Question: May one add musical accompaniment to prayers recited in the synagogue? What is the Halacha regarding a Rosh Chodesh party?
Answer: The great Chatam Sofer (in his responsa, omission from Choshen Mishpat, Chapter 192) discusses the idea that some synagogues in his generation wished to install a permanent musical instrument in the synagogue. He primarily focuses on the organ which is a large and heavy instrument which some people wanted to install in the synagogue to play as an accompaniment to the prayers. Hagaon Chatam Sofer vehemently opposed this idea and writes quite fiercely that this matter is unequivocally forbidden. Even when some wished to place the organ in the women’s section of the synagogue, he ruled that this was likewise forbidden (see Responsa Chatam Sofer, Volume 6, Chapter 86). Similarly, all of the great Acharonim who discuss this issue arrived at the same conclusion that this was absolutely forbidden for several reasons.
The first reason is because it is well known that Christians install musical instruments, especially organs, in their houses of worship used to play all sorts of music to their deities. Since the gentiles conduct idolatry in this manner, even if one is installing the musical instrument not for an idolatrous purpose, this constitutes the prohibition of a Jew following in the paths of the gentiles, as the verse states, “And you shall not follow their tenets” (see Responsa Orach Mishpat, Chapter 36). This is especially true since they wished to observe this new custom even on Shabbat and Yom Tov during which days playing musical instruments is forbidden even outside the synagogue.
There are several other reasons why this issue is forbidden but most important of all is because it is forbidden to act in a way that resembles the Reform or Reconstructionist movements, for they are destroyers of the genuine Jewish religion and faith. Originally, they erred by bringing musical instruments into their temples in order to mimic the gentiles and their method of prayer, after which their tried to convince the entire Jewish nation to follow in their crooked paths by claiming that if the Jewish people would follow the customs and behaviors of the gentiles, they would stop hating us and would give us “equal rights”. Time would tell that this did not have any effect in the least and only served to increase non-Jewish hate against us exponentially. Even worse, all of those Reform Jews from approximately one-hundred years ago left over almost no Jewish progeny, for they began to desecrate the Shabbat after which they began inter-marrying with non-Jewish women, thus depriving their offspring of any Jewish status. For this reason, even when musical instruments were installed in the Great Synagogue of Paris in error, many years later when members of the Jewish Board became of this, they had the instruments removed from the synagogue. Although these were not religious people at all, they nevertheless realized that this greatly interfered with the continued existence of the Jewish community and they then heeded the ruling of the rabbis of Paris who forbade this.
Indeed, Hagaon Harav Moshe Feinstein zt”l requested from Maran Rabbeinu Ovadia Yosef zt”l approximately forty years ago that he do whatever he could to halt the spreading of the Reform movement, “for if you do not, in a few more decades, they will attempt to destroy Judaism in Israel as they have done here in the United States.” We now see hoe his sense of foreboding was so keen and correct.
Once, a certain rabbi began practicing such foreign customs in his synagogue, such as a Bat Mitzvah girl lecturing in front of the entire congregation on Shabbat and other such bizarre practices, wished to meet with Maran zt”l. Maran zt”l refused to meet with him and he wished to send him away and not see his face. It caused Maran zt”l great distress to hear that an individual referred to as a “rabbi” who was decorated with having passed rabbinical exams and prided himself on being fluent in Maran’s works could uproot some the most fundamental laws and beliefs of the holy Torah merely because he could not discern between good and bad since he had disconnected from the genuine outlook of the Torah because of the foolishness of current, modern beliefs.
Regarding bringing in musical instruments into the synagogue for a certain non-permanent purpose, such as holding an evening of Bakashot (Sephardic/Middle Eastern liturgical songs and hymns), a Rosh Chodesh party where Torah scholars are invited to speak words of Torah accompanied by Chazzanim who sing songs of praise to Hashem, the Egyptian custom of “Tawahid” on Erev Rosh Chodesh Nissan, a “Simchat Bet Ha’Sho’eva” celebration, and the like, our custom is to rule leniently on this matter, for this is not considered following the tenets of the gentiles since this is not musical accompaniment during prayer services and there is no reason to forbid this. Indeed, Maran zt”l was present at many joyous occasions held in synagogues where music was being played (in a matter of song and praise to Hashem) and he spoke words of Torah to the entire audience along with many other great luminaries who were present at such events.
