On the weekend of October 19th we will be blessed to be lead in song and worship by Rabbi Deborah Zecher (https://deborahzecher.com/) as she joins us at Temple Beth David to be our Artist in Residence. Please sign up now to take part in this amazing weekend.
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In honor of Rabbi Zecher I would like to talk about instruments and the Sabbath. A long time ago a custom developed among the Jewish people. I am not sure when this custom arose, however, its affects can still be felt today. Our Rabbinic ancestors decided that to preserve and protect the Sabbath that we should not play musical instruments on Shabbat. The reasoning went “if one of those instruments were to break and we tried to fix it, we would violate the Sabbath”. I, however, think we violated the Sabbath by banning instruments in our worship on Friday nights and Saturdays.
Instruments on the Sabbath need to be a staple of our worship experience. Before our Rabbinic ancestors banned instruments on Shabbat, our Biblical forebearers encouraged them. As it says in psalm 92:
A psalm. A song. For the Sabbath day.
1 It is good to praise the Adonai and make music to your name, O Most High,
2 proclaiming your love in the morning and your faithfulness at night,
3 to the music of the ten-stringed lyre and the melody of the harp.
Fortunately, the Reform movement recognized the importance of instruments on the Sabbath and reintroduced them into our services. On October 19th join us as we worship the way we were always meant to: with song and music.
