Bris Milah: Why Say ‘Aleinu After the Milah?

The recently published Sefer Kush’yos, by a student of the Maharam mi’Rutenberg, asks the question:

Why do we say ‘aleinu after the milah (i.e. not immediately after ashrei and u’va l’tziyon)?

Because in ‘aleinu we say: she'lo 'a'sa'nu k'go'yei ha'a'ra'tzos, “He has not made us like the nations of the earth.” In deference to the baby who is not yet circumcised, like a goy, we do not say ‘aleinu until the baby is circumcised, as well.
(Sefer Kush’yos edited by R. Ya’akov Yisrael Stal, Jerusalem, 2007, 5:9, p. 6f.)

This minhag is based on the custom that the milah takes place at the end of shacharis when ‘aleinu would normally be said. Once the milah is complete, the baby is then included in the tefillah of ‘aleinu, too.

The Aderes in his commentary on the Siddur, Tefilas David, feels that the minhag to have the bris before 'aleinu stems from the the custom to have the bris in shul for pirsum ha'mitzvah, publicizing the mitzvah. The reason for having it before 'aleinu was to be sure all the people were still in shul. (Jerusalem: Franco edition, 2004, p.51)

Shabbos Mincha: Sim Shalom or Shalom Rov?

Nusach Ashkenaz siddurim customarily have shalom rov as the selection for birkas shalom at Mincha on Shabbos, following the same custom as on a weekday.
The recently published Sefer Kush’yos, by a student of the Maharam mi’Rutenberg, asks the question: Why do we say sim shalom at Mincha on Shabbos and on fast days? Because the Torah is read on those occasions and one needs to mention, toras chaim, the Torah of life, which is part of the text of sim shalom.

This indicates that the early minhag Ashkenaz was sim shalom.

The Gemara says the reason why on ordinary days the priests do not ‘lift up their hands’ at Minhah is because of the likelihood of intoxication, but on the days [cited above] the question of intoxication does not arise.
(Ta’a’nis 26b. See also Orach Chaim 127, Hagahos Maimoniyos, Rambam, Ahavah, Seder Tefillos, Frankel edition p. 327))

It appears that there are two reasons behind saying sim shalom: 1) Torah reading which is referred to in sim shalom as Toras Chaim and 2) acceptance of the validity of having birkas kohanim at Mincha when there is no chance of intoxication by the kohanim i.e. fast days.

Why Does a Tallis Have Rough Edges Tied with Knots?

Ve’shibatzta ha’ke’sones shesh, And you shall embroider the coat of fine linen, and you shall make the mitre of fine linen, and you shall make the girdle of needlework. (Shemos 28:39)

The Rambam says the following about the Kohen’s garments:
The garments [of the Kohen] were also entirely woven, me’shu’ba’tzos, and not cut, in order not to spoil the work of the weaving. (Moreh 3, 45)

The taleisim we wear today also have uncut edges tied with knots in keeping with the rule followed for the Kohen’s garments in the Beis ha’Mikdash. The idea is not to spoil the work of the weaver and keep his work in pristine form and appearance. That is the embroidery for the Kohen’s garments and in keeping with that tradition, for our taleisim, as well.

The Lost Custom of the Pre-Wedding Dinner for the Poor (Yiddish: di oreme vetshere)

From a memoir of Rabbi Reuven Agushewitz (1897-1950) on life in the Lithuanian shtetl:

The night before a wedding there was a custom to make a dinner for the poor – a dinner which was certainly no worse, and sometimes even better, than the dinner for the families and their guests. Don’t forget that with this dinner the idea was not to make an impression on anybody, but to succeed with the Master of the Universe, upon Whose will the entire happiness of the young couple depends. Aside from this dinner, generous donations were set aside for the poor. At the dinner, poor people from the surrounding shtetls convened, among whim one could find usually also comic talents, merry beggars, who wanted to show off their stuff and thus regaled the crowd. I myself was at a Poor Man’s Supper at my brother’s wedding – it was the best meal I ever had, even better than the dinner of the Hospitality Committee to which my father used to take me. (Faith and Heresy by Reuven Agushewitz, translated from Yiddish by Mark Steiner, New York: Yeshiva University Press, 2006, p. 8 n)