Question: I am an Ashkenazi Jew. I daven nusach Sefarad, but lately I find myself in a congregation that davens nusach Ashkenaz. May I, and in what manner, join them in prayer?
Name Withheld by Request
Answer: The Mechaber (Orach Chayim 496:1-2) states: In the diaspora, where two days are observed for each festival, we excommunicate one who disrespects the second day. If he is a young scholar, we are not as strict, but sentence him to flogging (malkot).
The Ba’er Heitev (ibid.) clarifies that the malkot (lashes) are malkot mardut – lashes for rebelliousness – 13 in total. (He also cites the Rambam, who is not of that opinion, and Rashi [Chullin 141b], who states that malkot mardut have no fixed number.) We must ask: Why is there such a harsh punishment for disrespecting a day which we know – since we have a fixed calendar – is not astronomically Yom Tov?
The answer is based on the Gemara (Bezah 4b): “The Sages there [in Eretz Yisrael] sent [the following message] to the diaspora: Give heed to the customs of your forefathers.” The injunction to follow minhag avot also applies to prayer and other activities. A person must adhere to the customs and the nusach of his ancestors.
There are numerous responsa devoted to your question, which is especially relevant nowadays when there is increased exposure to other communities due to travel and migration, and, of course, communal intra-marriage. Although you mention that you are an Ashkenazi who prays according to nusach Sefarad, your question is also relevant for Sefaradim who find themselves in an Ashkenazi environment.
One of our great geonim and halachic authorities, Rav Ovadiah Yosef, zt”l – an undisputed former leader of Sefardic Jewry – discusses a similar question (Responsa Yechaveh Da’at 3:6). He was asked regarding a new synagogue that was built in the Teveriya Illit neighborhood of Tiberias, Israel, to serve the needs of the local population. All the worshipers were North African Jews, and most of them wished to pray according to the Sefardic nusach.
However, a group of young people wished to pray in the nusach achid – the “unity nusach” adopted by the IDF, which is closer to nusach Ashkenaz. The majority of the congregation opposed the idea and sought Rav Yosef’s guidance.
In response, Rav Yosef cited Hagahot Maimoniyot (to Rambam’s Mishneh Torah – Tefillot Kol Hashana Ot #5) which states: “We find in the Jerusalem Talmud (Yerushalmi Eruvin 3:9) that R. Yosi said to them, ‘Even though we have sent to you the order of the festivals, do not deviate from the custom of your fathers, may they rest in peace.’”
This Gemara is cited by the Magen Avraham (Orach Chayim 68:1) as proof for a ruling he issued in its spirit, and by Chok Yaakov (489:11) and Responsa Shemesh Tzedaka (Orach Chayim 23), as well as by others.
Thus, the majority of the congregation who wished to pray in the Sefardic nusach was deemed to be in the right. We are not supposed to diverge from the nusach ha’tefillah transmitted to us from our ancestors. As Proverbs 1:8 states: “ve’al titosh torat immecha – and do not forsake the teaching of your mother.”
Rav Yosef cites Ma’avar Yabbok (Kuntress Siftei Tzedek ch. 31), which states: “It so happens that each of the 12 tribes of Israel has a ‘window’ in heaven according to the specific needs of the tribe’s spirit, and through this window its prayers are conveyed [to Hashem]. Therefore, a person should not alter the nusach of prayer in which he has been instructed by his forefathers. All who [desire to] make such alterations are at a disadvantage [when in dispute with a congregation that wishes not to change].”
This source continues, “We cannot seek proof from a small segment of individuals who have changed the nusach of their prayer in recent years, for we don’t derive halacha from individuals who have not attained the level of hora’ah [i.e., the right to issue halachic rulings].” Ma’avar Yabbok concludes by citing the above passage from the Jerusalem Talmud (Eruvin, loc. cit.).
Rav Yosef notes that Ma’avar Yabbok has a firm basis in the words of the Arizal (Sha’ar HaKavanot (3:4). He writes, “To a great extent, the customs relating to the version of blessings and prayers and their order reveal many differences between the nusachim of Sefarad and Ashkenaz and their variants. We have a tradition that there are 12 windows in heaven, corresponding to the 12 tribes, and each tribe’s prayers enter through its designated window. This is the hidden explanation of the 12 gates mentioned at the end of the Book of Ezekiel.
“There is no doubt that had the nusach of all the tribes been the same, there would be no need for 12 gates. It is because the nusach of their prayers differs from one another that there is a need for an individual gate for each tribe.
“Therefore, it’s important for everyone to maintain the nusach and order of prayers in accord with his forefathers’ customs. One should not veer from them, neither to the right nor to the left. If a person replaces the custom of his forebears with an altered nusach – for example, to recite Baruch She’amar before Hodu and the like – his prayer does not rise to heaven.”
Rav Yosef cites the Chida (Avodat HaKodesh), who states – similarly to Ma’avar Yabbok and the Arizal – that the prayers of each tribe enter through a specific gate. He adds that there is another tradition of the Arizal according to which “the nusach of the Sefaradim enters all 12 gates.” He notes that this statement can also be found and is substantiated in Shalmei Tzibbur.
Rav Yosef points out that according to the Arizal – himself an Ashkenazi but who prayed according to nusach Sefarad, as stated in Sha’ar HaKavanot – Ashkenazim may switch to nusach Sefarad, but a Sefaradi may not switch to nusach Ashkenaz.
Rav Yosef also cites many responsa that concur. The most striking is the opinion of the Rebbe of the Chatam Sofer, Rav Natan Adler, who, though an Ashkenazi, had someone teach him Sefaradi pronunciation so he could recite the prayers according to nusach Sefarad with the proper pronunciation.
Thus, Rav Yosef is critical of the nusach achid of the IDF, which is mostly nusach Ashkenaz, since a Sefaradi should only pray in nusach Sefarad.
(To be continued)