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Where does "minhag avoseinu byadeinu" as a halachik concept, which is commonly cited as the source for keeping two days of yom tov outside of Israel, originate from?

Seth J
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  • Do you mean the Gemara that mentions it, or the source upon which the letter cited in that Gemara is based? – Seth J Oct 16 '12 at 16:31
  • @SethJ maybe you can help me rephrase. my question is not where does the gemarah say it but what is the source for applying it as a halachic concept. meaning why, just because it used to be done, do we not change? Why do we ignore all the halachic issues that come along with those changes etc.? –  Oct 16 '12 at 17:12
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    Since an adequate answer has been provided to the question as written, perhaps you should write your intended question as a stand-alone one. – Seth J Oct 16 '12 at 18:27
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    I agree with @SethJ . See also http://meta.judaism.stackexchange.com/q/1229/759 – Double AA Oct 16 '12 at 18:31
  • @PM, how about something like "Why does the Gemara (Beitzah 4b) state that we need to follow our forefathers' custom with regard to keeping two days of Yom Tov, even though we know the dates now with our fixed calendar?" – Seth J Oct 16 '12 at 18:53
  • @SethJ but it goes beyond 2 days of yom tov. how do we know when to apply this minhag/concept or not? –  Oct 16 '12 at 19:02
  • @PM, ok, I was just offering a suggestion since you seemed to be at a loss. – Seth J Oct 16 '12 at 19:03
  • @PM Is your intended question perhaps about applying Minhag Avoteinu BeYadeinu to explain certain practices which are longstanding but seem to contradict text-based formal halacha? (eg. Chodosh, sleeping in the Sukkah, many Eruvin, non-Glatt meat, Tzitzit on button down shirts, Sukkah on Shmeni Atzeret in Chu"l, clapping/dancing on Shabbat, Birkas haTorah after naps, early Maariv) – Double AA Oct 16 '12 at 19:09
  • @DoubleAA that sounds closer to it. we have this idea loosely "we've always done it, so we continue to do it even if there's no good reason". I want to know a)why that is so and b)how and when do we apply it. Is that a better way to phrase it? –  Oct 16 '12 at 20:11
  • @PM Is one of these essentially your question? http://judaism.stackexchange.com/q/3647/759 http://judaism.stackexchange.com/questions/1303/when-is-a-minhag-no-longer-a-minhag – Double AA Oct 18 '12 at 15:39
  • @DoubleAA definitely not. Minhag avoseinu doesn't appear to really be a minhag but a halachic construct that tells us to do what was done before, as if it was ACTUAL HALACHA! –  Oct 18 '12 at 15:57

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Gemora Beitzah 4b, actually talking about two days yom tov

והשתא דידעינן בקביעא דירחא מאי טעמא עבדינן תרי יומי משום דשלחו מתם הזהרו במנהג אבותיכם בידיכם

limos
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    It seems he meant to ask a different question. I think, though, that you should keep your answer here, because it answers the question as it was written, and that he can ask a separate question that focuses on what he intended to originally. – Seth J Oct 16 '12 at 18:28
  • Let's not forget the next words of the gemara זמנין דגזרו המלכות גזרה ואתי לאקלקולי – Double AA Dec 24 '12 at 17:05