Part 3: The Evolution of the Minhagim of Polish Jewry

We then find people coming from Germany, such as Rabbi Yechiel Luria of Alsace, who was the first Rav in Brisk. We find his son, Rabbi Avraham Luria who was his successor in Brisk…he was the grandfather of the Maharshal, Rav Shlomo Luria. We find a great Torah scholar, the Maharam Mintz, who moved from Germany, Mainz, to Posen (Poznan). We find Rav Kalman of Worms who became the Rav in L’vov (Lviv). They prepared the revolution, but they did not create it.

The major influence upon the Torah life of Poland was Rav Yaakov Pollack. Rav Yaakov Pollack was one of the greatest Roshei Yeshiva of all times. He was a disciple of Rav Yaakov Margolis of Nuremberg and Regensburg (in Southern Germany, Bavaria). He was their talmid, and others as well. First, he went to Prague (Bohemia), after the Jews were expelled from Nuremberg and Regensburg. Eventually, he moved to Krakow, Poland. In Poland, he had tremendous success. He developed his special style of learning, which is known as pilpul, and he attracted thousands of talmidim (students) to learn with him…if not directly, then indirectly to learn with his talmidim. The greatest of his talmidim were people such as Rav Shalom Shachna. Rav Shalom Shachna is the teacher of the Maharshal and the Rama. Just take these two pillars of Polish Jewry. There were many others as well. From this point in history, we can see Poland rising into an enormous Torah center which continued for generations.

These people still self-identified as being German Jews. We find this. If you look in the Rama, on plenty of occasions he writes that “We can’t change the minhagim kadmonim (the earlier customs) of Ashkenaz and Tzorfas (France), because we are their descendants.” [He makes a point to say] that we are descendants of Germany and France. In another location he writes “We are b’nei Ashkenaz - the sons of Germany,” etc., etc.

The Rama was not the only one to write like this. We find his disciple, the Levush, Rav Mordechai Yaffe, a great posek himself, he says “the minhag of the kadmonim in Ashkenaz - in Germany and France is [so and so]…and we are their sons and grandsons, so we must keep and obey this messorah.” We find the Bach, another great Torah scholar, saying the same thing. He says “We are German Jews [anu b’nei Ashkenaz]”. We find this language by the Magen Avraham, the Chayei Adam, down to Rav Moshe Feinstein, and they all use the same language that “we are the descendants of Ashkenaz”.

So we see that the collective memory of Polish Jewry, all along … Aside from some people…I am sometimes confronted by Chassidish people who tell me “You know? I think my ancestors came from Spain. You know why? Because we daven nusach Sefard.” We all know that it happened in the 18th century that many switched to Nusach Ari, which is not exactly nusach Sefard either. However…this doesn’t make it that your family originally came from Spain!

Now we come to confrontations. Basically, we have the same messorah, but as I said, as Rabbi Weil said, things develop locally and things differ, especially when going from one country to another. What happens now? Polish Jews started developing a separate halachic identity, to some extent…relatively minor in difference. We find expressions like “Is the Polish yid better or is the yekkish yid better?” (in halachic terms). Look at this Maharshal, whose ancestors came from Germany, and how he deals with it. He says “I don’t like these chumros (stringencies) of the yekkes…we see Polish yidden are adopting German minhagim. For instance, by Chanukah lighting, by the yekkes, everyone lights…every male member of the house. This is not necessary. Plenty of Rishonim don’t demand this at all. Why do you do that? It’s a chumra.” Another example: “The German Jews are so particular to cover their heads with a yarmulke or with a hat. This is not necessary! What for? In France, they were not makpid on it…nor in Poland at this time.” Nowadays, if you see a Polish Jew without a kopple, rachmana litzlan…he wears a kopple and a straimel, a double yarmulke…things turn around! But in his time, it looked like a yekkishe chumra to be so particular about always having a kisui rosh (a head covering) because it’s a midas chasidus, for yirei shamayim, because they want to stop the possibility that a person should sin…it is a protection - but it is not a halachic obligation so he was against it.

But - he was also for some other encounters which he found in Germany and he did not like what developed in Poland. Polish Jews had developed certain changes in the seder hatefila (order of the prayers). In all the generations, from the geonim down to the Rishonim, we find that Birchas Hatorah is said just before we start korbanos. Why? Before we start learning, we must recite Birchas Hatorah or we cannot learn. For some reason or another, and it is not clear why, [in Poland], they moved the Birchas Hatorah to an earlier stage of tefilah, after Asher Yatzar, before Elokai Neshama. This caused a problem; Elokai Neshama should be attached as a bracha hasemucha l’chaverta to Asher Yatzar, and therefore it should follow directly after. Nothing should come as a hefsaik in the middle, definitely not Birchas Hatorah with Mishnayos and the like that are said there. So the Maharshal says that it is appropriate to do it the way they did it in Germany, as our ancestors did in Tzorfat and Ashkenaz. He explains that this location of Birchas Hatorah that the Polish Jews are following is because they say pesukim earlier on and they are worried - how can we say these pesukim without reciting Birchas Hatorah first? The Maharshal does not accept this because when we have already entered shul even earlier, we have already recited Ma Tovu and other pesukim. All of those pesukim which we say in the form of tefilah, are not in the category of limud Torah, and therefore, you do not need to say Birchas Hatorah before reciting those pesukim. Why should you change the location of the Birchas Hatorah and put it before Elokai Neshama if it is anyway before we start the proper learning by Korbanos. So we see that the Maharshal was sometimes torn between the new traditions developed in Poland and the old traditions which prevailed in Germany.

He was not the sole opposition to new developments in Poland. You can find great masters, such as the Bach, raising his voice against changes which are being done in Poland inspired by Spanish influences. Seeing that Poland was a relatively new country, a new world, like America, it was open to other opinions, not just the German opinion. They took some things from the Rambam, some from the Rif, some minor things, mostly in the margins, otherwise we would not find that the Darchei Moshe, the Rama, would have to write his big opposing chibur against the Bais Yosef if it became all Spanish…of course it didn’t, but here and there it happened.

One of the masters who tried to ignore some Polish minhagim was Rav Shabtai Sofer who instituted a very very wonderful siddur but had the liberty of preferring, here and there, occasionally, a sefardishe nusach over the Ashkenaz nusach. The Bach, who himself gave a haskama, regretted it afterwards when he saw what was going on in the siddur, and he wrote against him in his sefer the Bach, in a sharp manner. He says, “Recently, people came and worked on improving the siddur, and they have instilled some nusach from the Sefardim. Hakadosh Baruch Hu should protect them! This is true for Sefardishe siddurim, but we? We are obliged to the nusach of our ancestors, to the French and German messorah, because we are descendants of the Chaseidai Ashkenaz - the pious gedolim and tzaddikim of Germany.”

Of course, there is much more that can be said about this. I just want to show a few points, as to how strongly Polish Jews identify with their German origins. I already mentioned on other occasions that Yiddish Deutch is a German dialect…a Southern, Bavarian dialect. How did such a dialect come if we are discussing Khazars? They come from Germany. Furthermore, we often find that when people speak in Yiddish, especially when they are learning, they say, “What is teutch?” Every cheder child learned teutch. Teutch is Deutch! They were always conscious of their lashon Ashkenaz. We often find בל”א is interpreted as b’lashon Ashkenaz - in the German Language. They were conscious of being German Jews. And this is why they call themselves Ashkenazim. Anu b’nei Ashkenaz!