Q&A: Singing at a Reform Wedding
Singing at a Reform Wedding
Question
Hello Rabbi, I am a singer and wanted to know whether there is any halakhic prohibition against singing at a wedding of secular people where the officiating rabbi is Reform. It is also possible that the groom’s or bride’s conversion is Reform. Is there any concern of prohibition on my part in performing there? (They will get married whether I am the singer or not.)
Answer
I do not see any halakhic prohibition here.
Discussion on Answer
https://he.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D7%A8%D7%92%D7%A0%D7%A1%D7%91%D7%95%D7%A8%D7%92%D7%A8
I don’t think he meant to ask in order to attack from other sources.
The question was whether there is a prohibition here, and one would have expected the Rabbi to explain why he thinks this does not involve assisting transgressors.
The Rabbi’s approach is also well known here, that a rabbi is obligated to present the dissenting views in his responsum so that the questioner can decide how to act…
So I’d be glad to hear why, in the Rabbi’s opinion, this does not involve assisting transgressors.
This is trolling, and it should have been deleted. Nice link, Tirgitz. Except that Regensburger in its original form was not trolling, but a trigger for a scholarly discussion.
Tzitz Eliezer (vol. 17, sec. 52) explicitly writes that it is forbidden to participate, even as hired musicians, because it appears as support and encouragement for a serious prohibition.
• Rabbi Ovadia Yosef (Yabia Omer, vol. 8, Even HaEzer, sec. 15) rules that it is forbidden to play or sing at such a wedding, because this falls under “assisting transgressors” and gives public legitimacy to something forbidden.
• Rabbi Moshe Feinstein (Igrot Moshe, Even HaEzer, vol. 4, sec. 92) forbids any active participation, even as a service provider, because it is perceived as agreement