It is well-known that Chazal said that if you go to a certain place, you should behave in line with the customs of that place, which means that one must invariably follow the customs of the place where you are. Although it is of course true that there are bad customs which ought to be discontinued, for this one needs a lot of weighing up with the scales of justice, as if there is a hint of transgression and the custom has nothing to base itself on, it must definitely be forced to be discontinued, and one may not listen to the voice of the ignorant whisperers who want to keep their father’s customs alive even when it is a bad custom. Not for every custom did Chazal say that “The power of custom is great!”, as sometimes the letters of the word “Minhag” (meaning “custom”) can be rearranged to form the word “Gehinnom” (meaning “Hell”). If, however, in this custom there is not even a hint of sin, or there is a source for the custom, one should continue the custom.
Therefore, even though customs are important, this is only true of a good custom. A bad custom, however is not considered a custom at all. There are many people who transgress prohibitions and commandments such as washing hands before the meal, the third meal on Shabbos, public fast-days etc. and when they are challenged they respond “This is our custom!”. This is true of many bad customs with not learning Torah the most important of all. In all of the above, the custom is not considered a custom for any purpose. Even if one cannot stop others from these customs, one should at least guard one’s own soul from them and not follow in their ways.
