Sefirah: Concerning the "Carlebach Clause"—on respecting another person's hashkafah
This year, I decided to do something Jewish for Yom HaAtzmaut (Israel Independence Day). So I bought myself a Jewish music CD.
In Ashkenazi (*non*-Mediterranean European) Hebrew.
From Milwaukee.
Huh?
Well, it's Jewish, at least! :)
I'd been singing along with Moshe Skier's music for at least a week before it finally dawned on me that we were in the middle of Sefirah, a semi-mourning period on the Jewish calendar. Many traditional Jews refrain from listening to music (or, at least, to instrumental music) for part or all of the Sefirah period, which begins on the second night of Pesach (Passover) and ends on Shavuot (the Feast of Weeks). So what was I doing listening to Moshe's music when I have a feeling that he might not listen to it at this time of year?
Those of us who are old enough, in this age of the mp3, to remember good old-fashioned phonograph records may also remember that the late, great Jewish singer/songwriter/guitarist Shlomo Carlebach, zichrono li-v'rachah (may his memory be a blessing), used to have a request printed on his album covers asking his listeners not to play his records on Shabbat (Sabbath) or Yom Tov (a Jewish holiday), when the use of a music-playing or recording device is forbidden. Well, I'm not the most Sabbath-observant "Member of the Tribe," but, still, it wouldn't kill me to respect another Jew's hashkafah (religious viewpoint).
Personally, I don't accept the idea that Sefirah should be a semi-mourning period. (See my Monday, August 16, 2004 post, Re-eh: Permission to enjoy (later disputed?) at http://onthefringe_jewishblog.blogspot.com/2004/08/re-eh-permission-to-enjoy-later.html#comments ). For that reason, my own observance of Sefirah is limited to Sefirat haOmer, (counting, literally, the days from the second night of Pesach until Shavuot), and, in just a nod toward tradition, not getting a haircut during Sefirah, except on the permissible day of Lag B'Omer. Still, should I respect the hashkafah of other traditional Jewish musicians and apply the "Carlebach Clause" to their music, as well?
After serious consideration, I've decided to apply a "private-vs.-public split" to the issue. I do this sort of thing all the time. For example, here's a typical "private-vs.-public split," in which my observance is stricter at home: I keep a kosher home, but I'll eat cooked food in non-kosher restaurants, provided that there's no meat or shellfish in it. On the other hand, here's a typical "public-vs.-private split," in which my public observance is more traditional: While I've been known to turn on a light on Shabbat in my own apartment, I wouldn't dream of doing that in any synagogue, and I also wear my keys around my neck when going to my local shul (synagogue) on Shabbat so as not to carry anything in public, a forbidden activity. So here's the deal: I'll continue to listen to any music of my choice in the privacy of my own home during Sefirah, but I won't listen to Jewish instrumental music in public between Pesach and Lag B'Omer. There'll be no more crankin' up http://www.mosheskier.com/ at the office during Chol HaMoed (the intermediate, work-permitted, days of) Pesach! And I suppose that I could manage to leave those new Jewish-music CDs that I just bought yesterday unopened until next Tuesday night, after Shavuot.
On the plus side, I've just discovered the "a cappella page" of http://www.fivetownsradio.com/, and, while the music is uneven in quality, some of it is rather enjoyable for this former synagogue-choir singer.
Update: I haven't a clue what just happened, but, five minutes ago, when I attempted to post a comment in response to dilbert, all of my comments disappeared. So here's a copy from my personal "archives" in Word. If the comments reappear, I'll delete this copy.
Update, Saturday night: I came home from Mincha-Maariv and discovered that my comments had reappeared. Deleting copy, as promised. If all goes well, you'll find the comments back in the comments section, where they belong. Feel free to add more--I'd love to hear from you!
In Ashkenazi (*non*-Mediterranean European) Hebrew.
From Milwaukee.
Huh?
Well, it's Jewish, at least! :)
I'd been singing along with Moshe Skier's music for at least a week before it finally dawned on me that we were in the middle of Sefirah, a semi-mourning period on the Jewish calendar. Many traditional Jews refrain from listening to music (or, at least, to instrumental music) for part or all of the Sefirah period, which begins on the second night of Pesach (Passover) and ends on Shavuot (the Feast of Weeks). So what was I doing listening to Moshe's music when I have a feeling that he might not listen to it at this time of year?
Those of us who are old enough, in this age of the mp3, to remember good old-fashioned phonograph records may also remember that the late, great Jewish singer/songwriter/guitarist Shlomo Carlebach, zichrono li-v'rachah (may his memory be a blessing), used to have a request printed on his album covers asking his listeners not to play his records on Shabbat (Sabbath) or Yom Tov (a Jewish holiday), when the use of a music-playing or recording device is forbidden. Well, I'm not the most Sabbath-observant "Member of the Tribe," but, still, it wouldn't kill me to respect another Jew's hashkafah (religious viewpoint).
Personally, I don't accept the idea that Sefirah should be a semi-mourning period. (See my Monday, August 16, 2004 post, Re-eh: Permission to enjoy (later disputed?) at http://onthefringe_jewishblog.blogspot.com/2004/08/re-eh-permission-to-enjoy-later.html#comments ). For that reason, my own observance of Sefirah is limited to Sefirat haOmer, (counting, literally, the days from the second night of Pesach until Shavuot), and, in just a nod toward tradition, not getting a haircut during Sefirah, except on the permissible day of Lag B'Omer. Still, should I respect the hashkafah of other traditional Jewish musicians and apply the "Carlebach Clause" to their music, as well?
After serious consideration, I've decided to apply a "private-vs.-public split" to the issue. I do this sort of thing all the time. For example, here's a typical "private-vs.-public split," in which my observance is stricter at home: I keep a kosher home, but I'll eat cooked food in non-kosher restaurants, provided that there's no meat or shellfish in it. On the other hand, here's a typical "public-vs.-private split," in which my public observance is more traditional: While I've been known to turn on a light on Shabbat in my own apartment, I wouldn't dream of doing that in any synagogue, and I also wear my keys around my neck when going to my local shul (synagogue) on Shabbat so as not to carry anything in public, a forbidden activity. So here's the deal: I'll continue to listen to any music of my choice in the privacy of my own home during Sefirah, but I won't listen to Jewish instrumental music in public between Pesach and Lag B'Omer. There'll be no more crankin' up http://www.mosheskier.com/ at the office during Chol HaMoed (the intermediate, work-permitted, days of) Pesach! And I suppose that I could manage to leave those new Jewish-music CDs that I just bought yesterday unopened until next Tuesday night, after Shavuot.
On the plus side, I've just discovered the "a cappella page" of http://www.fivetownsradio.com/, and, while the music is uneven in quality, some of it is rather enjoyable for this former synagogue-choir singer.
Update: I haven't a clue what just happened, but, five minutes ago, when I attempted to post a comment in response to dilbert, all of my comments disappeared. So here's a copy from my personal "archives" in Word. If the comments reappear, I'll delete this copy.
Update, Saturday night: I came home from Mincha-Maariv and discovered that my comments had reappeared. Deleting copy, as promised. If all goes well, you'll find the comments back in the comments section, where they belong. Feel free to add more--I'd love to hear from you!
Labels: Music
posted by Shira Salamone at 8:07 PM
14 Comments:
If you don't listen to music between Pesach and Lag Beomer, then you can listen to it after Lag Beomer. The 33 day period is variable and can either be the first half or the second half, which is from Rosh Chodesh Iyar until a few days before Shavuos. If you hold the latter, then you can listen between Pesach and Rosh chodesh.
Also there are some people who say it's ok to listen to recorded music during sefirah, just not live music. And some people go to movies and some don't. It's all a minhag anyway.
I personally don't listen to tapes and CDs during the first half of sefirah, but there are plenty of frum people I know that do.
Sorry to lead you into temptation.
Mirty, sorry you got "clipped" by your "clip joint." Better luck at the "chop shop" next time.
Don't worry, PT, I lead myself into temptation without much help. :)
Remember your Monday, May 02, 2005 post, Movie Minhag?, about the trouble you were having trying to find a rabbi whom you could ask about the permissibility of seeing movies during Sefirah without being considered a heretic just for asking? Believe it or not, I'm having roughly the same problem with my own rabbi that you're having with yours: I'd love to ask him questions about all manner of Jewish stuff--in this case, I'd love to understand more about Sefirah--but he's so far to the right of me in haskafah that his answers wouldn't help much.
So here I am, trying to make sense of what I'm reading in my Kitzur Shulchan Aruch. "Because many of the disciples of Rabbi Akiba died during the first thirty-three days of the omer period, certain rules of mourning are observed during those days; no marriages are permitted, and no haircuts are to be taken. There is a divergence of customs as to which thirty-three days thes restrictions are applied. . . . " For openers, this particular books says nothing whatsoever about music. ("It's all a minhag anyway." *Now* you tell me?!!) For closers, and more to the point, if the reason for the mourning is the death of Akiba's students during the *first* thirty-three days, then why do some observe the *last* 33 days? It doesn't make sense, at least not to me. I bet there's some good historical explanation for the difference in minhagim (customs), but, since my rabbi doesn't believe that history or circumstance have any influence whatsover on any aspect of Jewish practice, he would barely understand the question, much less be willing, or even able, to provide a reasonable explanation.
Okay, let’s try this again: About that “good historical explanation . . .”
For those of you who never got around to clicking on that hyperlink to one of my previous posts, here’s the “money” quote: “Based on absolutely no research whatsoever, but strictly on a hunch and on what little I know about West Asian and European pagan religions, I have a strong suspicion that the prohibition against almost all weddings during Sefirah had less to do with mourning for the victims of a supposed plague among Torah students and more to do with preventing us from participating in spring fertility rituals.”
Again, based on no research whatsoever, but, in this case, based on the evidence at hand, here are my latest theories:
1. The 33-day period of semi-mourning was a rabbinical response to a pagan fertility ritual *that lasted 33 days.*
AND/OR
2. There were two different 33-day periods observed, depending on whether one lived in the southern kingdom of Yehudah (Judea) or the northern kingdom of Yisrael (Israel).
AND/OR
3. The pagan fertility ritual lasted for the entire period of Sefirat haOmer (the counting of the Omer), but there was a change of sexual partner, and/or a public sexual act, and/or some special observance that fell on the 33rd day, Lag B’Omer, and/or some combination of the above—and I bet it took place outdoors, which would account for the tradition of holding picnics on Lag B’Omer. It probably would have involved a sexual act in the fields: That would have been an act of “sympathetic magic”—the pagans hoped that, by creating the possibility of fertility between two *people*, they would encourage the gods to create fertility in their *fields,* as well. Maybe it involved the lighting of a bonfire at night, too. (Obvious enough? No? Try this: “Come on, baby, light my fire. Try to set the night on fire.”) Maybe it involved an archery contest—um, folks, not to put too fine a point on it (you should pardon the pun), but consider the shape of an arrow. This one may be a stretch: Just how old is the custom of giving a boy his first haircut on Lag B’Omer?
4. The story of the plague among Akiva’s students—the only *surviving* explanation for the restrictions of Sefirah—comes to us from the descendants of the southern kingdom of Yehudah. The explanation for the observance of restrictions *after* Lag B’Omer was lost when the tribes of the northern kingdom of Yisrael were taken into captivity.
5. There really *was* a “plague” during Sefirah, but it wasn’t the students of Akiva who died—it was the children who were sacrificed to the pagan god Molech.
And the plague of “Molech worship” continues to this day.
Children are sacrificed whenever there’s a war, either as innocent victims—“collateral damage”—or as child soldiers fighting battles for reasons that they may not evern be old enough to understand.
Children are sacrificed whenever there’s a gunfight and they happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Children are sacrificed when drunk drivers mow them down or crash the cars in which they are riding.
Children are sacrificed when drivers are too lazy to ensure that their passengers’ seatbelts and/or child-safety seats are properly fastened, or when a parent holds his/her child in her/his arms and risks crashing through the windshield with the child in the event of a collision.
Children are sacrificed whenever divorcing or divorced parents fight over them in child-custudy battles that don’t have the *children’s* best interests as the goal.
Children are sacrificed whenever they are neglected, abused or molested (physically, sexually, and/or emotionally), kidnapped, and/or killed.
Children are sacrificed whenever medical care is so costly that parents or guardians can’t afford to provide it, which happens in *any* country—mine, for example—that doesn’t have a government-financed national healthcare plan.
Chidren are sacrificed when the government doesn’t provide a free education that’s *truly* appropriate for all children—including those with disabilities—an education that will enable them to reach their maximum potential, rather than just teach them the minimum required by law.
Years ago, I decided that to fast on Tisha B’Av because of the destruction of the Bet haMikdash (Holy Temple) in Jerusalem didn’t make any sense to me, as I have no desire whatsoever to see the Bet haMikdash rebuilt, not believing in animal sacrifice—I follow the interpretation of Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai, who said, quoting the prophet Hoshea (Hosea), “ . . .chesed chafatzti v’lo zevach (“. . .kindness I desire, not sacrifice”). But to fast on Tisha B’Av in memory of those who died during the sieges of Jerusalem at the times of the destruction of each Temple made sense. By the same reasoning, I’ve now found a reason that’s better than “tradition” for not cutting my hair during Sefirah—I mourn for the children who were sacrificed then, and continue to be sacrificed today. In the words of the Alenu prayer, may the day come “l’havir gilulim min ha-aretz—to remove [this type of] destable idolatry from the earth.”
I am sure you know a lot or all of this, but I just wanted to put it all in form and context(and no, I didn't spell check it, but I will try real hard not to have typos. :-)).
We are commanded to count 7 weeks from Pesach to Shavuot, so from the Torah we count the days, thus, "counting the Omer" or "sefirah".
The deaths of Rabbi Akiva's students, whether from the plague or in the revolt of Bar Kochba was sometime around the years 90-132. This is referenced in the Gemara(Yevamot 62b), the deaths, not the year.
The first reference to mourning custom during Sefirah is in the literature of the Geonim, and there they mention abstaining from weddings, haircuts(the fact that in some places people dont get haircuts) and shaving. Whether the custom goes further back than the geonim, as far as I can tell, is not clear, but it probably does. The reason cited there in the gaonic literature for the restrictions is the death of R. Akiva's students.
The Shulchan Aruch records the custom of not getting married or getting a haircut(there is a change from "some dont get a haircut" to "we dont get haircuts"), and adds that we do not engage in excessive happiness-lo l'harbut b'simcha.
Other disasters, such as large scale murder of Jews during the crusades, and the Chmelnitzki progroms occured during Sefira, and other mourning customs were added.
Later on, the idea of formally attaching the laws of mourning, specifically the restrictions of the year after the death(not shiva or shloshim, which are more restrictive) is found, and presently can be found in the writings of RYBS and others.
Conclusion: This is a fascinating and illstrative example of how minhag(and it is all minhag, only the counting is a mitzva) evolves over time. The question of how each person observes depends on their family minhag, personal minhag, community minhag, and how much control the minhag should have over a person's behavior. By the way,I found no mention of molech, or pagen fertility rites. However, if you really want to look for corollaries in other religions, how about.... Lent?(I have no idea if there is any connection or not)
As far as having respect for the person's wishes, I think there is a difference between what is contrary to Halacha(playing the music on Shabbat) and having a different minhag. And, I haven't seen any albums that say "dont play during sefira". So, IMHO(first time for that acronym) listen all you want to PT's music. I have to figure out if its ok for me to listen to the albums of frum girls choirs that explicitly say "dont listen to this if you are a guy." My guess it the music is not rewarding enough to be worth the guilt.
Wow, thanks so much for the information, dilbert! So the whole thing started with the Geonim, worked its way up through the Shulchan Aruch, and then got stricter as the Crusaders and Chmielnitski (spelling?) did their murderous work during this time of year.
(By the way, I finally gave up playing guessing games and did an Internet search for Soleveitchik. Everybody and his cousin uses the abbreviation RYBS, but I wasn’t sure that Rabbi Joseph Soleveitchik even *had* a middle name, much less that it started with a B [or Bet]). What was his middle name?
I certainly wouldn’t have expected you to find any references to pagan fertility rites in rabbinic literature, other than, perhaps, exhortations to avoid them. That’s part of my point: I think that the tale of the plague among Akiva’s students was used as a cover story, so that the rabbanim (rabbis) wouldn’t have to admit to having established some of the semi-mourning customs of Sefirah as a direct result of the existence of, and in vehement protest against, pagan fertility rites. The fact that the one Sefirah restriction that the Geonim indicated was universally observed among Jews was the prohibition against getting married is very telling, indeed. It seems to me that, if there’s any evidence that I might be on the right track concerning the possible origin of the Sefirah restrictions, that evidence comes straight from the Geonim! Obviously, that’s just my personal opinion.
As for Lent, I’ve always found it very interesting that the Christians observe a long semi-mourning period *before* their most important holiday, whereas we Jews observe a long semi-mourning period *after* our most important holiday.
Now that my "comments" section has somehow reappeared after disappearing Friday afternoon, I'll just copy the two comments that I tacked onto the end of my post on Friday afternoon and paste them here and below:
Wow, thanks so much for the information, dilbert! So the whole thing started with the Geonim, worked its way up through the Shulchan Aruch, and then got stricter as the Crusaders and Chmielnitski (spelling?) did their murderous work during this time of year.
(By the way, I finally gave up playing guessing games and did an Internet search for Soleveitchik. Everybody and his cousin uses the abbreviation RYBS, but I wasn’t sure that Rabbi Joseph Soleveitchik even *had* middle name, much less that it started with a B [or Bet]. What was his middle name?)
I certainly wouldn’t have expected you to find any references to pagan fertility rites in rabbinic literature, other than, perhaps, exhortations to avoid them. That’s part of my point: I think that the tale of the plague among Akiva’s students was used as a cover story, so that the rabbanim (rabbis) wouldn’t have to admit to having established some of the semi-mourning customs of Sefirah as a direct result of the existence of, and in vehement protest against, pagan fertility rites. The fact that the one Sefirah restriction that the Geonim indicated was universally observed among Jews was the prohibition against getting married is very telling, indeed. It seems to me that, if there’s any evidence that I might be on the right track concerning the possible origin of the Sefirah restrictions, that evidence comes straight from the Geonim! Obviously, that’s just my personal opinion.
As for Lent, I’ve always found it very interesting that Christians observe a long semi-mourning period *before* their most important holiday, whereas we Jews observe a long semi-mourning period *after* our most important holiday.
And one more comment [from me, Shira], before I make Shabbos dinner:
Quothe dilbert, "I have to figure out if its ok for me to listen to the albums of frum girls choirs that explicitly say "dont listen to this if you are a guy." Newcomers to my blog might want to catch up on my Thursday, October 14, 2004 discussion, “Men in Halachah—Shirking their responsibilities." That post concerns the Orthodox belief that a male shouldn’t listen to a female singing because “kol isha,” a woman’s voice, constitutes a temptation. We had quite an interesting discussion. You can read it here: http://onthefringe_jewishblog.blogspot.com/2004/10/men-in-halachahshirking-their.html#comments.
Shabbat Shalom.
With all due respect Shira, I dont think that sefira has anything to do with fertility rites. Your logic reminds me of a story:
A Israeli and a Eygptian were having a discussion. The Eygptian claimed that the ancient Epygptian society was tremendously advanced, and even had telegraph, as evidenced by the finding of wire in some of the pyramids. The Israeli then claimed that ancient Israel was even more advanced, that they had wireless. The Eypgtian asked how could he claim that? The Israeli replied because they did not find any wires in digs in ancient Jerusalem.
Incidentally, I am not sure if/what the gemara notes any restrictions during the period. I have to look it up. The source I was quoting makes it look like the first mention is from the geonim.
Well, dilbert, it's true that I don't have much evidence. It's an interesting theory, anyway.
RYBS = Rav Yosef Baer Soloveitchik
Often, I've seen his name listed as either R. Joseph B. Soloveitchik or R. Yosef Dov Soloveitchik. Baer being Yiddish and Dov being Hebrew, obviously. His "halachic acronym" is the GRYD or "Gaon Rav Yosef Dov."
ALG, welcome aboard!
So, Rabbi Joseph Soleveitchik's middle name was Baer. Thanks for the info!
I've never seen Rabbi Soleveitchik called by his "halachic acronym," the GRYD or Gaon Rav Yosef Dov. But then, of course, being the resident Am HaAretz (Jewishly-illiterate person) of the Jewish blogosphere, I'm incapable of reading any text that would use that name. :(
I found this brilliant article detailing the origins of the mourning customs during the sefira period and thought you might be interested:
Sefirat Ha-omer Part 3: Practices of Mourning During Sefira
by Rav Yosef Tzvi Rimon
Translated by David Silverberg
Thanks for the link, Robert. I found that article very informative.
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