Q&A: Music During the Omer Counting
Music During the Omer Counting
Question
Hello Rabbi,
Is there a sufficiently solid basis for refraining from listening to music during the Omer counting? In my limited knowledge, I have not found an explicit source for this. There is no mention of it in the Shulchan Arukh, and the later authorities speak about a prohibition on dances and circle-dances. With all due respect, not all music is connected to dancing and revelry. Maybe there are no dances without music, but there is certainly music that is not connected to dancing or unusual joy.
In Rabbi Ovadia Yosef (Yehaveh Da'at 6:34) I found that the basis for the prohibition is the prohibition on listening to music all year round, and since that is not generally observed, it is fitting to observe it at least during the Omer counting, when mourning customs are practiced during this period. Does the Rabbi find that persuasive?
Thank you in advance for the answer,
and of course for all the effort invested in the site, which helps me greatly.
Answer
You are correct. The source for this custom is not unequivocal. It is a mourning custom in the wake of the death of Rabbi Akiva's students. It is quite clear that if music is to be prohibited at all, it would be only music of joy and dancing. For this reason, people connected it to the prohibition on listening to music in general because of the destruction of the Temple, which is not commonly observed. They attach it to the days of the Omer in order to preserve it at least during these days. But even there it is difficult to prohibit something that does not involve unusual joy. Bottom line: I do not think there is a need to refrain from it.
Discussion on Answer
"Bottom line: I do not think there is a need to refrain from it."
Does the Rabbi mean specifically quiet music, or even "joyful" music?
Quiet.
What is the ruling regarding listening to "loud" music in the gym?
If you need it for the workout, it seems to me there is no problem. If not, then why listen to it there?
By the way, loud and joyful are not the same thing.
Indeed, that was my intention in the question—to distinguish between them.
Thank you very much!
With the master's permission,
Allow me to note that Asaf's understanding of Rabbi Ovadia's words, of blessed memory, is incorrect. Rabbi Ovadia did not prohibit listening to songs during the days of the Omer because of the general prohibition on listening to musical instruments after the destruction of the Temple, but rather because of the custom to observe the laws of mourning, and accordingly listening to musical instruments is also inappropriate during a time of mourning.
[Rabbi Ovadia, as was his way, branches off into matters not directly related to the question, and this causes readers to get confused].
Of course, the Rabbi's claim that there is no reason here to prohibit all listening to music still stands.