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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
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