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Minhag ( "custom", pl. minhagim) is an accepted tradition or group of traditions in Judaism
Judaism

Judaism is a set of beliefs and practices originating in the Hebrew Bible , as later further explored and explained in the Talmud and other texts....
. A related concept, Nusach
Nusach

Nusach is a concept in Judaism that has two distinct meanings. One is the style of a prayer service ; another is the melody of the service depending on when the service is being conducted....
 , refers to the traditional order and form of the prayers
Jewish services

Jewish services are the prayer recitations that form part of the observance of Judaism. These prayers, often with instructions and commentary, are found in the siddur, the traditional Jewish prayer book....
. minhaj also means custom or tradition, though not necessarily religious tradition.

Hebrew root N-H-G means primarily "to drive" or, by extension, "to conduct (oneself)".

The actual word minhag appears twice in the Hebrew Bible
Hebrew Bible

The term Hebrew Bible is a generic reference to those books of the Bible originally written mostly in Biblical Hebrew with some Biblical Aramaic....
, both times in the verse:Homiletically, one could argue that the use of the word minhag in Jewish law reflects its Biblical Hebrew origins as "the (manner of) driving (a chariot)".






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Minhag ( "custom", pl. minhagim) is an accepted tradition or group of traditions in Judaism
Judaism

Judaism is a set of beliefs and practices originating in the Hebrew Bible , as later further explored and explained in the Talmud and other texts....
. A related concept, Nusach
Nusach

Nusach is a concept in Judaism that has two distinct meanings. One is the style of a prayer service ; another is the melody of the service depending on when the service is being conducted....
 , refers to the traditional order and form of the prayers
Jewish services

Jewish services are the prayer recitations that form part of the observance of Judaism. These prayers, often with instructions and commentary, are found in the siddur, the traditional Jewish prayer book....
. minhaj also means custom or tradition, though not necessarily religious tradition.

Origin of word

The Hebrew root N-H-G means primarily "to drive" or, by extension, "to conduct (oneself)".

The actual word minhag appears twice in the Hebrew Bible
Hebrew Bible

The term Hebrew Bible is a generic reference to those books of the Bible originally written mostly in Biblical Hebrew with some Biblical Aramaic....
, both times in the verse:Homiletically, one could argue that the use of the word minhag in Jewish law reflects its Biblical Hebrew origins as "the (manner of) driving (a chariot)". Whereas Halakha (law), from the word for walking-path, means the path or road set for the journey, minhag (custom), from the word for driving, means the manner people have developed themselves to travel down that path more quickly.

The present use of minhag for custom may have been influenced by the Arabic
Arabic language

Arabic is a Central Semitic language, thus related to and classified alongside other Semitic languages languages such as Hebrew language and Aramaic language....
 minhaj, though in current Islamic usage this term is used for the intellectual methodology of a scholar or school of thought (cf. Hebrew derech) rather than for the customs of a local or ethnic community.

Minhag and Jewish law

Orthodox Jews consider Halakha
Halakha

Halakha ? also Hebrew transliteration Halocho and Halacha ? is the collective body of Judaism religious law, including biblical law and later talmudic and rabbinic law, as well as customs and traditions....
, Jewish law as derived from the Talmud
Talmud

The Talmud is a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Halakha, Jewish ethics, customs, and history. It is a central text of mainstream Judaism....
, binding upon all Jews. However, in addition to these halakhot, there have always been local customs and prohibitions. Some customs were eventually adopted universally (e.g. wearing a head covering
Kippah

A kippah or yarmulke is a thin, slightly-rounded skullcap traditionally worn at all times by observant Jewish men, and sometimes by both men and women in Conservative Judaism and Reform Judaism communities....
) or almost universally (e.g. monogamy
Monogamy

Monogamy is the state of having only one husband, wife, or sexual partner at any one time. The word monogamy comes from the Greek word monos "?????", which means one or alone, and the Greek word gamos "?????", which means marriage or union....
). Others are observed by some major segments of Jewry but not by others (e.g., not eating rice
Kitniyot

Kitniyot, qit'niyyoth are a category of foods defined by Halakha which Ashkenazi Jews refrain from eating during the Bible festival of Passover....
 on Passover
Passover

Passover is a Jewish and Samaritan holy day and festival commemorating God sparing the Israelites when He killed the first born of Egypt, and is followed by the seven day Feast of the Unleavened Bread commemorating the Exodus from Ancient Egypt and the liberation of the Israelites from Judaism and slavery....
). These Minhagim exist in various forms:
  • Ancient minhagim go back to the time of the Talmud
    Talmud

    The Talmud is a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Halakha, Jewish ethics, customs, and history. It is a central text of mainstream Judaism....
     and earlier. Today they are generally regarded as universally binding. The oldest recorded minhag is that of 'beating the Aravot
    Aravah (Sukkot)

    Aravah is a leafy branch of the willow tree. It is one of the Four Species used in a special waving ceremony during the Jewish holiday of Sukkot....
    ' (Willow
    Willow

    Willows, sallows, and osiers form the genus Salix, around 400 species of deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere....
     Branches) on Hoshanah Rabbah
    Hoshanah Rabbah

    The seventh day of the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, 21st day of Tishrei, is known as Hoshana Rabbah . This day is marked by a special synagogue service, the Hoshana Rabbah, in which seven circuits are made by the worshippers with their lulav and etrog, while the congregation recites Hoshanot....
    , and dates back to the era of the Prophets
    Prophet

    In religion, a prophet is a person who has claimed to have encountered the supernatural or the Divinity, often one who serves as an intermediary with humanity....
    .
  • Later minhagim are followed by specific groups.
    • Jews whose ancestors continued to live in the Middle East
      Middle East

      File:GreaterMiddleEast1.pngThe Middle East is a region that spans southwestern Asia, western Asia, and northeastern Africa. It has no clear boundaries, often used as a synonym to Near East, in opposition to Far East....
       and Africa
      Africa

      Africa is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km? including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area....
      , until the establishment of the State of Israel, regardless of where they live now tend to follow a variety of customs such as Mizrahi
      Mizrahi Jews

      Mizrahi Jews or Mizrahim, , also referred to as Adot HaMizrach are Jews descended from the Jewish communities of the Middle East, North Africa, Central Asia and the Caucasus....
      -Sephardi
      Sephardic Judaism

      Sephardic Judaism is the practice of Judaism as observed by the Sephardi Jews and Mizrahi Jews, so far as it is peculiar to themselves and not shared with other Jewish groups such as the Ashkenazi Jews....
       or Temani
      Yemenite Jews

      Yemenite Jews are those Jews who live, or whose recent ancestors lived, in Yemen , on the southern tip of the Arabian peninsula. Virtually the entire Jewish population emigrated from Yemen between June 1949 and September 1950 in what was deemed Operation Magic Carpet ....
      . By like token, Jews whose ancestors lived in Central Europe
      Central Europe

      Central Europe is the region lying between the variously and vaguely defined areas of Eastern Europe and Western Europe Europe. In addition, Northern Europe, Southern Europe and Southeastern Europe may variously delimit or overlap into Central Europe....
       in the Middle Ages
      Middle Ages

      File:Karl 1 mit papst gelasius gregor1 sacramentar v karl d kahlen.jpgThe Middle Ages of European history are a period in history which lasted for roughly a millennium, commonly dated from the fall of the Roman Empire in the 5th century to the beginning of the Early Modern Period in the 16th century, marked by the division of Western Christi...
       (regardless of where they live now) tend to follow Ashkenazic customs, while those whose families originated in the Iberian peninsula generally follow Sephardic
      Sephardic Judaism

      Sephardic Judaism is the practice of Judaism as observed by the Sephardi Jews and Mizrahi Jews, so far as it is peculiar to themselves and not shared with other Jewish groups such as the Ashkenazi Jews....
       customs. (The Talmud gives detailed rules for people who visit or move to a locale where the custom differs from their own.) Hasidim
      Hasidic Judaism

      Hasidic Judaism is a type of Orthodox Judaism or Haredi Judaism Orthodox Judaism religious movement. Some refer to Hasidic Judaism as Hasidism, and the adjective chasidic / hasidic applies....
       tend to follow their own Minhagim.
    • Within these broad categories there are also sub-groups by origin (e.g. Lithuanian
      Lithuanian Jews

      Lithuanian Jews are Ashkenazi Jews with roots in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania .Lithuania was historically home to a large and influential Jewish community that was almost entirely eliminated during the Holocaust: see Holocaust in Lithuania....
       or Polish
      History of the Jews in Poland

      The history of the Jews in Poland dates back over a millennium. Poland was home to the largest and most significant Jewish community in Europe and served as the center for Jewish culture, ranging from a long period of religious tolerance and prosperity among the country's Jewish population, to its nearly complete genocide destruction by Naz...
       or German
      History of the Jews in Germany

      Jews have lived in Germany, or "Ashkenazi Jews", at least since the early 4th century, through both periods of tolerance and spasms of Antisemitism violence, culminating in the Holocaust and the genocide of the Jewish community in Germany and much of Europe, the subsequent division of Germany and reunification, and post-unification immigratio...
       customs), by location (e.g. "minhag Yerushalayim
      Jerusalem

      Jerusalem is the capital of Israel and its List of Israeli cities in both population and area, with a population of 747,600 residents over an area of if Positions on Jerusalem East Jerusalem is included....
      ") or by branch (e.g. Skverrer
      Skver (Hasidic dynasty)

      Skver is the name of a Hasidic Judaism dynasty founded by Rebbe Yitzchok Twerski in the city of Skver . Followers of the Rebbe#Chasidic rebbes of Skver are called Skverer hasidim....
       Hasidim
      Hasidic Judaism

      Hasidic Judaism is a type of Orthodox Judaism or Haredi Judaism Orthodox Judaism religious movement. Some refer to Hasidic Judaism as Hasidism, and the adjective chasidic / hasidic applies....
       follow different customs than Chabad
      Chabad-Lubavitch

      Chabad-Lubavitch is one of the largest Hasidic Judaism movements in Orthodox Judaism, and is based in the Crown Heights, Brooklyn neighborhood of Brooklyn....
       Hasidim
      Hasidic Judaism

      Hasidic Judaism is a type of Orthodox Judaism or Haredi Judaism Orthodox Judaism religious movement. Some refer to Hasidic Judaism as Hasidism, and the adjective chasidic / hasidic applies....
      ).
    • Families and even individuals may adhere to specific minhagim not followed by others.


Discussion in Rabbinic literature

Various sources in Rabbinic literature
Rabbinic literature

Rabbinic literature, in its broadest sense, can mean the entire spectrum of rabbinic writings throughout Judaism history. But the term often refers specifically to literature from the Talmudic era, as opposed to medieval and modern rabbinic writing, and thus corresponds with the Hebrew language term Sifrut Hazal ....
 stress the importance of a long-held tradition, culminating in the statement "the minhag of our fathers is [equivalent to] Torah" (e.g. Tosafot
Tosafot

The Tosafot or Tosafos are medi?val commentaries on the Talmud. They take the form of critical and explanatory glosses, printed, in almost all Talmud editions, on the outer margin and opposite Rashi's notes....
 to Menahot 20b s.v. nifsal). Custom can thus determine halachic practice in cases of disagreement among rabbinic authorities. In numerous instances, Rabbi
Rabbi

Rabbi , in Judaism, means a religious ?teacher?, or more literally, ?my great one?, when addressing any master. The word rabbi derives from the Hebrew root word , rav, which in biblical Hebrew means ?great?, used in many senses, including the sense of a ?master? and apprentice, whence someone who is a distinguished ?teacher?....
 Moses Isserles
Moses Isserles

Moses Isserles , was an eminent Ashkenazic Rabbi, Talmudist, and Posek, renowned for his fundamental work of Halakha , entitled HaMapah , an inline commentary on the Shulkhan Aruch ....
 warns that one should not abolish long-held customs. (Isserles' gloss
Gloss

A gloss is a brief summary of a word's meaning, equivalent to the dictionary entry of that word, but only a word or two in length. It is typically used for the meaning of a word in another language, and hence a simple translation....
 on the Shulchan Aruch
Shulchan Aruch

The Shulchan Aruch is a codification, or written manual, of halacha , composed by Rabbi Yosef Karo in the 16th century. Together with its commentaries, it is considered the most authoritative compilation of halakha since the Talmud....
 was, in fact, written so as to delineate Ashkenazi Minhagim alongside Sephardi practices in the same code of law
Halakha

Halakha ? also Hebrew transliteration Halocho and Halacha ? is the collective body of Judaism religious law, including biblical law and later talmudic and rabbinic law, as well as customs and traditions....
.)

Despite the above, a minhag does not override clear biblical or talmudic enactments, and one may not transgress the latter for the sake of the former. In fact, any minhag that intrinsically involves an element of halakha violation is considered null and void (see Or Zarua 1:7).

The Talmud (Pesachim 50) rules that a valid minhag accepted by previous generations of a family or community is binding upon all later generations. The Rosh (Makom Shenahagu, 3) states that the Talmud's ruling fundamentally applies to practices undertaken by learned individuals; innovations by the unlearned need only be followed publicly. Other halakhic authorities hold that the Talmud's ruling applies to all valid practices initiated by either learned or unlearned individuals (for discussion of this point see Bach
Yoel Sirkis

Yoel Sirkis, , also known as the Bach - an abbreviation of his magnum opus, Bayit Chadash - was a prominent Jewish posek and Halakha....
 and Beit Yosef
Yosef Karo

Joseph ben Ephraim Karo, also spelled Caro, or Qaro, was author of the last great codification of Jewish law, the Shulchan Aruch, which is still authoritative for Orthodox Jewry....
 to Yoreh Deah 214; Shach, ibid., 214:7).

In most cases, personal acceptance of a new minhag is tantamount to vow
Vow

A vow is a promise or oath....
ing performance of that minhag. Consequently, abandonment of such a minhag typically requires hatarat nedarim or sh'eilat chakham, halakhic
Halakha

Halakha ? also Hebrew transliteration Halocho and Halacha ? is the collective body of Judaism religious law, including biblical law and later talmudic and rabbinic law, as well as customs and traditions....
 procedures for absolving oneself from oaths. This was often necessary when, for example, an Ashkenazi Jew moved to the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman Empire , also known by its contemporaries as the Turkish Empire or Turkey , was an empire that lasted from 1299?1923. It was Treaty of Lausanne by the Republic of Turkey, which was officially proclaimed on October 29, 1923....
 and wished to join the local Sephardi community.

Changing minhagim

Jewish law provides for a number of mechanisms to change or remove a custom when it is held to be mistaken or illogical. (See Tosafot
Tosafot

The Tosafot or Tosafos are medi?val commentaries on the Talmud. They take the form of critical and explanatory glosses, printed, in almost all Talmud editions, on the outer margin and opposite Rashi's notes....
 on Talmud Pesachim 51a; Maimonides
Maimonides

Moses Maimonides, also known as Rabbi Moses ben Maimon , the Rambam, and Musa ibn Maymun , was born in C?rdoba, Spain, Spain on March 30, 1135, and died in Egypt on December 13, 1204.....
, Mishneh Torah
Mishneh Torah

The Mishneh Torah , subtitled Sefer Yad ha-Chazaka , is a Legal code of Judaism religious law by one of the important Jewish authority Maimonides ....
, Hilchot Issurei Biah; Be'er Heitev, Orach Chaim 182 in Hilchot Birkat Ha'mazon, Orach Chaim 653 in Hilchot Lulav, Orach Chaim 551:4 in Hilchot Tisha B'av.) Orthodox rabbi and historian of Jewish law Menachem Elon
Menachem Elon

Menachem Elon , an Israeli jurist, who served as a justice on the Supreme Court of Israel and its Deputy President .Elon's family immigrated to the British Mandate of Palestine in 1935 from Germany due to the rise of Nazism....
 writes:

Custom, because of its spontaneous and undirected nature, sometimes call for a measure of supervision and control. At times a custom may be founded on error, or develop unreasonably or illogically in a certain direction, or may even be in conflict with substantive and fundamental
Fundamental

Fundamental may refer to* Fundamental frequency,a concept in music or phonetics, often referred to as simply a "fundamental".* Fundamentalism, the belief in, and usually the strict adherence to, the simplistic or "fundamental" ideas based on faith of a system of thought....
 principles of Jewish law in a manner leaving no room for its integration into the system. From time to time the halakhic scholars exercised such control in order to contain or discredit entirely a particular custom.


Present day

The acute displacement brought about by World War II
World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a Participants in World War II, including all of the great powers, organised into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War II and the Axis powers....
 and the Holocaust
The Holocaust

The Holocaust , also known as , Churben is the term generally used to describe the genocide of approximately six million European Jews during World War II, as part of a program of deliberate extermination planned and executed by Nazi Germany under Adolf Hitler....
, and the large-scale immigration
Immigration

While the movement of people has thought throughout history at various levels, modern immigration tourism are considered non-immigrants . Immigration that violates the immigration laws of the destination country is termed illegal immigration or undocumented immigration....
 to the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
, various Europe
Europe

Europe is, conventionally, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural , the Caspian Sea, and by the Caucasus Mountains to the southeast....
an countries, and especially the State of Israel, have led to a "liberal mixing" of various minhagim, and arguably the falling into disuse of certain customs. In addition, the baal teshuva
Baal teshuva

Baal teshuva or ba'al teshuvah , sometimes abbreviated to BT, is a term referring to a Jewish person who embraces Orthodox Jews. Baal teshuva literally means, "master of return", i.e., one who has Repentance in Judaism or "returned" to God....
 movement has created a large group who have no clear tradition from their parents. In response to these phenomena, certain scholars
Posek

Posek is the term in Halakha for "decider"?a legal scholar who decides the Halakha in cases of law where previous authorities are inconclusive....
 have focused on the minhagim, and attempts have been made to revive minhagim that have fallen into disuse.

Nusach

Nusach (properly nósach) primarily means "text" or "version", in other words the correct wording of a religious text. Thus the nusach tefillah is the text of the prayers, either generally or as used by a particular community. In common use nusach has come to signify the entire liturgical tradition of the community, including the musical rendition. It is narrower than minhag, which can refer to custom in any field, not necessarily that of communal prayer.

Both nusach and minhag can thus be used for liturgic rite or liturgic tradition, though sometimes a nusach appears to be a subdivision of a minhag or vice versa; see Different Jewish rites
Siddur

A siddur is a Judaism prayer book, containing a set order of List of Jewish prayers and blessings. This article discusses how some of these prayers evolved, and how the siddur, as we know it today has developed....
 and Popular siddurim
Siddur

A siddur is a Judaism prayer book, containing a set order of List of Jewish prayers and blessings. This article discusses how some of these prayers evolved, and how the siddur, as we know it today has developed....
 under Siddur
Siddur

A siddur is a Judaism prayer book, containing a set order of List of Jewish prayers and blessings. This article discusses how some of these prayers evolved, and how the siddur, as we know it today has developed....
. In general one must pray according to one's "nusach of origin", unless one has formally joined a different community and accepted its minhag. (Perisha
Joshua Falk

Joshua Falk was a Polish Halakha and Talmudist, best known as the author of the Beit Yisrael commentary on the Arba'ah Turim as well as Sefer Me'irat Enayim on Shulkhan Arukh....
 rules that if one abandons a nusach that has been accepted universally by the wider Jewish community, his prayer is disqualified and must be repeated using the accepted nusach: Arba'ah Turim
Arba'ah Turim

Arba'ah Turim , often called simply the Tur, is an important Halakha Halakha#Codes_of_Jewish_law, composed by Jacob ben Asher . The four-part structure of the Tur and its division into chapters were adopted by the later code Shulchan Aruch....
, Orach Chayim
Orach Chayim

Orach Chayim is a section of Rabbi Jacob ben Asher's compilation of Halakha , Arba'ah Turim. This section treats all aspects of Jewish law primarily pertinent to the Hebrew calendar ....
, 120 ad loc).

The main segments of traditional Judaism, as differentiated by nusach (broadly and narrowly), are:
  • Minhag Sefarad
    Sephardic Judaism

    Sephardic Judaism is the practice of Judaism as observed by the Sephardi Jews and Mizrahi Jews, so far as it is peculiar to themselves and not shared with other Jewish groups such as the Ashkenazi Jews....
    : in general refers to the various Sephardi
    Sephardic Judaism

    Sephardic Judaism is the practice of Judaism as observed by the Sephardi Jews and Mizrahi Jews, so far as it is peculiar to themselves and not shared with other Jewish groups such as the Ashkenazi Jews....
     liturgies, but also to obligation/permissibility of Kabbalistic
    Kabbalah

    Kabbalah is a discipline and school of thought discussing the mysticism aspect of Judaism. It is a set of esoteric teachings that are meant to explain the relationship between an infinite, eternal and essentially unknowable Creator deity with the finite and mortal universe of His creation....
     elements within the rite. Versions of this are:
    • The rite of the Spanish and Portuguese Jews
      Spanish and Portuguese Jews

      Spanish and Portuguese Jews are a distinctive sub-group of Sephardim who have their main ethnic origins within the crypto-Judaism communities of the Iberian peninsula and who shaped communities mainly in Western Europe and the Americas from the late 16th century on....
    • Nusach Morocco (Moroccan rite: there are differences between the Spanish-Moroccan and the Arab-Moroccan customs)
    • Nusach ha-Chida (The Chidas rite, named after Rabbi Chaim Joseph David Azulai
      Chaim Joseph David Azulai

      Rabbi Chaim Joseph David ben Isaac Zerachia Azulai , commonly known as the Chida , was a rabbinical scholar and a noted bibliophile, who pioneered the history of Jewish religious writings....
      : often used by North African Jews)
    • Nusach Livorno (Sephardic rite from nineteenth-century editions printed in Italy, often used by North African Jews)
  • Minhag Edot hamizrach: often used to mean the Baghdadi rite, is more or less influenced by the Sephardi
    Sephardic Judaism

    Sephardic Judaism is the practice of Judaism as observed by the Sephardi Jews and Mizrahi Jews, so far as it is peculiar to themselves and not shared with other Jewish groups such as the Ashkenazi Jews....
     minhag.
  • Nusach Teiman (see Yemenite Jews
    Yemenite Jews

    Yemenite Jews are those Jews who live, or whose recent ancestors lived, in Yemen , on the southern tip of the Arabian peninsula. Virtually the entire Jewish population emigrated from Yemen between June 1949 and September 1950 in what was deemed Operation Magic Carpet ....
    ): can be subdivided into:
    • Minhag Baladi
      Yemenite Jews

      Yemenite Jews are those Jews who live, or whose recent ancestors lived, in Yemen , on the southern tip of the Arabian peninsula. Virtually the entire Jewish population emigrated from Yemen between June 1949 and September 1950 in what was deemed Operation Magic Carpet ....
       (original Yemenite rite)
    • Minhag Shami
      Yemenite Jews

      Yemenite Jews are those Jews who live, or whose recent ancestors lived, in Yemen , on the southern tip of the Arabian peninsula. Virtually the entire Jewish population emigrated from Yemen between June 1949 and September 1950 in what was deemed Operation Magic Carpet ....
       (influenced by Sephardic rite)
  • Minhag Italiani and Minhag Benè Romì, see Italian Jews
    Italian Jews

    Italian Jews can be used in a broad sense to mean all Jews living in Italy or in a narrower sense to mean the ancient community who use the Italian rite, as distinct from newer arrivals who use the Sephardi or Ashkenazi rite....
  • Minhag Romania, the rite of the Romaniotes
    Romaniotes

    The Romaniotes are a Jewish population who have lived in the territory of today's Greece and neighboring areas with large Greek populations for more than 2,000 years....
    , that is the original Greek Jewish community as distinct from the Sephardim
  • Nusach Ashkenaz: the general Ashkenazi rite of non-Chasidim
    Hasidic Judaism

    Hasidic Judaism is a type of Orthodox Judaism or Haredi Judaism Orthodox Judaism religious movement. Some refer to Hasidic Judaism as Hasidism, and the adjective chasidic / hasidic applies....
    . Can be subdivided into:
    • Minhag Ashkenaz (German rite)
    • Minhag Polin/Lita (Polish/Lithuanian/Prague rite)
  • Nusach Sefard
    Nusach Sefard

    Nusach Sefard is the name for various forms of the Jewish siddur, designed to reconcile Ashkenazi Minhag with the Kabbalah customs of the Isaac Luria....
     or Nusach Ari
    Nusach Ari

    Nusach Ari means, in a general sense, any prayer rite following the usages of Rabbi Isaac Luria, the AriZal, in the 16th century, and, more particularly, the version of it used by Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic Judaism....
     (Ashkenazi Chasidic
    Hasidic Judaism

    Hasidic Judaism is a type of Orthodox Judaism or Haredi Judaism Orthodox Judaism religious movement. Some refer to Hasidic Judaism as Hasidism, and the adjective chasidic / hasidic applies....
     rite, heavily influenced by the teachings of Sephardi Kabbalists
    Kabbalah

    Kabbalah is a discipline and school of thought discussing the mysticism aspect of Judaism. It is a set of esoteric teachings that are meant to explain the relationship between an infinite, eternal and essentially unknowable Creator deity with the finite and mortal universe of His creation....
    )


External links and resources

References
  • , jewishencyclopedia.com
  • , Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan
    Aryeh Kaplan

    Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan was a noted United States Orthodox Judaism rabbi and author with a background in both physics and Judaism. He was lauded as an original thinker and prolific writer, from studies of the Torah, Talmud and Kabbalah to introductory pamphlets on Jewish beliefs and Jewish philosophy aimed at non-religious and Baal teshuva Jews....
  • , jewfaq.org
  • , nishmat.net


Resources
  • Rabbinic literature
    Rabbinic literature

    Rabbinic literature, in its broadest sense, can mean the entire spectrum of rabbinic writings throughout Judaism history. But the term often refers specifically to literature from the Talmudic era, as opposed to medieval and modern rabbinic writing, and thus corresponds with the Hebrew language term Sifrut Hazal ....
    • Minhagei Maharil, Rabbi Yaakov ben Moshe Levi Moelin
      Yaakov ben Moshe Levi Moelin

      Jacob b. Moses Moelin was a Talmudist and posek best known for his codification of the customs of the Ashkenazi. He is also known as Maharil - the hebrew language acronym for "Our Teacher, the Rabbi, Yaakov Levi" - as well as Mahari Segal or Mahari Moelin....
       (      Maharil), 1556.
    • "" (Hebrew
      Hebrew language

      Hebrew is a Semitic languages of the Afro-Asiatic languages. Modern Hebrew is spoken by more than seven million people in Israel and Classical Hebrew is used for prayer or study in Jews communities around the world....
       Fulltext, PDF) Rabbi Isaac Tyrnau
      Isaac Tyrnau

      Isaac Tyrnau was an Archduchy of Austria rabbi, active in the late 14th century; he is most famous for his Sefer haMinhagim ....
      , 1566.
    • "Ta'amei HaMinhagim", Rabbi A. I. Sperling, 1896; translation: "Reasons for Jewish customs and traditions". Bloch Pub. Co 1968. ISBN 0-8197-0184-X
    • "Likutei Maharich". Rabbi Yisroel Chaim Freedman of Rachov.
    • "Sefer HaMinhagim", Rabbis M. Greenglass and Y. Groner, 1966; translation: “The Book of Chabad-Lubavitch Customs”. Sichos In English Pub. 1998. ISBN 0-8266-0555-9
    • "Otzar Ta'amei ha-Minhagim", Rabbi Shmuel Gelbard, 1995; translation: "Rite and Reason" Feldheim Pub. 1997 ISBN 0-87306-889-0


  • General
    • "The Biblical and Historical Background of Jewish Customs and Ceremonies", Rabbi Abraham Bloch. Ktav 1980. ISBN 0-87068-658-5
    • "The Minhagim: The Customs and Ceremonies of Judaism, Their Origins and Rationale", Rabbi Abraham Chill. Sepher Hermon 1978. ISBN 0-87203-077-6
    • "To Be a Jew: A Guide to Jewish Observance in Contemporary Life", Rabbi Hayim Donin. Basic Books 1991. ISBN 0-465-08632-2
    • "Jewish Book of Why", Rabbi Alfred Kolatch. Jonathan David 1995. ISBN 0-8246-0314-1
    • "Minhagei Yisrael: Origins and History", Rabbi Daniel Sperber
      Daniel Sperber

      Rabbi Dr. Daniel Sperber is a professor of Talmud at Bar-Ilan University in Israel, and an expert in classical philology, history of minhag, Jewish art history, Jewish education and Talmudic studies....
      . Mossad Harav Kook, 1998.
    • "The Complete Book of Jewish Observance", Rabbi Leo Trepp. Behrman House Publishing 1980. ISBN 0-671-41797-5
    • "Jewish Spiritual Practices", Yitzhak Buxbaum. Jason Aronson Inc. 1994. ISBN 0-87668-832-6 (hardcover) ISBN 1-56821-206-2 (paperback)