ויקרא להן שמות כשמות אשר קרא להן אביו (תולדות כו:יח)

The wedding of the kallah, Mrs. Freida a’’h—daughter of Reb Yechiel M’Krilovitz zt’ l and granddaughter of Maran Reb Yehoshua of Belz zt’ l—was held in Belz in the year 5642[1881]. She married the chassan, Reb Yitzchak Shaya of Tchechov zt’’l, the youngest son of the Divrei Chaim of Sanz zt’’l. (The Sanzer Rav was niftar during their engagement.)

All the Sanzer Rav’s children attended the chasunah, celebrating both the wedding and the sheva brachos. As was the minhag among the Rebbes, two sheva brachos were held each day—one during the day and one in the evening. At each seudah, the guests were served fish and meat, as befitting a seudas mitzvah, accompanied by singing, dancing, and divrei Torah in honor of the chassan and kallah.

On Erev Shabbos, at the daytime sheva brachos, the guests were served russel—a stew made from chicken wings, the traditional food eaten in Belz every Erev Shabbos.

The chassan’s family, unfamiliar with this custom, wondered about it. The Shinover Rav zt’’l asked Maran Reb Yehoshua of Belz zt’’l why they were not served fish, as is customary at a seudas mitzvah. Maran replied that his father, the Sar Sholom of Belz zt’’l, would also serve russel at sheva brachos held on Erev Shabbos. “And so,” he said, “I follow exactly in his ways—I will not deviate from my father’s minhag.”

Maran explained further: “In Parshas Toldos, it states that Yitzchak called the wells by the same names his father had given them. Rabeinu Bechaye teaches that the Torah is instructing us not to stray from the minhagim of our parents. This is why Avram’s name was changed to Avraham, and Yaakov’s name was changed to Yisroel—yet Yitzchak’s name remained unchanged, as a reward for not altering the names of the wells his father had named.”