A dear friend of mine died tragically a couple of weeks ago and at the wake our friends band (his favorite) played for everyone.
Barrett the mandolin player is Jewish and lost his brother earlier this year and we got to talking about the differences between Irish Catholic and Jewish funereal traditions.
Apparently in Judaism, when a close loved one dies there are fairly well established mourning periods which I personally find extremely conforting and useful. However one of the traditions is a prohibition on playing music for one year. What do professional musicians do? Are they exempted?
PS, I posted this today as a counter example to the long standing Orthodox Conundrum; to wit;
of course, they’ll all be out having Chinese food today so I guess I’m screwed either way
It’s a tradition or minhag, not one of the 613 more binding mitzvot. If they’re Modern Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, or Reconstructionist, most are likely to ignore it because it just isn’t practical.
Also, there are different minhagim depending on the ethnic group; Ashkenazi (German/Eastern European; the vast majority of Jews in the US are Ashkenazi), Sephardic (originating from pre-Inquisition Spain), Mizrahi (Middle Eastern), and so on. Minhagin can also change over time.
It’s also well established in Judaism that the mourning period lengths can be cut short if one’s livelihood is at stake, which would certainly be the case for a professional musician
Without checking my sources, I believe the custom is to avoid attending live music for the duration of the mourning period, which is 30 days for most close relatives and either 1 lunisolar year or 11 or 12 lunar months for a parent. I don’t know off the top of my head how this applies to a professional musician, so I defer to Broomstick.
You’re not supposed to listen to music for fun. If one’s livelihood involves music, such as being a musician, or for that matter being a waiter in a restaurant where there’s live music, that’s not counted as recreational. It’s not that the mourning period is being cut short, it’s that this particular custom isn’t relevant in that situation.
There is also a period of time between Passover and Shavous which is a period of semi-mourning among Orthodox Jews. During this time, weddings are not held and live music is not listened to. Another such period occurs during the summer in the three weeks during Tisha B’Av.
Nonetheless, a Jewish musician would be allowed to work at a non-Jewish affair where music was being played for the same reason.
It is a little more complex than stated here. Many authorities permit relaxing these rules after the 33rd day of the counting of the Omer – the 49 day period between Passover and Shavuot. Other customs as to relaxing the strictures are found, as well.
Also, not “during” Tisha b’Av – the 9th of Av. More accurately, during the three week period between the 17th of Tammuz and the 9th of Av. The degree of the strictures for many increases on the first of Av.
funny thing is that i actually was eating chinese that night (yes i am Jewish). even wrote a thread about the pain and suffering that it may have caused me.
