Q&A: R. Joseph Karo on the Ashkenazim
R. Joseph Karo on the Ashkenazim.
Question
Hello Rabbi,
I read in the book Avkat Rokhel, responsum 212, that Rabbi Joseph Karo argues that since the Sephardim were the first in the Land of Israel, the Ashkenazim who came later should nullify their custom and join the Sephardic custom, even where it is lenient.
He brings proofs from the Talmudic passages.
My question is: is there a dissenting opinion? I assume there is.
And what is your view?
I am attaching a link to the responsum in Avkat Rokhel, responsum 212.
https://wiki.jewishbooks.org.il/mediawiki/wiki/%D7%90%D7%91%D7%A7%D7%AA_%D7%A8%D7%95%D7%9B%D7%9C/%D7%A8%D7%99%D7%91
Answer
That really is an amusing question. You ask whether there is a dissenting opinion. Just look around you and see how many Ashkenazim follow the rulings of the author of the Shulchan Arukh and Sephardic customs. I assume from that you can infer whether there is a dissenting opinion.
As for the matter itself, place has long since ceased to be the determining parameter regarding customs. Even following the Shulchan Arukh is practiced among Sephardic communities, meaning according to ethnic origin, not according to location.
Discussion on Answer
Yes, I am aware of Ashkenazim who act according to their own custom.
The question was whether there is a known, reasoned response.
Now maybe it is a little less amusing.
Thank you very much
The Rabbi gave a reason,
and Yam Bam Boom Zuta answered.
What is missing from these 2 answers?
Each one is a good argument on its own.
https://www.yeshiva.org.il/ask/103017
Even after 1770, when the Ashkenazim established their own permanent religious court in the Land of Israel, they followed the instructions of their own courts and their own halakhic rulings,
and were not halakhically dragged along after the Sephardim.