Q&A: Practices as Binding Practices
Originally published:
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Practices as Binding Practices
Question
Do practices adopted in accordance with a certain opinion sometimes become vows? For example, I wait five hours between meat and milk. In pressing circumstances, can one rely on the more lenient opinions, or is there an obligation because of a vow?
Answer
First of all, there is an obligation by virtue of custom. As for a vow, there are opinions that a good custom constitutes a vow. That indeed seems strange to me too, but the common practice is to rely on the annulment of vows performed on the eve of Rosh Hashanah.