Minhag Polin/Minhag Lita (Polish/Lithuanian/Prague rite) is the

Ashkenazi Ashkenazi Jews ( ; also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim) form a distinct subgroup of the Jewish diaspora, that Ethnogenesis, emerged in the Holy Roman Empire around the end of the first millennium Common era, CE. They traditionally spe ...

minhag ''Minhag'' ( "custom", classical pl. מנהגות, modern pl. מנהגים, ''minhagim'') is an accepted tradition or group of traditions in Judaism. A related concept, '' Nusach'' (נוסח), refers to the traditional order and form of the pra ...

of the

Polish Jews The history of the Jews in Poland dates back at least 1,000 years. For centuries, Poland was home to the largest and most significant Jews, Jewish community in the world. Poland was a principal center of Jewish culture, because of the long pe ...

, the Polish/Lithuanian or Eastern branch of

Nusach Ashkenaz Nusach Ashkenaz is a style of Jewish liturgy conducted by Ashkenazi Jews. It is primarily a way to order and include prayers, and differs from Nusach Sefard (as used by the Hasidim) and Baladi-rite prayer, and still more from the Sephardic rit ...

, used in Eastern Europe, the United States and by some Israeli Ashkenazim, particularly those who identify as " Lithuanian". This is different from German or Western branch of Nusach Ashkenaz, known in Hebrew as "Minhag Ashkenaz", used in Western and Central Europe. Minhag Polin has historically been the most common minhag among Ashkenazim in Poland, eastern Germany, the

Czech lands The Czech lands or the Bohemian lands (, ) is a historical-geographical term which denotes the three historical regions of Bohemia, Moravia, and Czech Silesia out of which Czechoslovakia, and later the Czech Republic and Slovakia, were formed. ...

, Slovakia, Austria, Hungary, Belarus, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, and Russia, and was introduced to the

Moravia Moravia ( ; ) is a historical region in the eastern Czech Republic, roughly encompassing its territory within the Danube River's drainage basin. It is one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia. The medieval and early ...

n town of

Kojetín Kojetín () is a town in Přerov District in the Olomouc Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 5,700 inhabitants. Administrative division Kojetín consists of three municipal parts (in brackets population according to the 2021 census): *Koje ...

(present day

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

) in 1648. Currently, there are a number of minor differences between the Israeli and American Ashkenazi practice, in that the Israeli practice follows some practices of the

Vilna Gaon Elijah ben Solomon Zalman, ( ''Rabbi Eliyahu ben Shlomo Zalman''), also known as the Vilna Gaon ( ''Der Vilner Goen''; ; or Elijah of Vilna, or by his Hebrew acronym Gr"a ("Gaon Rabbenu Eliyahu": "Our great teacher Elijah"; Sialiec, April 23, 172 ...

and certain practices which they adopted from Sephardim.

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 The Elbe ( ; ; or ''Elv''; Upper Sorbian, Upper and , ) is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Giant Mountains of the northern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia (western half of the Czech Republic), then Ge ...

, most notably the community of

Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

. North-Eastern German communities such as

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

regarded themselves as following Minhag Polin, though their musical tradition and pronunciation of Hebrew, and some of the traditions about the prayers included, were more reminiscent of the western communities than of Poland proper. Jews in Germany were historically divided into the "Bayers" of

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

and southern Germany, who followed the Minhag Ashkenaz, and the "Polanders" in northern Germany who followed Minhag Polin.

History

Due to the large diaspora of Polish and Eastern European Jews who left Europe for the Americas, Israel, and elsewhere, Minhag Polin is the most common minhag found among Jews worldwide. Minhag Polin derives from ''Minhag Estraich'', an earlier Ashkenazi rite developed by Jews in

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

. Ashkenazi Jews from the Western Europe emigrated to Poland and Eastern Europe in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, expanding the region of ''Minhag Estraich''. Over time, as Jews moved further east, this minhag became known as Minhag Polin. After the appearance of

Hasidic Judaism Hasidism () or Hasidic Judaism is a religious movement within Judaism that arose in the 18th century as a Spirituality, spiritual revival movement in contemporary Western Ukraine before spreading rapidly throughout Eastern Europe. Today, most ...

in the 18th century and the popularization of

Kabbalah Kabbalah or Qabalah ( ; , ; ) is an esoteric method, discipline and school of thought in Jewish mysticism. It forms the foundation of Mysticism, mystical religious interpretations within Judaism. A traditional Kabbalist is called a Mekubbal ...

in Eastern Europe, the Minhag Polin evolved further to incorporate kabbalistic elements.

References

Minhag Ashkenaz and Minhag Polin

History

See also

References