Funny story. For years we have not eaten grapes on ראש השנה. (Funny story within funny story, I couldn't decide how many "n"'s and whether to put an "h" at the end of the transliteration of ראש השנה; so I punted and decided to just leave it in the original.) We didn't eat grapes, because I had been told that the Vilna Gaon (I'll leave that one alone) said we shouldn't eat grapes on ראש השנה. Why not? It's a secret 😉; you know, kabala stuff. (No final "h", one "l"; sigh...) I thought this was well known. After all, if I -- who did not grow up in the Orthodox Jewish tradition -- know something, then everyone must know it. Fine, fine, that is getting less true as I get older, but still.
Anyway... We are, בעזרת השם , having guests for the first day of ראש השנה and they wanted to bring a Waldorf Salad -- which happens to include grapes and walnuts. (My wife knew that, not me.) Of course, we all knew that the walnuts would have to be left out. That's a straight out Rema (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 584:2): There are those who are careful not to eat nuts as אגוז, the Hebrew word for nut (walnut in Modern Hebrew), has almost the same gematria as חטא/sin. (It is only off by one, and the א is silent, and it's just a gematria.) Also because nuts increase phlegm, which is bad for your davening. But grapes? They never heard of that.
So, of course, they checked with R' Fuerst, shlita. R' Fuerst told him there is no problem with eating grapes, as he just found out that R' Chaim says there is no such statement from the Vilna Gaon! My friend told me and I ran over to the dayan (a large part of my reason for davening mincha/ma'ariv at the Agudah). The dayan's eyes literally lit up. "Yes; I am going to eat grapes for the first time in my life this ראש השנה!" Cool, no?
So we are now eating grapes. Not just permitted to eat grapes, but we will (at least this year) make a point of eating grapes on ראש השנה. Why? Because if I don't eat grapes, it looks like I am still refraining from eating grapes on ראש השנה. But that would mean, since the dayan now paskens that there is no such statement from the Vilna Gaon, that all those years of refraining from eating grapes on ראש השנה was just -- Heaven forfend -- a superstition. I only refrained from eating grapes on ראש השנה because the dayan said not to. Now that the dayan is eating grapes -- nay, looking forward to eating grapes -- this ראש השנה, so am I!
One more word about superstition and yeitzer hara. When R' Fuerst told me what he had seen from R' Chaim, a quiet little voice in the back of my mind whispered -- wait... are we sure he really checked well? I mean, he just saw one thing and now wants to permit something that we didn't do for years? Is that really appropriate? And besides... -- oh yes, that little voice had lots more to say. And, yes, it referred to the dayan as "he" (little "h"). So I quickly yelled (still in the back of my mind) at that little voice -- Dude! The only reason we didn't eat grapes is because the dayan said so. It is illogical and inconsistent to start questioning the dayan's judgement now! That shut him up and made me feel better.
Last TftD of the year 5785. May we all be written immediately into the Book of Life and Peace for 5786.
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