Are musical instruments permitted in Jewish worship, especially on Shabbat and Yom Tov?

Let’s begin by looking at two biblical texts, one from the Torah and the other from the Psalms:

“And on your joyous occasions, your fixed festivals and your new moon days, you shall sound the trumpets over your burnt offerings and your sacrifices of well being.” (Numbers 10:10). In case we are not sure of exactly what joyous occasions, fixed festivals and new moon days refers to, the Sifri, the oldest Rabbinic commentary on the books of Numbers and Deuteronomy, informs us that “joyous occasions” refer to Shabbat, “fixed festivals” to Yom Tov and “new moon days” to Rosh Hodesh.

“A psalm, a song for the Shabbat day: lt is good to praise the Lord, to sing hymns to your name, O most High; to proclaim your steadfast love at daybreak, your faithfulness each night with a ten-string harp, with voice and lyre together.” (Psalms 92:1-4).

Up until the destruction of the Second Temple (70 C.E.), instrumental music was part of every Jewish worship service. As a sign of mourning for the destruction of the Temple, both vocal and instrumental were prohibited. The ban on vocal music was ignored from the beginning. As a result, instrumental music lay dormant for many centuries and our ancestors assumed it was forbidden by Jewish law.

Let’s fast forward to the Middle Ages. In the Shulchan Aruch, the Code of Jewish Law, Moses lsserles informs us that both vocal and instrumental music are permitted for the fulfillment of a mitzvah.

This is the rationale that allows instrumental music at a wedding (both the ceremony and the reception). A wedding is not only a simcha (a social occasion), it is a mitzvah, and the reception, which follows it is a seudah shel mitzvah (a meal which celebrates the fulfilling of a mitvah).

Rashi (the greatest commentator of both the Bible and the Talmud) notes that instrumental music was required for the bringing of an offering. For whom is it a requirement? For God or the worshiper? God obviously doesn’t need the music: it doesn’t impress Him. It is for our benefit.

It is true that according to the Shulchan Aruch it is forbidden to produce a sound on a musical instrument on Shabbat, but as the Mayan Avraham (a commentary on the Shulchan Aruch written in 1692 by the Polish Rabbi Abraham Gombiner) tells us, this prohibition doesn’t apply to the fulfillment of a mitzvah. It is precisely for this reason that the bells on the Torah crowns that produce a musical sound when the Torah is taken from the Ark are not a violation of the sanctity of Shabbat. Their function is that of hidur mitzvah, of enhancing the fulfillment of a mitzvah.

There are those who feel that the production of sound is prohibited because of nolad (something created; creation is forbidden on Shabbat). But if that is so, the production of sound by the human voice would also be prohibited because of noIad.

The Shofar is a musical instrument. It is sounded on Rosh Hashanah (which is a Yom Tov) but not when the first day falls on Shabbat. From here one could conclude that musical instruments are permitted on Yom Tov, but not Shabbat. Not so. The Shofar was sounded in the Temple on Shabbat. It was not sounded in the synagogue because of the fear that it would be carried to the synagogue on Shabbat (carrying is forbidden on Shabbat but not on Yom Tov). It is for this same reason that the Lulav and Etrog are not used when the first day of Sukkot falls on Shabbat.

There are those who claim that musical instruments should not be used in the synagogue service because it is an imitation of gentile (i.e. non-Jewish) practice. In its early years, the Church also prohibited instrumental music because it was considered secular and might lead to licentiousness. The Syrian, Jacobite and Nestorian churches still prohibit instrumental music.

The real question is: does instrumental music enhance the mitzvah of public worship? If the answer is yes, then there is no question that it is permitted.

The last words come from the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards of the Rabbinical Assembly: “The Law Committee is cognizant of the argument for and against the use of the organ on the Sabbath and Festivals. But the Committee does not consider the use of the organ as halachically prohibited. Other instruments (such as the guitar) are also permitted in light of the organ responsum. Music at social functions on Shabbat and Yom Tov should be permitted to prevent people from having their functions in non-kosher establishments.”