance of the different windings on tzitzit's?
The Ashkenazic form of windings are 7, 8, 11 and 13. What is the significance for these numbers?
The Sephardic form of windings are 10, 5, 6 and 5. What is the significance for these numbers?
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At a seder, If each kos has its own pri hagafen bracha, why does the afikoman not have its own al achilat matza bracha? [duplicate]
At an Ashkenazi seder, If each kos has its own pri hagafen bracha, why does the afikoman not have its own al achilat matza bracha?
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Did Ashkenazi Yiddish-speaking (not Crimean Turkic!) Karaites exist?
From the book by Murad El-Kodsi "The Karaite Communities in Poland, Lithuania, Russia and Crimea":
Actually, there were two groups, the Ashkenazi Karaites and the
Karaylar [Crimean Karaites]...
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Help identify my Hungarian minhagim
My paternal grandfather was from a little mountain town in Czechoslovakia called Giraltovce. As far as I know, their minhagim were basically just Hungarian (as opposed to Chassidish or Oberlander). I ...
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12 tribes: Are Ashkenazi Jews one of them?
A little confused (well, maybe a lot) about 12 lost tribes and current Jewish "division": Are Ashkenazim Jews one of them (12 tribes)? What about Sephardi?
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Any books dealing with minhaggim of Lita?
Are there any books that discuss the varying Litvish (Lithuanian) minhaggim (customs)—or, if not, maybe just the most prevalent ones?
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Problem with Likkutei Maharil
I was listening to a class by Rav Asher Weiss on asmachta and he brought three explanations for its purpose:
Ritvah - A derabannan that has a source in the torah
Tosafos and Rambam - Memorization
...
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Germanic populations in Talmudic and other rabbinic texts?
In the 11th century, Hai Gaon and Rashi refer to the country and language of “Ashkenaz” (referring to the area around the Rhineland, northern France and Germany). By the 12th and 13th centuries, ...
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Did Ashkenazi Karaites exist?
Did Ashkenazi (or Yiddish-speaking) Karaites exist? Theoretically, such communities could exist in Ukraine and Lithuania. Are there any examples of the same communities?
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Leining Tehillim
I would just like to know - is there a mesorah for Tehillim trop for Ashkenazim? I know that there is a Sefaradi one (I have heard them) but I would like to know if there is any Askenazi one. Thank ...
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With what Halachic work should an Ashkenaz start his learning?
If an Ashkenaz Jew wanted to start diving into the learning halacha are there any sources on which halachic work might be recommended to him to start with?
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Which Chasidic group departed the least from Ashkenazi minhag and nusach?
Chasidic groups vary in terms of their siddur's differences from nusach Ashkenaz, as well as their general minhagim and hashkafic approaches.
Is there a Chasidic group which most closely matches the ...
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Are Sephardic Jews allowed to dress up in costumes on Purim?
The custom of dressing up in costumes on Purim originated from Ashkenazic communities in Europe and has become a popular custom today for Ashkenazim (cf. Rema in Shulkhan Aruch Orach Chaim 696:8).
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Theological Justification for Discrimination against Sephardim?
There have been numerous cases of Ashkenazi Haredi schools in Israel discriminating against Sephardim. I am personally very disturbed by what I consider to be a great chillul Hashem, and I find such ...
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KfP-for-Ashk'nazim rice cakes… now what if they're soaked?
A rabbi visited a ricecake factory, found that the rice never became wet in the process of manufacture (and was sifted well to be sure it's only rice), and decided that the ricecakes, which are anyway ...
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What's a good technique for a not-so-strong person to do [Ashkenazi] Hagbaha?
I've seen many people shy away when asked to do Hagbaha (הגבהה), thinking themselves too weak. I know for a fact that it doesn't take that much strength to do it correctly, so I'd love to see a ...
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Reading the megillah without the taamim (cantillation)
The Kesser Shem Tov 2:pg.536 writes that the minhag of London and Amsterdam is to read the Megillah without the taamim (cantillation). This minhag is also found in Alger and Ashkanaz. The reason that ...
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Western Ashkenaz Mishnah Berurah
The Mishnah Berurah was composed with the minhagim of the Eastern Ashkenazi kehillot in mind. Is there an equivalent for the communities of Western Europe*?
*The Ashkenazi communities of the ...
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Hebrew Pronunciation- Sephardic Ashkenaz
I often hear Ashkenazim pronouncing (or at least trying) Hebrew words in Tefila/Keriat HaTorah like Sephardim. It probably isn't only Religious Zionists but it seems to be only them. Where did the ...
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Are there any minhag and customs specific to Czech Jews and have they been documented?
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 ...
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קָמָץ vs. קָמַץ in Ashkenazi pronunciation
All Ashkenazi readers/minhagim/etc. I've seen call this vowel קָמַץ, while there is considerable variation on whether the second syllables of the other vowel names (except for סֶגּוֹל, though there is ...
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Piyutim in the Scroll
The Shulchan Aruch (OC 139:4) discusses the potential issue that a listener might think that the blessings for an aliya are actually written in the Torah scroll. Different suggestions are offered for ...
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Shacharit on י"א תשרי
I have heard that there is a minhag in ashkenazi communities to daven shacharit on the morning after yom hakippurim a bit earlier than the time that one would normally daven shacharit. Anyone have the ...
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Seeking a German Siddur
I was wondering if there is a 'Minhag Ashkenaz' siddur presently in print. I have an older one at home, but it has sentimental value and as a university student, I would rather avoid using such a ...
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Mesorah exchange between communities
Based on this thread
What exactly prevents Ashkenazim from accepting Mesorah from other communities on things that we have not done in our own community?
For example, what is it about the Mesorah of ...
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List of establishing rabbis for each set of minhagim [closed]
I am a baal teshuva who is becoming orthodox and wondering what customs to hold. Is there a list of important rabbis who set minhagim (ie ashkenazi, sephardi yekki, chabad, notable subgroups, etc) and ...
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Is one permitted to change one’s minhagim from Sefardi to Ashkenazi?
If a person grew up Sefardi and wanted to change his minhagim to Ashkenazi (including pronunciations) is it permitted to do so?
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Is switching customs allowed?
To what extent are, say, Ashkenazic Jews halachically obligated to follow Ashkenazic customs by, say, refraining from eating kitniyot on Pessah? Chullin 110a-b says: Follow the restrictions of the ...
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Is there a movement to centralize Rabbinical authority through all Jewish communities?
Due to the exile, Jewish civilization ended up splintering off into various sub-groups.
Ashkenazim
Sephardim/Mizrahim
etc.
Through this division, Judaism developed a series of "flavors" with ...
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