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Dear Rachelle, Robin, and H"N list members,
Imagine that you have been praying at a beautiful Jewish house of
worship, high on a hill overlooking the surrounding city, where you can
look out over the hills and valleys beyond. You are listening to two
mighty choirs whose voices blend magnificently, carrying you to
spiritual heights every time you hear their voices ring out. Even if
you are not present on the hill to hear them, the sound wafts over the
walls and fills the city, so that people stop what they are doing
whenever the choirs are rehearsing, just to listen to the music.
Imagine that the prayer leaders wear robes of bright colors, and the
hangings in this place are of red, blue, and purple. The stones of the
walls and the floor of the large courtyard are reddish, tan, light
brown, or almost yellow, all earth tones, with a golden cast that
reflects the sunlight. The steps leading up to the building are broad
and during a festival, thousands of people move up the steps together,
accompanied by the choir's singing.
Imagine a large orchestra of stringed instruments, wind instruments,
and a variety of percussion instruments. The musicians are all highly
skilled, having been trained from childhood to play in this orchestra.
When they combine with the two choirs, the music is overwhelmingly
sweet, deeply moving, and an offering of the finest quality.
Close your eyes, and listen within your soul to that music. Breathe in
the clear mountain air of that place. Now open your eyes, and look
around you. You are standing in the courtyard of the Temple in
Jerusalem. The year is 67CE. You have made the trip to Jerusalem for
the first time, and the sounds and sights are overwhelming.
Now we fast forward to the year 70 CE, to the late fall. You stand with
friends on a hill overlooking the former site of the Temple. Where that
once glorious edifice stood, you now see a field of rubble. The
orchestra and the choirs are silent. The priests and the Levites are
dead, or fled from that place. You remember the music. You vow that
until the Temple is rebuilt you will never sing, never play an
instrument, never again listen to music. You turn away from that
painful view, pick up your pack, and walk down the hill, away from
Jerusalem.
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The rabbis, who helped Judaism transition from Temple centered worship
with animal and grain sacrifices, to Judaism as we know it today, with
prayer and study as the center, experienced the same wrenching of soul
that you did in 70 CE. They forbad playing of instruments on Shabbat
and Holidays as a sign of mourning for the Temple that had been
destroyed. They explained that only in the sacred Temple could these
instruments be played, just as it was only in the Temple that
sacrifices could be brought. Anywhere else this was forbidden by the
laws of Shabbat and Festivals. And so the mourning of one generation
became a tradition down through the ages.
A second concern was that someone might try to repair an instrument
that had broken on Shabbat or on a festival. This was forbidden under
the laws relating to Shabbat. The rabbis derived these laws from the
proximity of the directions about building the Tabernacle, in the
Torah, to the law about observing Shabbat. Any work that might have
been done to build, decorate, or serve in the tabernacle was forbidden
on Shabbat. They came up with a basic list of 39 categories of work and
found numerous derivative types of work within each of these
categories.
This is observed in all Orthodox synagogues that I know about (please
enlighten me if you know differently), and in some Conservative
congregations. Choral singing is fine, as far as I know, but not
playing instrumental music. Reform, Reconstructionist, some
Conservative, most Jewish Renewal congregations, and most havurot
(please let me know of any exceptions that you know about) allow some
form of instrumental music on Shabbat and Holidays.
I hope this explains, in part, the double origin of this halacha -
repair of a broken instrument (from the Torah) and mourning over the
destruction of the Temple (rabbinic origin).
Thank you for taking this trip back in time with me. May your life be
filled with music and light.
Tamar D. Earnest MD
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From: Robin Shuler [SMTP:robinshuler (at) home(dot)com]
Sent: Friday, May 18, 2001 7:52 AM
To: hanashir (at) shamash(dot)org
Subject: [HANASHIR:9120] Re: halacha against instrumentation
In reference to the prohibition of playing musical instruments on
Shabbat, I thought the halacha was that we were not supposed to
participate in any creative work. This would refer to anything
similar to the building of the Tabernacle in the desert, as well as
G-d's creation of the world. Any creation of music on an instrument
would be considered creative work. However, in Psalm 33, which is in
the Orthodox Siddur as a Psalm for Shacharit for Shabbat, it says,
"Give thanks to Hashem with the harp with the ten-stringed lyre make
music to Him. Sing Him a new song, play well with wounds of deepest
feeling." So, now I'm confused. Any thoughts?
Robin
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I'd like to pose a question regarding the origin of the halacha against
instrumentation on Shabbat. Having been raised in Reform Judaism, I
may not be fully aware of the halachic implications of playing music on
the day of rest. I have always assumed it is because the playing of
instruments is regarded as "work", while devotional singing is not,
much as driving to shul is forbidden, but walking is accepted. Have I
missed something? Is there a more specific law against the use of
instrumental accompaniment? If so, can someone direct me to the
source?
Thanks,
Rachelle Shubert
H & R Shubert [notfranz (at) total(dot)net]
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