CCAR RESPONSA
Applause in the Sanctuary
5751.2
She’elah
During Friday night services in the Sanctuary we have had an Israeli dance performance or a jazz pianist who played contemporary interpretations of traditional Jewish melodies. Congregants were unsure whether applause on such occasions was appropriate.What about a guest speaker? Is it allowable to applaud at the conclusion of the address?
Teshuvah
The Sanctuary — that is, the place where communal worship usually takes place and where the Torah scrolls are kept in has served a variety of purposes at different times. At one time wayfarers would spend the night there, and today large communal meetings are often held in the Sanctuary. Some congregations, when they accommodate events which appear to be “secular” in nature, shield the Ark with a screen and thereby signal that the “holy space” has now been converted to ordinary usage. But others do not engage in this practice.
The matter of applause generally arises only at events that are clearly performances of one kind or another (which should, of course, be suitable to a synagogue), and applause would be the normal reaction of the audience. In fact, the rule of thumb that might be applied is to ask whether the people assembled are a congregation or an audience. In the latter instance, applause would be expected and unobjectionable.
But what if the applause takes place during a Shabbat service? Rabbi Solomon B. Freehof permitted it in the case of a couple who were blessed on their Golden Wedding anniversary. He considered the applause as a warm and friendly gesture on the part of the congregation, and deemed it halakhicly permissible.1
You inquire about applauding a dance group or pianist or guest speaker during the service. While the Halakhah is permissive on the subject, we feel it imperative to ask whether such reaction enhances the worship service. Quite evidently your congregation feels somewhat uncomfortable about applauding guest artists or speakers, and we are sure they would consider it totally inappropriate to applaud the rabbi or cantor for their contributions to the service.2
The current discomfort of your congregation in this matter suggests that they have a sense that applause is predominantly an every-day expression which somehow runs counter to the sense of apartness ascribed to the religious service, the Shabbat atmosphere and the Sanctuary. That sense ought to be fostered and reinforced. While applauding the golden jubilars might express a sense of family among the congregants, we would counsel against extending such a custom to other occasions. It would be better to discourage all applause for guest artists and speakers during the worship service itself, for once we open the door to it there will be a constant problem of distinguishing between the appropriate and the inappropriate.
We would therefore advise that any event which is likely to elicit applause be held after the conclusion of the prayers; and then having now become may express itself in the usual manner.3 A religious service, wherever held, should be an occasion apart, and how much more so a service held in the synagogue.
Notes
His responsum on this matter, which he published not long before his death, set forth the way in which Jewish tradition dealt with the specific halakhah regarding the clapping of hands on the Sabbath; see “Applause in the Sabbath Service,” Today’s Reform Responsa (1990), pp. 31-34, where rabbinic sources are given. Since tradition forbade music making on the Sabbath, the question arose whether clapping one’s hands was a form of rhythmic music; if it was not, it was allowed. During the 1930s the writer of this responsum was present at an Orthodox Rosh Hashanah service in Chicago, during which the congregation repeatedly applauded the chazan. As, for instance, applauding a couple and wishing them mazal tov after the conclusion of the wedding service.
If needed, please consult Abbreviations used in CCAR Responsa.