Q&A: Can a Sephardi Rule Like Maimonides?
Can a Sephardi Rule Like Maimonides?
Question
Greetings and blessings to the Rabbi,
I am Sephardi (Iraqi) and am thinking that maybe I should start ruling like Maimonides. Is there a problem here of “do not forsake”?
Answer
I think there is a problem with that. If you have your own position, you are not obligated to follow the custom of the community, since custom is a guiding rule for someone who is in doubt. If you have a position, then you are not in doubt, and so this rule is not relevant for you. But if you do not have a position and you are looking for a guiding rule, then that already exists.
However, one could discuss whether perhaps you can choose Maimonides as your rabbi, and in that way remove yourself from the doubt. Perhaps.
Discussion on Answer
There is no need for blanching if the meat has already been salted; it is one or the other. I heard there are Yemenite grandmothers who still know how to do this to this day—to throw the meat all at once into boiling water, and that way it is made kosher, something like that.
Are you going to blanch the meat before every frying, cooking, and roasting?