NEW YEAR PARTY IN THE SANCTUARY

QUESTION:

The congregation sponsors annually a New Year’s Eve party which is held in the sanctuary itself. A screen is placed in front of the Ark, and thus the sanctuary is considered to become a social hall. Since this year New Year’s Eve is on Friday night, should the Friday evening service be conducted and then the sanctuary set up for the New Year’s party? Or should the rabbi recommend that this year the party be held elsewhere? (Asked by Rabbi Stephen A. Karol, Hingham, Mass.)

ANSWER:

The question would not have been asked at all had it not been sensed that to have a New Year’s Eve party with its inevitable hilarity, is inappropriate in the temple sanctuary even if a screen is put up before the Ark. In fact the law is quite clear as to the reverence and dignity due to the place of worship. The Shulhan Arukh (Orah Hayyim 151:1) says there shall not be any laughter or even idle talk in the place where worship is held. So in most congregations there is a separate social hall for bar mitzvah, parties, weddings and other social events. But the sanctuary itself is rarely used for such party purposes.

In America, unfortunately, especially due to the generations of immigration, communities were not yet fully established so public halls were often rented for the High Holiday services. During the year these halls were used for various social purposes so scholars protested against holding religious services in places associated with hilarity. Thus, for example, Moses Feinstein in New York, felt the necessity of writing two responsa on this question, in Igrot Mosheh Orah Hayyim, Part I, #31, in Orah Hayyim, Part II, #30.

In reading these halakhic opinions it becomes clear that the question asked here is really a double question. Not only is it asked whether the New Year party should be held in the sanctuary, but it should be also asked whether the worship may be held in the hall used for such jovial purposes.

The questioner, of course, is sensitive to these problems which come to a head this year. How would it be possible to have reverence for the synagogue if a service is held at 8 o’clock and then almost immediately after in the very same room a New Year party is held. Clearly, the fact that the party is in the synagogue itself may somewhat dampen the joy of the party, but more importantly the anticipation of the party will surely affect the religious mood of the worship.

This year the calendar compels us to make a decision, for it brings into inescapable juxtaposition the two contrasting moods. Thus, an opportunity is presented to change the congregational custom. Let the joyous New Year party this year be moved to another hall, and then continued in this other place thereafter. Let the synagogue stand alone and unique as a place of worship.