10
votes
Is it against halacha for a woman to play a musical instrument in front of a man?
The Aruch Hashulchan (75:8) discusses the prohibition of a man hearing a woman singing, which is based on the statement of Shmuel in the Talmud (Berachot 24a)1:
קול באשה ערוה שנא' (שיר השירים ב, יד) ...
- 47.6k
9
votes
What is the source of the words of the Hebrew folksong "Hevenu Shalom Aleichem"?
According to some research done by the zemereshet website, the song originated in a German cigarette company commercial ("Salam Alaikum" was its name), and performed by a Turkish band (they actually ...
- 3,804
9
votes
Accepted
Torah songs, and earworms, in the bathroom
R' Shlomo Zalman Auerbach quoted in הליכות שלמה (הלכות תפילה פרק עשרים סימן יא אות כא) ruled that there is a distinction between recital of pesukim in praise and song (דרך שבח וזמרה) and studying (דרך ...
- 15.3k
8
votes
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Need help finding a song
It is 'Yizkrem'. Here is a link to one performance of this song, but there are probably many others online: https://youtu.be/9Y89PGlabBE The part of the song that you recorded can be first heard at ...
- 6,427
7
votes
Accepted
Are Orthodox Jews opposed to women singing in public, particularly if the woman is singing to a fussy baby in an attempt to soothe it?
The Parameters of Kol Isha by Rabbi Howard Jachter addresses this. See the full article for the details, but here are some excerpts:
The Gemara (Berachot 24a) states, “The voice of a woman is ...
- 251
7
votes
Accepted
Singing the Mishna: sources
See Tiferet Yisrael on Arachin 4, 1 (Boaz):
שהיו להן זמירות מיוחדין לכל משנה ומשנה
He says this helped them memorize the mishnayot. See also here for several more sources for a special nigun for ...
- 3,804
6
votes
Guitar during public weekday prayers
In describing the synagogues of Bavel in the Twelfth Century, R. Petachia of Ratisbon wrote as follows:
בחולו של מועד אומרים המזמורים בכלי שיר
On the half-holidays they recite the psalms to the ...
- 48.9k
6
votes
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Basis for not doing a full sof-aliya trop on Hashem's name
You asked:
Is there any basis in halacha or firmly established minhag for this, or is it merely a personal quirk of a few people?
According to Rav שמואל פנחס גלברד it's a Minhag originating in ...
- 42.7k
6
votes
Source for tune sung when prayer leader pauses
Are you sure about this? It sounds like the (Ashkenazic) tune used between paragraphs in the third blessing, and it's quite common. Even Virtual Cantor does it, and I've heard it in recordings that ...
- 731
6
votes
Accepted
Does Moshiach bear our sins, in any sense?
The source may be Sanhedrin 98a.
ר' יהושע בן לוי אשכח לאליהו דהוי קיימי אפיתחא דמערתא דרבי שמעון בן יוחאי אמר ליה אתינא לעלמא דאתי אמר ליה אם ירצה אדון הזה אמר רבי יהושע בן לוי שנים ראיתי וקול ג' ...
- 1,723
6
votes
Accepted
Missing Traditional Half-Kaddish Melodies
I'm going to assume you know most of the traditional half kaddish tunes, like those on Shabbat and weekdays, Arvit on the High Holidays, as well as those after Yishtabach and before Musaf (including ...
- 96.9k
5
votes
Where does the tune for birkat hamazon come from?
Most of the tunes still used were written by Moshe Nathanson in 1938 (some say 1939) for Camp Ramah, a Conservative Jewish overnight camp. He published the sheet music in "Shirei Manginoth", and here ...
- 9,298
5
votes
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When and how were trop melodies first written down?
There is no one answer for this question. Because there seems to have been three distinct developments for the Cantillation: Ashkenazi, Old Mizrahi, and Modern Sepharadi.
The Ashkenazim are noted as ...
- 10.5k
5
votes
Is listening to Music on the fast of Asarah BeTevet permitted?
In the Shulchan Aruch it does not say that music is prohibited on the 10th of Tevet, however the Mishnah Berurah (550:6) writes that a person who can (and is a ba’al nefesh) should preferably accept ...
- 13.5k
5
votes
Source of a common tune to "Adon olam"
This tune for Adon Olam appears as early as 1897 when published by Eliezer Gerovitch (Eliezer ben Yitzchok Gerowitsch 1844-1913) in his שירי תפילה. It is not certain whether he composed it or ...
- 1,860
5
votes
Who composed THIS melody for Shoshanat Ya'akov?
The following is lightly adapted from an email I received from Cantor Sherwood Goffin:
In 1950, Mr. Harry Coopersmith published his “Magnum Opus” – Songs We Sing – I believe in collaboration with the ...
- 47.6k
5
votes
Accepted
are you allowed get music lessons during sefirah?
Rav Heinemann told us:
If you are practicing for your parnasa or are practicing because you
want to have the choice to enter such a field, then that would be the
equivalent of practicing ...
- 13.6k
5
votes
Accepted
Daagah - Minayin?
As noted by @JoelK there was an entire Seforimblog post devoted the the provenance of this aphorism. To summarise the post and list the pre-19th century sources for it, the Yossif Omets (printed in ...
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5
votes
Composing religious songs and melodies on Shabbos
As you correctly write, nolad applies to physical elements and is connected to the laws of mukze, which also only applies to physical objects.
Kitzur Shulchan Aruch writes (88:4)
Nolad is ...
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5
votes
Accepted
What religious music would have been sung in Israel after the time of David and Solomon?
The question of music in Ancient Israel is complicated. First, since no transcriptions exist from that time, no one actually knows what it sounded like. Musical historians also debate the identity of ...
- 11.2k
4
votes
Why isn't the nurturing of musical talent and the writing of poetry in praise of Hashem a formal part of Jewish education?
Why doesn't Judaism put more of an emphasis on expressing our love for Hashem through music, song and poetry in a formal sense as in the Shul on days when musical instruments can be played. Or just ...
- 731
4
votes
Accepted
Source for the description of Mashiach in MBD's "Some Day"
Partial answer -- I had a couple of these handy.
Someday we will all be together [He must gather all the Jews back to the Land of Israel (Is. 43:5-6)]
Someday we'll be sheltered and warm
Never will ...
4
votes
Mizmor L'Toda with Melody
Historically, there were rabbinic authorities who cited the custom of singing this mizmor. Among Polish Jewry, the Matteh Moshe [R. Moshe Mat of Galicia, c. 1591] (see #48) and the Levush [R. Mordecai ...
- 11.2k
4
votes
Source of a common tune to "Adon olam"
When The Village Stompers first released it in 1963, we believed that it was indeed an instrumentalization of (an already existing tune for) Adon Olam. I do not know if they ever "officially" ...
- 42.8k
4
votes
live music and eating a meal?
The source is in Mishna Sota 9, 11:
מִשֶּׁבָּטְלָה סַנְהֶדְרִין, בָּטְלָה הַשִּׁיר מִבֵּית הַמִּשְׁתָּאוֹת, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (ישעיה כד) בַּשִּׁיר לֹא יִשְׁתּוּ יָיִן וְגוֹ':Bartenura
דִּכְתִיב (...
- 22.6k
4
votes
Accepted
Song sung in Hebrew, English, and Russian with words "life is a narrow bridge."
It's probably "Kol ha'olam kulo gesher tzar me'od, veha'ikar lo le'fached klal". It is composed by Rabbi Boruch Chait, and the lyrics are from Rav Nachman of Breslov. The English version is: "The ...
- 6,427
4
votes
Does Moshiach bear our sins, in any sense?
This is mentioned explicitly in the Sefer Hassidim (ed. Margolis: 528):
משיח סובל עונות ישראל וגם הצדיקים גמורים סובלים יסורים עבור ישראל
The messiah bears the sins of Isreal and also ...
- 35.4k
4
votes
Accepted
Is one allowed to listen to music for therapeutic purposes during sefira and the three weeks?
R’ Shlomo Zalman Auerbach (Halichos Shlomo, Sefiras Haomer 11:n14) writes that one who will become overly upset without music may listen to recordings. (source)
- 1,464
4
votes
Accepted
Humming or whistling being Kol Isha
This is from Oz V'hadar L'vusha (I am sure there are dissenting opinions elsewhere):
Here is "Mekoros 73:3" mentioned above, where he writes that he found no sources discussing the matter but reasons ...
- 40.7k
4
votes
Accepted
Chayav Inish - Source of Tune?
According to Jewish Music Toronto's video (here), it comes from the Hungarian Folk song Szép Asszonynak Kurizálok. As an aside, it is also the source of a popular Romanian song (youtube search link, ...
- 20.9k
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