Sefirah confusion
True, once upon a time, I promised not to listen to my Jewish rock CDs from Erev Pesach until Lag B'Omer. But there are a few things that I just can't figure out. For openers, if we don't say the Tachunun repentance prayers for the entire month of Nissan because we're supposed to be rejoicing over our liberation from slavery in Egypt, how can we be observing some of the customs of mourning, as some do during Sefirah, at the same time? For closers, if one is not allowed to sit shiva during Chol HaMoed because one is forbidden to mourn during a holiday, how can one be forbidden to listen to live music during Chol HaMoed when deliberately avoiding listening to music is a sign of mourning? So nu, may I go to that Klezmatics concert next Saturday night or not?
This would be a good time for me to link to my post "Finally, a *logical* explanation for the custom of mourning during Sefirah (hat-tip to DovBear)." Thanks, DB. Insofar as there's anything logical about the custom of mourning during Sefirah, you explained it pretty well.
This would be a good time for me to link to my post "Finally, a *logical* explanation for the custom of mourning during Sefirah (hat-tip to DovBear)." Thanks, DB. Insofar as there's anything logical about the custom of mourning during Sefirah, you explained it pretty well.
posted by Shira Salamone at 6:46 PM
2 Comments:
why don't you ask your rabbi/rov about going to the concert?
Sigh--my rav is a right-ring Orthodox Jew who is, we congregants assume, working in a Conservative synagogue only because he appreciates the free housing that comes with the job. Sometimes I'm hesitant to ask him questions because I'm not sure that the answers are going to be something I can live with. For example, we had a conversation this morning about the Tikkun Lel Shavuot, the Torah study session on the first night of Shavuot that, according to tradition, is an all-nighter. He refuses to participate in our--his--synagogue's tikkun because it doesn't run all night. I told him that I think half a mitzvah is better than none.
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