Re: Singing Jewish music in church

[Chazzzan <Chazzzan...>]

Judaism has some very specific Halachot (laws) about churches.  First, Jews
are FORBIDDEN from even entering a church.  In the old days, especially the
Middle Ages, if someone saw a Jew going into a church, one would assume that
Jew was leaving the faith.  The established churches, whether Protestant or
Catholic, in Europe were always major sources of anti-semitism beliefs and
practices (remember the Crusades or the Inquisition, folks?  How about the
Lutheran-church-endorsed Holocaust, anyone?)

But that was in Europe, and this is America.  In a historically unprecedented
way, Jews have been fully accepted into our pluralistic society.  This has
created some real opportunities for us, but also some real challenges.  Many
of us even celebrate such "American" holidays as Easter, Christmas and
Halloween.

As for entering a church, or even singing there, Orthodox Jews would almost
never do such a thing.