Minhag Ashkenaz Explained

Minhag Ashkenaz is the minhag of the Ashkenazi German Jews. Minhag Ashkenaz was common in Germany, Austria, the Czech lands, and elsewhere in Western Europe, in contrast to the Minhag Polin of the Eastern European Ashkenazi Jews.

Minhag Ashkenaz and Minhag Polin

The term "Minhag Ashkenaz", strictly applied, refers only to the minhag of German Jews south and west of the Elbe, most notably the community of Frankfurt am Main.^[1] Jews in Germany were historically divided into the "Bayers" of Bavaria and southern Germany, who followed the Minhag Ashkenaz, and the "Polanders" in northern Germany who followed Minhag Polin.^[2]

History

Following Kristallnacht, a number of German Jews (Yekkes) escaped Frankfurt, relocating to the Washington Heights neighborhood of New York City, where they still have a synagogue, Khal Adath Jeshurun (KAJ), which punctiliously adheres to the Yekkish liturgical text, rituals, and melodies.^[3] Unlike most Ashkenazic synagogues in the United States, which follow the Eastern Ashkenazic (Poilisher) liturgical rite,^[4] KAJ follows the Western Ashkenazic rite (Minhag Ashkenaz), in its liturgical text, practices, and melodies. They use the Rödelheim Siddur Sfas Emes (see: Wolf Heidenheim), though the congregation's nusach varies in some places from Rödelheim.

Communities using Minhag Ashkenaz

List of communities, synagogues, and minyanim following Minhag Ashkenaz:^[5]

• Yeshivas Frankfurt - Frankfurt, Germany
• Yeshivas Frankfurt, Beis Yisrael Neighborhood - Jerusalem
• Yeshurun, Beis haKnesses kMinhog Ashkenaz - Bnei Brak, Israel
• K'hal Adas Yisroel - Bnei Brak, Israel
• K'hal Adas Yeshurun - Jerusalem
• Ashkenaz Minyan in Bayit Vegan - Jerusalem
• K'hal Kaudesh Minhog Ovaus - Talbiya, Jerusalem
• K'hal Adas Yeshurun - Beitar Illit, West Bank
• Beis Knesses k'Minhag Ashkenaz - Haifa, Israel
• Minyan k'Minhag Ashkenaz - Rekhasim, Israel
• K'hal Adas Yeshurun of Beit Shemesh - Beit Shemesh, Israel
• Kehillas Ashkenaz, Kiryat Sefer - Modi'in Illit, West Bank
• Kehillas Ashkenaz of Baltimore - Baltimore, Maryland
• Minhag Ashkenaz Minyan - Chicago, Illinois
• Ashkenaz Minyan in Wavecrest/Bayswater - Bayswater/Far Rockaway, New York
• Ashkenaz Minyan in Brooklyn - New York City
• Passaic-Clifton Ashkenaz - Passaic, New Jersey
• Ohel Moshe, Manchester - Manchester, England

See also

• History of the Jews in Germany
• Minhag
• Nusach Ashkenaz
• Yekke

External links

• Shorshei Minhag Ashkenaz, Machon Moreshes Ashkenaz - The Institute for German Jewish Heritage

Notes and References

1. Daniel Goldschimdt, Rosh Hashanah Machzor, page 14 of introduction. In the Middle Ages, the border seems to have been further east.
2. Web site: Bayers and Polanders, "German Jews" and "Polish Jews" . . 2022-09-06.
3. Book: Lowenstein , Steven M. . Frankfurt on the Hudson: The German-Jewish Community of Washington Heights, 1933–1983, Its structure and Culture. Wayne State University Press. 1989. 978-0814323854. Frankfurt-on-the-Hudson.
4. Web site: Nusach. 2022-09-06.
5. Web site: Communities . Machon Moreshes Ashkenaz . 2022-06-07.