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Can one change his Minhagim/whose halachic opinions to follow?

Question:

Hi,

Is there a halachic discussion as to under what circumstances a person may change minhagim/Halacha he follows?

The only one I know of is marriage where a wife would generally adopt husband’s minhagim, but are there other examples where that would be acceptable?

In other words, can a person of Ashkenazi decent choose to start eating Bet Yosef meat and follow Rav Ovadia and vice versa can a Sephardic man start following Rav Moshe’s opinions and customs? Thanks !

Answer:

Aside from when a woman gets married, when a person moves from one country or city to another city, and the prevalent minhag of that city is different, then he may change minhagim. This is not at all common nowadays, because our cities ae a mixture of different people with different minhagim, therefore in general everyone should keep his minhagim. Therefore Sefardim and Ashkenazim should keep to their minhagim, with occasional exceptions of when a person was brought up in a society that acts differently that his minhag, (a boy that learns in a certain Yeshiva that does differently that his minhag, and he wants to act his way permanently.

Best Wishes

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