[HANASHIR:9136] Re: halacha against instrumentation

[Tamar D. Earnest MD <tde...>]

Dear Janis,

Beautifully stated. Thank you for taking my vision and bringing back to 
our own time.

At H"N two years ago, the lights went out at about 7:30 am on Shabbat 
morning, all over camp. I had gone for a walk before the morning 
service and learned that lights were out in neighboring houses, on the 
streets, as far as we could see.

During shacharit the camp director told us that some tree trimmers a 
few roads away had gotten a power line and it would probably be noon 
before we had power again. The service continued. We sang Barchu. Then 
Debbie Friedman, singing and playing the guitar, led us in Yotzer Or. 
We sang it once, twice, and on the third repeat, just after we sang the 
words "yotzer or" (creates light), the lights came on in the whole 
camp. At that moment, I knew how Miriam and Moses felt after crossing 
the Sea of Reeds. A miracle had occurred - and the spiritual power of 
that moment will remain with me as long as I have memory and can tell 
the story. In that moment Debbie Friedman became "Reb Debbie" for me.

Music has such power to move us that its use or sometimes (as you 
beautifully point out) its non-use, can connect our outward action with 
our internal feelings, making them one. Is this the power of singing 
the Shema on the one hand, and the silent words of the Amidah on the 
other? Your e-mail challenges me to reclaim the music of silence, as 
well as the music of voice and instrument.

Thank you for your thoughtful posting and for the inspiration to 
develop this idea further.

Tamar D. Earnest MD

-----Original Message-----
From:   Janisbl (at) aol(dot)com [SMTP:Janisbl (at) aol(dot)com]
Sent:   Monday, May 21, 2001 12:12 PM
To:     tde (at) fast(dot)net; hanashir (at) shamash(dot)org
Subject:        Fwd: [HANASHIR:9132] Re: halacha against instrumentation

 << Message: [HANASHIR:9132] Re: halacha against instrumentation >> In 
a message dated 5/20/01 8:08:29 PM Eastern Daylight Time, tde (at) fast(dot)net
writes:

<< tde (at) fast(dot)net >>

Dear Tamar and HN listers,

Tamar, your description of the beautiful music in the Temple paints a 
picture
of people participating in an incredible spiritual experience.  Today, 
too,
we try to find ways to create that ruach that takes us to a spiritual 
place.
 Perhaps in rabbinic times, prohibiting Temple practices such as using
instruments was the path that made sense (after all, the rituals that 
bound
our people were blown away).  Indeed we mourn the tragic event. 
 However,
today's explanation of why instruments are not played in synagogue on 
Shabbat
highlights a particular view of what it means to restore the Temple. 
 If one
truly believes that the Temple must be physically rebuilt in Jerusalem, 
then
I understand the feeling that mourning takes the form of exclusion of
instruments until the Temple is rebuilt.

However, if one believes that the rebuilding of the Temple is a virtual 
rebuilding  ---- not necessarily building a physical place but rather
building peace in the world among all peoples ---- ('all the world 
shall be
One - bayom hahu......' ), then we should commit ourselves every day to 
that
end.  To me, this means that using instruments honors the memory of the 
ancient Temple and symbolizes its rebuilding.  Think about how we honor 
the
memory of deceased loved ones.  We don't deprive ourselves - we act and 
live
as they would have wanted us to.

Tamar's explanation of the origin of the no-instrument halacha is
enlightening and educational. Thank you, Tamar, for taking the time to 
do
this.  I believe it's up to each of us to decide why we've chosen a
particular practice.  For example, I prefer the no-instrument model 
(mostly)
on Shabbat because it's different from weekdays/festivals, quieter, 
less
busy, a little more peaceful.

So in closing, let's all continue to learn and to understand why we do 
what
we do!

B'shalom,
Janis Braun-Levine
Farmington Hills, MI


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