Q&A: A Number of Questions for the Rabbi
A Number of Questions for the Rabbi
Question
Hello, honorable Rabbi, and a good week to all of us: I have a number of questions for you, Rabbi.
1) Is there any halakhic problem with listening to traditional music from another culture in which the song lyrics describe the worship of that religion’s gods? Is there any problem with pronouncing or singing the names of those gods as part of an aesthetic, but not religious, experience?
2) Is there any problem with listening to music that society defines as violent, both in terms of the lyrics and the music itself, even though that music actually has a therapeutic and beneficial effect on the person?
3) Is there any issue with men growing long hair? Does this fall under “do not follow their statutes,” or under “a man shall not wear”?
4) As far as I understand, the series of books the Rabbi published on Talmudic logic came out only in English translation, is that indeed so? Is there a Hebrew edition?
Thank you in advance.
Answer
- If it is a song that describes worship, it does not seem to me that there is any prohibition. If it is a song that is itself part of the worship, that requires discussion. In my understanding, there is also no prohibition against singing the names of those gods.
- That is a question for a psychologist.
- I think nowadays not.
- They are all in Hebrew. They were published on Amazon, and therefore their description on the site there is in English.
Discussion on Answer
I don’t know. It seems to me that all Amazon books are also on Kindle. Check on the Amazon site.
Do the books also appear on Kindle? What are their names in English? I found only Science of Freedom on Kindle, and I would also like to read the Talmudic Logic series through the app if the books are available there.