tortured souls

[SamWeiss <SamWeiss...>]

At 08:47 AM 1/31/02, I. Oppenheim wrote:
>>On Thu, 31 Jan 2002, Bob Wiener wrote:
>>Would it be prohibited in an Orthodox synagogue
>>to have Kol Nidre played before the start of the Kol Nidre service?

>Yes. The Inuy Nefesh ('torture of the soul') of Yom Kippur
>begins already about 40 minutes before the actual start
>of the service.
>Irwin Oppenheim

I believe you are confusing Yom Kippur -- a day of contrition, whose 
biblical name is Shabbat Shabbaton ("the supreme Sabbath") -- with Tisha 
B'Av which, in addition to being a day of contrition and prayer, is 
primarily a day of mourning.  Not listening to music on Tisha B'av does not 
derive from Inuy Nefesh, but is a characteristic of the entire nine-day (or 
three-week) period preceding Tisha B'av.

'Torture of the soul' is a poor translation of Inuy Nefesh.  Better would 
be 'mortification of the soul', which is defined in the dictionary I have 
at hand as "control of one's physical desires and passions by self-denial, 
fasting, etc. as a means of religious or ascetic discipline".  In Judaism, 
Inuy Nefesh has been strictly codified to mean the denial of four 
pleasurable categories: food & drink, bathing & anointing, wearing of 
leather [shoes], and sexual activity.  In the case of Yom Kippur, the 
relevant biblical command (Lev.16:31 & 23:27, et al.) is often rendered 
"You (plural) shall afflict your souls", but this antiquated phrase is 
misleading to modern English speakers.  Indeed, the recently published 
Bible of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism ("Etz Hayim") 
translates "t'anu et nafshoteychem" as "you shall practice 
self-denial".  This is not a particularly beautiful turn of phrase, but it 
does capture the basic meaning.  (I think, however, that in their 
commentary on this phrase [p.684] the editors go off the New-Age deep end 
in their attempt to miss the real point of this practice.)

_____________________________________________________________
Cantor Sam Weiss === Jewish Community Center of Paramus, NJ

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