Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site acf4.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!hou3c!hocda!houxm!houxz!vax135!floyd!cmcl2!acf4!axm9839 From: axm9839@acf4.UUCP (Asher Meth) Newsgroups: net.religion.jewish Subject: Re: whistling Message-ID: <158@acf4.UUCP> Date: Mon, 4-Jun-84 20:49:29 EDT Article-I.D.: acf4.158 Posted: Mon Jun 4 20:49:29 1984 Date-Received: Wed, 6-Jun-84 05:47:04 EDT References: <1696@dartvax.UUCP> Organization: New York University Lines: 55 Yom sheni leparshas beha-alosecha, 4 SIVAN 5744, 48 days in the Omer Glenn C. Gabriel says : >I thought that demons were supposed to whistle and that's >the reason we refrain from doing it, on Shabbat or not! >Please correct me if I'm wrong (send mail, enough of this >shvack issue on the net). Also in reply to Benjy Kramer who wrote : > I asked my Rebbe Rabbi Herschel Shachter whether there was a makor >(source) for an issur (prohibition) to whistle. He told me no and as a matter >of fact the Magen Avraham says that it is even permissible on Shabbat (or >Shabbis). He did tell me though that in Europe it was looked down upon >because they said that it's a goyish thing to do (whatever that means). But >there is no makor for this in halacha. Rabbi Shachter is a Rosh Yeshiva at >YU and is the Rabbi at the branch of K'hal Adas Yisrael (Breuers). His >psak is very reliable. I spoke with Rabbi Melech Shachter (Rabbi Herschel Shachter's father) who said something along the same lines as his son, as quoted by Benjy. However, just because "there is no makor for this in halacha" (Benjy's words) does *not* mean that you should reject outright such a custom. Perhaps it was not as widely followed in some circles as in others, but please, 'minhag yisroel din' and if the minhag does have some basis (even if it is not in halachah), and such minhagim don't just pop up out of nowhere, then we should temper the way we speak about them. In fact, if we say "a yid faift nisht" (belashon sagi nahor) - a jew does not whistle - then there is probably *some* source for it. There are many things that may not have a rigid source in halachah, but have a good source, none-the-less. My father mentioned to me a number of years ago (and i asked him again about it the other week) that his grandfather told him that "a yid faift nisht" and that the reason is that the sound is that of the name of some malach, and we don't generally say the names of malachim (something along these lines). It may have been more prevalent among chassidim than others; I don't know. My basic point here is that we should not reject out of hand something that sounds strange or foreign to us, especially without investigating it. There are many minhagim that are particular to specific groups, and to those not in the group, they may seem strange and "may have no basis in halachah" - according to your vantage point. The minhag/custom may have a valid reason behind it. Intolerance is a terrible thing. Granted that intolerance has its place, but more often, if we all practiced a little more tolerance this world would be a *much* better place to live in. I need not tell you of all the inter-group/sect fighting that goes on; we certainly do not have to add to the intra-sect fighting. A Gutten Yom-Tov (or, as we say in Yiddish - A Gutten Yontif !). Asher Meth allegra!cmcl2!acf4!axm9839