Sephardic Laws and Customs

Rabbi Daniel J. Raccah cRc Dayan SEPHARDIC LAWS AND CUSTOMS

The term Sephardi, or in its plural form Sephardim, has When Sephardim lived in their communities of origin, Pe- many levels of meaning. In its most common usage, it iden- sach observance was not complicated. Everyone was tifies the Jews of countries from North Africa to the west, familiar with the halachic guidelines and community and as far as Iran to the east (with the possible exception of customs. Today, however, there are very few Sephardic Yemen), as well as the Jews of Turkey, Greece, and much communities that survived the transplantation sufficiently of the Balkans. Additionally, there were important and ear- well that they can continue to maintain their observance ly Sephardic communities in Amsterdam and London. The much the same way as they did in their country of origin. term could possibly serve as a tribal identifier (see Rashi In America, the Syrian communities of Flatbush, New York and Radak to Ovadia, verse 20). On a mystical level, the and Deal, New Jersey; the Persian communities of New term is associated with particular spiritual traits and talents York and Los Angeles; and the Bukharan community of to be found in those of this extraction (see for example Rav Queens, New York have varying levels of success in this Moshe David Vali, student/colleague of Rav Moshe Chaim regard. These communities may be the exception, while Luzatto, the Ramchal, in his Sefer HaLikutim Vol 1 page 9). many Sephardic Jews find themselves confused and un- However, from a halachic perspective, it refers to Jews who certain how to proceed and which opinion to follow. With have accepted the authority of Maran, Rav Yosef Karo and its severity and complexity, Pesach is particularly difficult his work Shulchan Aruch as legally binding upon them- for them. selves and their progeny. The submission of Sephardim to This cRc Guide to Passover is written primarily with Ash- Maran Rav Yosef Karo’s rulings is a powerful commonality kenazi Jews in mind, and as such, the halachot presented between different Sephardic communities. therein follow the Ashkenazi traditions. The intent of this ar- The communities of the Jews in Sephardic countries are ticle is to identify some of the areas where the Ashkenazi ancient, with some of them dating back to the exile from and Sephardi traditions differ, and provide direction in those the First Beit HaMikdash. In distinction to many Ashke- cases. This article only relates to the “Kashering the Kitch- nazi communities, the Sephardic communities did not en” section of the Guide (pages 22-25). move and for the most part remained in the same place Additionally, this article does not presume nor endeavor to for hundreds and even thousands of years. This remained present the positions and halachic views of each and ev- the status-quo until the latter half of the 20th century. The ery Sephardic community. Rather, we will follow here the Holocaust, the creation of the State of Israel, and the rising opinions of Rav Ovadia Yosef zt”l. Rav Yosef was a halach- hatred of their Arab neighbors resulted in mass exodus ic titan in our generation, and his decisions are followed by from the homes that the Sephardim had occupied for cen- countless Sephardic Jews of all origins. Additionally, Rav turies. However, until then, each community developed Yosef recognized that many communities had veered from essentially independent of one another. As a result, each the total authority of the Shulchan Aruch, and as such he community has its own distinct and unique customs. Even set as one of his missions in life to return the prominence within the same country, different communities may have and the absoluteness of Maran Rav Yosef Karo’s authority widely differing customs. For example, some Moroccan to its proper place. In many cases, Rav Yosef’s opinions Jews eat rice on Pesach, while many do not. On a halach- reflect the unfiltered view of Maran Rav Yosef Karo, the ic level as well, different communities have different levels baseline of authority for all Sephardic communities. of relationship to Maran Rav Yosef Karo’s authority, with all however accepting the Shulchan Aruch as a baseline. Those desirous of following the traditions of any particular community should consult their Rabbi. ▲