CCAR RESPONSA
New American Reform Responsa
65. Ordinary High Holiday Melodies
QUESTION: My cantor insists on using the traditional modes for the Yamim Naroim while the Ritual Committee and I have insisted that a large number of melodies ordinarily sung during the year be continued so that the congregation may participate in the service. There are, of course, also many holiday melodies which will be sung by the cantor or choir alone to set the mood for the Yamim Naroim. Is it permissable to use ordinary melodies on these holidays? (Fabian Levy, Los Angeles CA)ANSWER: Synagogue melodies fall under the rubric of minhag and vary greatly between Ashkenazim and Sephardim as well as within each community. There are traditional modes not only for the Yamim Naroim, but also for other festivals as well as special shabbat services during the year (E. Werner A Voice Still Heard; A. Z. Idelsohn Jewish Music pp 110 ff). In all of these matters the local minhag is considered binding (Eruvin 20b; Shulhan Arukh Yoreh Deah 376.4). In an Orthodox congregation if the cantor, wishes to introduce a change in the melodies and the members object, then the melodies remain unchanged. We might also add a very practical consideration. The services for the holy days should be participatory. That is always difficult as a large number of individuals attend synagogue only on those days and on few other occasions during the year. Through those rather sporadic visits to the synagogue they will have achieved a passing familiarity with some melodies. If they now attend a service which presents totally different music they will simply be spectators, and the service will lose much of its meaning. Although it would be good to utilize the appropriate modes for a given holiday or shabbat, the introduction of those modes must be slowly and carefully undertaken so that participation in the service, which is vastly more important, will not be diminished.January 1991
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