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A minhag (Hebrew: מִנְהָג, lit. 'custom'; pl. מִנְהָגִים, minhagim) is an accepted tradition or group of traditions in Judaism. A related concept, nusach (pronounced [ˈnusax]; נוּסָח, 'formula'), refers to the traditional ordering and forms of Jewish prayer.
The triliteral n-h-g (Hebrew: נ־ה־ג) means primarily "to drive" or, by extension, "to conduct [oneself]".[citation needed] The Hebrew word minhag appears twice in the Hebrew Bible—both times in the same verse of 2 Kings 9:20. In the RJPS version, it is translated as "driving" and "drives", respectively:
And the lookout reported, "The messenger has reached them, but has not turned back. And it looks like the driving of Jehu, son of Nimshi, who drives wildly."
Homiletically, one could argue that the use of the word minhag in Jewish law (הֲלָכָה, Halakha) reflects its Biblical Hebrew origins as "the [manner of] driving [a chariot]" (à la 2 Jehu in 2 Kings 9:20). Whereas Halakha translates roughly to "the way of walking", minhag lends itself to the styles that Jews developed vis-à-vis Halakha.[citation needed] Furthermore, derekh (דֶּרֶךְ), which translates roughly to "path", is the itinerary Jewish communities maintain while walking.
The present use of minhag for "custom" may have been influenced by the Arabic minhaj; in current Islamic usage, the term is used for the intellectual methodology of a scholar or school of thought rather than for the customs of a local or ethnic community.
In addition to the 613 commandments, Jews have traditionally considered Halakha—Jewish law as given in the Tanakh and exposited and recorded in the Mishnah, Talmud, responsa literature, and other codes—to be normative and binding upon all Jews. In addition to the major halakhic literature, there have always been informal customs and traditions. Some customs were at some points universally adopted (e.g., the wearing of a kippah) or almost universally (e.g., monogamy). Others were or are observed by some segments of Jewry but not by others (e.g., not eating kitniyot on Passover). Other customs are bound to certain localities or groups that originated in certain localities.
Minhagim exist in various forms:
Some sources in Rabbinic literature stress the importance of a long-held tradition, culminating in the statement "the minhag of our fathers is [equivalent to] Torah". Custom can thus determine Halachic practice in cases of disagreement among rabbinic authorities. In numerous instances, Rabbi Moses Isserles warns that one should not abolish long-held customs. (Isserles' gloss on the Shulchan Aruch was, in fact, written so as to delineate Ashkenazi minhagim alongside Sephardi practices in the same code of law.)
Despite the above, a minhag does not override clear biblical or Talmudic enactments, and one may not transgress the latter for the sake of the former. In fact, any minhag that intrinsically involves an element of Halacha violation is considered null and void.
The Talmud rules that a valid minhag accepted by previous generations of a family or community is binding upon all later generations. The Rosh states that the Talmud's ruling fundamentally applies to practices undertaken by learned individuals; innovations by the unlearned need only be followed publicly. Other Halachic authorities hold that the Talmud's ruling applies to all valid practices initiated by either learned or unlearned individuals.
In most cases, personal acceptance of a new minhag is tantamount to vowing performance of that minhag. Consequently, abandonment of such a minhag typically requires hatarat nedarim or sh'eilat chakham: Halachic procedures for absolving oneself from oaths. This was often necessary when, for example, an Ashkenazi Jew moved to the Ottoman Empire and wished to join the local Sephardi community.
Jewish law provides for a number of mechanisms to change or remove a custom when it is held to be mistaken or illogical. Orthodox rabbi and historian of Jewish law Menachem Elon writes:
The acute displacement brought about by World War II and the Holocaust, and the large-scale immigration to the United States, various European countries, and especially the State of Israel, have led to a mixing of various minhagim and arguably the gradual disuse of certain customs. In addition, the baal teshuva movement has created a large group who have no clear tradition from their parents. In response to these phenomena, certain scholars have focused on the minhagim, and attempts have been made to revive minhagim that have fallen into disuse.
Nusach (properly nósach) primarily means "text" or "version"; the correct wording of a religious text. Thus, the nusach tefillah is the text of the prayers generally or as used by a particular community. In common use, nusach has come to signify the entire liturgical tradition of the community, including the musical rendition. It is narrower than minhag, which can refer to custom in any field and not necessarily that of communal prayer.
Both nusach and minhag can thus be used for liturgic rite or liturgic tradition; sometimes, a nusach appears to be a subdivision of a minhag or vice versa; see different Jewish rites and popular siddurim under Siddur. In general, one must pray according to one's "nusach of origin" unless one has formally joined a different community and accepted its minhag. (Perisha rules that if one abandons a nusach that has been accepted universally by the wider Jewish community, his prayer is disqualified and must be repeated using the accepted nusach: Arba'ah Turim, Orach Chayim, 120 ad loc).
The main segments of traditional Judaism, as differentiated by nusach (broadly and narrowly), are these:
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