# How loud would Rosh Hashanah prayers be? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 30, 2003, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-loud-would-rosh-hashanah-prayers-be/191868 "2003-07-30T07:37:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Satisfying\_Andy\_Licious](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/50afbb/32.png) [@Satisfying\_Andy\_Licious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Satisfying_Andy_Licious)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2003, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-loud-would-rosh-hashanah-prayers-be/191868/1 "2003-07-30T07:37:14Z")
Let’s say you had a rabbi and say, about six of his students, conducting Rosh Hashanah prayers nearby. Not in a temple, but, say, in the room next door. Since I don’t know what this involves, how loud would it be? Would or could it involve music, raised voices, or other loud sounds? I know it sounds like an odd question. Because this is General Questions, I hesitate to say why I ask. I will just [provide a link,](http://www.nationalreview.com/buckley/buckley072503.asp) and remind others that this is General Questions. ---
**Author:** ![Skip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@Skip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skip)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2003, 9:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-loud-would-rosh-hashanah-prayers-be/191868/2 "2003-07-30T09:26:03Z")
No music instruments would be used (at least not in Orthodox shuls). Some parts will have the Rabbi/Chazzan singing by himself and some parts would have everyone singing in unison pretty much with raised voices. There might be some clapping depending on the song or tune at the time. ---
**Author:** ![Skip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@Skip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skip)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2003, 9:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-loud-would-rosh-hashanah-prayers-be/191868/3 "2003-07-30T09:36:19Z")
No music instruments would be used (at least not in Orthodox shuls). Some parts will have the Rabbi/Chazzan singing by himself and some parts would have everyone singing in unison pretty much with raised voices. There might be some clapping depending on the song or tune at the time. ---
**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2003, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-loud-would-rosh-hashanah-prayers-be/191868/4 "2003-07-30T11:55:44Z")
The particular group mentioned in that article does not do the kind of loud congregational singing that is often associated with today’s synagogues. The decibel level of their praying would be about the same as any similar group of people carrying on a conversation with each other. On the other hand, given that the specific day we’re talking about is Rosh Hashana, perhaps the noise was not from their praying, but from their blowing of the shofar, or ram’s horn. That can be on the loud side, similar to a trumpet. (OTOH, even with a shofar, I can’t imagine that it was so noisy that a man like Joe Kennedy was unable to find a quiet area. Story sounds suspicious from the get-go.) ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2003, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-loud-would-rosh-hashanah-prayers-be/191868/5 "2003-07-30T12:11:19Z")
I’m with **Keeve** , the blowing of the shofar would be noisy, but wouldn’t last more than about ten minutes, on and off. Perhaps thirty, if they made it into a big deal, but it wouldn’t be continuous – it would be a few toots, then some normal prayers, then a few more toots, repeated a few times. For those who don’t want to be bothered reading it, the story is about Edward Klein’s book, claiming that there is a “curse” on the Kennedy family that was put on them by the discomfited rabbi. Sigh. “Suspicious” is putting it mildly, **Keeve.** ---
**Author:** ![Scuba\_Ben](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/278dde/32.png) [@Scuba\_Ben](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scuba_Ben)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2003, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-loud-would-rosh-hashanah-prayers-be/191868/6 "2003-07-30T12:59:46Z")
Inevitable ;j nitpick: The rabbit would be holding prayers with at least _nine_ of his students. Quorum for Jewish prayer services is ten men. (Ten adults in egalitarian traditions.) ---
**Author:** ![TeaRoses](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c37758/32.png) [@TeaRoses](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TeaRoses)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2003, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-loud-would-rosh-hashanah-prayers-be/191868/7 "2003-07-30T14:06:35Z")
Slight begging to differ: In my experience (happens to be Orthodox) the shofar blasts are longer than just a few minutes, as if there is a mistake they need to be taken over. However my husband used to blow his own shofar in the apartment early in the morning (comporable volume, it’s not easy to vary the volume on a shofar) and we never recieved any complaints from the next apartment. ---
**Author:** ![Satisfying\_Andy\_Licious](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/50afbb/32.png) [@Satisfying\_Andy\_Licious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Satisfying_Andy_Licious)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2003, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-loud-would-rosh-hashanah-prayers-be/191868/8 "2003-07-30T18:23:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Scuba\_Ben \* > \*\*Inevitable ;j nitpick: > > The rabbit would be holding prayers with at least _nine_ of his students. Quorum for Jewish prayer services is ten men. (Ten adults in egalitarian traditions.) \*\* A rabbit? That’s another part of the service I wasn’t aware of. (Okay, I know what you meant.) Thanks for the answers, everyone. Yeah, since the overall premise of the book is kind of kooky to begin with, I’d have to see Klein’s documentation before believing this one.