 Five
Questions, Five Minutes
Jewish Music/Shabbat Shira
OUR QUESTIONS:
1. What is your name?
2. What school do you attend?
3. What is your favorite Hebrew song?\
4. How does adding music to prayer change the service?
5. Does having the music during the service help unite the congregation
more than usual?
YOUR ANSWERS:
1. Andy Gryll
2. Emory University (Atlanta)
3. David Melech
4. It adds enjoyment and entertainment to an otherwise boring service.
It also can, for example in Kabbalat Shabbat on Friday night, be a spiritual
component of the service.
5. Yes
1. Matt Rutta
2. Columbia/Jewish Theological Seminary (New York City)
3. I have too many favorites to pick just one. This summer I got hooked
on the songs of Subliminal, an Israeli hip-hop group
4. It can make the service more beautiful and more spiritual in some ways,
but can affect it negatively in others.
5. Coming from a Shul in LA which uses an organ, and living in New York
City where such a thing is anathema, I have seen advantages and disadvantages
to both approaches. Music could potentially allow for more congregational
participation if the Shaliach Tzibur is accommodating of the congregation
and does not go off on too many musical tangents.
1. Aaron Weininger
2. Washington University in St. Louis
3. Yachad
4. Adding music, especially instruments, to prayer enhances the beauty
of the service. Historically, musical instruments have been prohibited from
use on Shabbat because one might be tempted, if the occasion arises, to fix
a broken string (and violate Shabbat). Some also believe that adding musical
instruments will detract from the spirit of Shabbat and transform a synagogue
into a church-like atmosphere. Despite associations to
Christian worship, instrumental music has always played a significant role
in Jewish life. The Temple in Jerusalem featured musical accompaniment and
in modern Jewish life today, Conservative synagogues are introducing creative
musical Shabbat services like "Friday Night Live." While some claim that we
should continue to mourn for the Temple by refraining from instrumental music
in our worship, we have been blessed with the creation of the modern State
of Israel. Conservative Judaism has modified the Musaf service by referring
to Temple sacrificial worship in the past tense (as a historical reference),
to recall our ancestors' ties to the Temple without expressing a desire for
the return of sacrificial worship in the future. Just as Conservative Musaf
liturgy reflects our contemporary thinking, so too must our style of davening
reflect our joy, symbolized in the realization of our dreams and the emergence
of our spiritual homeland. Opportunities to introduce musical accompaniment
and enrich the service should be welcomed.
5. Absolutely. Music, in keeping with the spirit of Shabbat, helps unite
the congregation more than usual. Appropriate musical instruments, like a
guitar, harp, or keyboard will lead to more congregational participation and
ruach. The power of music brings enormous honor and dignity, and musical accompaniment
may compliment the traditional liturgy of a Conservative Friday night or Saturday
morning service.
1. Jessica Danon
2. University of Judaism (Los Angeles)
3. My favorite is not actually a song rather it is a niggun, that was taught
to me on my
KOACH Birthright Trip during the winter of 2001-2002. Jeni Friedman
taught it to us and now every time I hear it, it takes me back to my one true
home, and I often get teary-eyed.
4. Adding music can both add or detract from a service in my mind. I enjoy
music that brings a congregation together with harmonies and melodies that
people can sing along with.
5. I think solely choral music is a bad idea because it tends to highlight
the choir and pull one away from their own intentful worship. Again, if the
melody is simple and everyone can learn or is taught it, I don't see it as
a bad thing.
[Posted 1/22/04]
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