Sefira Music

i personally think there’s nothing wrong with accapella but i know some people who don’t listen to it, because they feel that in order to have real aveilus you have to follow the spirit of the law and not just the letter of the law-what does everyone think about this?

beacon, first, glad to have ya back!

second, if you’re looking for a real heter, I would suggest asking someone like a rabbi and not just random people in the CR, I’m trying really hard not to watch anything and I’m telling myself it’s only 22 days until lag baomer… hope I could pull through but I’m not sure, good luck!

*kapusta*

kapusta and jax- ‘preciate it 🙂

and kapust- I’m not asking for anyone here to give me the heter, trust me.

Hey Jax you got that right- this is totally up my street (good to see you by the way just realized that you are asdfghjkl!!!!)

Anyways back to the point I’m not gonna go into whether it’s mutar or not to listen to in the Oimer but Premium Blend by A.K.A Pella is really really good and took a lot of talent to produce. There’s song called “Asher Boro” on it which is one of the most musical acapela tracks I’ve ever heard…really amazing check it out.

Enjoy and hopefully this Shavous well all be in Jeruselam…

cantoresq WHAT??? I REPEAT WHAT?????????????

Why do you always listen to music??? Because you ENJOY it…are you sure this Rov knows his stuff???

I personally make the choice not to listen to music during Sefira. However, I was always taught that Sefira is not meant to be observed as aveilus on the order of even The Three Weeks. It is a very small part of aveilus, so we do not hold public displays of simcha, or as was pointed out, dance. Since music often leads to dancing (no dumb jokes here, please), most people refrain from listening to music in a public forum, and many refrain even privately. But I am not sure the halacha is that private listening to music is assur. The original Sefira period was, after all, a time of great simcha, as we counted the Omer towards Kabalas HaTorah.

hey i was going to keep my two cents to myself but how about this: since the bais hamikdash was destroyed we’re really all in aveilus. we shouldn’t be listening to live music stam. the rabbis were meikil because our generations would be too depressed without music. (some say not to listen to live, and not in yerushalayim, but everyone says recorded is fine, right?)

so here’s my question: why is the aveilus for rabbi akiva’s students greater the the aveilus for the bais hamikdash? if they were meikil for that, then it should apply for all year long. the three weeks i understand more because it’s more intense time, but why here?

you make that sound like you’re allowed to listen to music all year round so that during sfira you’ll feel it. sounds a bit backwards to me.

A.K.A pella has a lot of tunes that are taking diretcly from goyishe songs and even though it might not be actual music but it sure sounds like instruments are playing. For these reasons I don’t listen to their music. If I really need to listen to something, I’ll listen to Lev Tahor 3 or something like that with no crazy computerized voices sounding like an instrument. I think other people can also live for 33/365 of the year without real music and try to show a little aveilus for the 12,000 pairs of Rabbi Akiva’s talmidim who were niftar during this period.

May i add my two cents here…cantoresq is absolutely right..there is no-repeat- NO issur to listen to music during sefirah. As matter of fact, the Shulchan ARuch and the Remo only prohibit weddings and cutting hair (and beard). In the mishne beruroh , you will find that, in later years, they prohibited “Mecholos”- i.e. dancing to music and only LIVE music. I never understood why listening to a radio or a CD is should be ossur. Othwerwise, why can you sing in sefirah? moish01 has a point. The issur of having live music al lyera round is mentioned in halcha, although gnerally disregarded. It makes no sense to be machmir during sefirah and not the whole year round.Lastly, I heard that R”Moshe zz’l told Jewish music stations to play “chazanut” in the sefira days, as they do not come under the issur of ‘mecholos”. (cantoresq-you’ll be pleased to hear that i am reading ‘the man who spoke to G-d’ ,a book you recommended some months ago.)

Is it mutar to shave during sefira? (mods I think this is worth posting so please do)

I personally am very machmir to not listen to music during the entire sefira.

Actually, this is just fake piety for me. It gives me an excuse to ask people to turn off music when I am around. I don’t like music – its just a headache to me.

a few words to jax,tzippi and yros and moishi1….jax, you may not agree with my views but you have to justify your strict prohibition on any music during sefira with some real surces…please provide them 1

to tzippi- If my memory serves me right, Yeshiva R’Chaim Berlin talmidim heard that opinion from the Rosh yeshiva ,Rav Hutner zz’l. It dovetails with the shulchan aruch and the mishne berura who, clearly, only prohibits live music.

to yors and moishi1, the question of shaving- in contrast to cutting hair- during sefira is complex. Cutting hair is clearly prohibited and there are no hetterim for that. For shaving, it is more complex because-unlike cutting hair- you do it every day and one looks terrbile of not shaven after a few days. Hence, there are various hetterim for shaving erev shabbos or at certain simchas. I’ll be happy to point to the sources.

R’ Moshe wrote some teshuvos in the Igros Moshe regarding music during sefirah. I’m not sure exactly where, though – check OC 1:166. R’ Moshe also holds that recorded music has the same status as live music.

R’ Scheinberg holds that music which won’t lead to dancing is ok, so slow music isn’t an issue.

R’ Willig (from YU) holds that since we are lenient during the year on listening to music, we can be lenient during sefirah as well, we just need to make sure we don’t dance at all.

hey come to think of it, my father shaves but i don’t think he cuts his hair. he’s a lawyer and i remember one year for some reason he didn’t – it was actually kind of weird 😉

yeah i know that. i was just commenting on what rabbiofberlin said – that there’s a difference between shaving and a haircut.

and rabbiof berlin, you don’t sound like a chaim berlin-er. at all.

squeak- this is nto exactly what was meant by moish and others but it is kind of an analogy. Rabbi Willig’s comments (see Feif un) are along the same line.

moish01- whether I am a “chaim-berliner’ or not, I will keep to myself, but I am pretty sure this has been common practice for years at the yeshiva. If it has changed, it is recent. Please check with some of the present talmidim.

feif un, you have to show the source for what you claim R,Moshe says-that recorded music is the same as live music. This doesn’t hold water logically and hence, I’d like a real “mekor”.

charlie brown- what you heard is true about the “chofetz chaim” talmidim and also at other yeshivos- notably baltimore. There are good sources for it and I’ll point them out if you require them.

I think his teshuva on recorded music might be in the same one I mentioned earlier – OC 1:166, but I’m not sure.

On the one hand, Rav Moshe gave a heter for music during the year since we are a nervous society and music calms the nerves. Also, the dancing “macholos” referred to in halacha is skilled fancy step dancing, not putting one foot in front of the other that is done at many simchos.

On the other side, there are poskim who hold that the instrument player which produces sound from tapes, records, CDs is no different from any musical instrument that produces music sound.

I desperately need to listen to fast music when I jog otherwise I’m gona just klutz along. Think I could get a heter?

moish and ROB, verified. Chaim Berliners listen to recorded music.

~a~

jax=== we are all equal on this website so i am always happy to address any subject of interest…anyway-as you can see from other postings-there are plenty of “tzedoddim lehetter’ there are plenty of possibilities to listen to some music. if you don’t want to- no problem-your choice, but remember that lag baomer is coming up and “Bar Joch-oi”is a must to sing!

Jax

Member

ROB: wow a comment from you, directed to me! talk about flattery! i’m typing this post while standing at my computer! 😉 and no i will not list my Rabbaim, that i hold from that say no music on sefira! although my LOR, paskins we can listen to sefira acapella music on sefira! the end, i’ll sit down now!

Post of the year! jax you’re qwacked