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RABBI DANIEL KRIPPER ANSWERS YOUR QUESTIONS.

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Are musical instruments allowed on Shabbat and High Holidays?

Since the time of the Temple of Jerusalem singing and musical accompaniment were an integral part of the holy ritual. They were intended to add to the fervor of the prayers, and as an antidote to the routine of the service. Appropriate music, the sages found, stirs the heart and infuses devotion into ones prayer. Thus the psalmist exhorts those who come to the Jerusalem Temple: "Sing unto the Lord with thanksgiving, sing praises upon the harp unto our God"(Ps. 147:7).

The point is that, during the period of the Second Temple—from roughly the 6^th Century B.C.E. to the 1^st Century C.E., a musical background accompanied Jewish worship in Jerusalem.

Why did it not continue?

When the Temple was destroyed by the Romans in 70 C.E., the rabbis ordained that, as a sign of mourning for Judaism’s lost edifice and independence, music, which brings joy to the heart, should no longer accompany Jewish prayer.

Thus, synagogue worship, which replaced Temple worship, was chanted thereafter without any musical accompaniment.

In modern synagogues the music was reintroduced into the ritual in order to revitalize its spirit and enhance the beauty of the service. Music is definitively back as a source of inspiration and delight for any sacred occasion of the synagogue cycle.

At Adat Shalom like many other innovative shuls in this country, the musical renewal has started with the highly successful Musical Shabbat once a month, and some musical accompaniment at the Contemporary service for the High Holidays.

Although we may use any musical instrument on the H"H’s we still do not sound the Shofar on the 1^st day of Rosh Hashanah, which falls on Shabbat, because of the ancient tradition to have that day as a historical remembrance of the Shofar followed by the 2^nd day as the actual fulfilling the mitzvah of hearing the sounds of the Shofar.

H. Rabin

Absolutely. That particular verse has no reference whatsoever to virginity. Clearly the prophet is saying that the upcoming redemption will be an all encompassing event, not just for Jews by birth but also for sincere converts, who have no common past in Israel, and also for the eunuchs who have no descendants.

I have a question about Genesis 18:8. It says: And he took butter, and milk, and the calf which he had dressed, and set [it] before them; and he stood by them under the tree, and they did eat.

So how did Abraham gave them milk and meat to eat, that is forbidden in the laws of Kashrut?  But the Torah actually says: Thou shall not cook meat and milk together, it does not say that we can not eat meat and afterwards milk.

Rav Shalom.
Malachel B. Ruben

As a matter of fact the Torah prohibits against boiling a kid in its mother's milk (Exod.23:19, 34:26, Deut. 14:21). Lets remember that Abraham our forefather lived in pre-Sinaitic times, therefore there were no rules of Kashrut at his time. From the context of the story it makes perfect sense that Abraham served dairy items first, for they required little preparation (kind of "fast food"). Only after his guests had an "appetizer" did he bring out the full meal that consisted of calves meat.

In many Conservative congregations the Weekly Torah reading is shortened as opposed to a complete reading in the Orthodox shuls. Could you explain the rational for this innovation?

Many Conservative congregations, Adat Shalom among them, are currently utilizing a triennial cycle for the reading of the Torah.

There is a precedent for the new practice. This is in keeping with an ancient custom in the Land of Israel, where the Torah reading was completed in approximately three years as opposed to Babylonian ritual of a one-year-round reading ( which finally became the rule for the entire Jewry.)

The reason behind the abbreviation of the reading is not for the sake of returning to old ways in ancient Israel, but to make the reading easier for a great number of congregants who aren't familiar enough with the Hebrew language. Many Conservative congregations in America would rather have more commentaries and explanations in English in order to better understand the content of the Torah teachings, and of their meaning and application to life situations. We should always be mindful of the main purpose of the Torah reading, which is teaching the Torah to the congregation on one hand and re-enacting the acceptance of the Torah at Sinai on the other. According with the guidelines of the Rabbinical Assembly of the Conservative Movement, both traditional functions can be accomplished by either the annual or the triennial cycle of the Torah reading.

What is the Conservative movement's view of the messiah? Will the messiah be a person (as Orthodox community believes). Or is the idea of the messiah more about a messianic age, which seems to be the belief of the Reform and Reconstructionist movements? Where exactly does the Conservative movement stand on the issue? Why?

-- Jo Rifkin, The Jewish Chronicle

The Messiah or " the time of the Messiah"

The Messianic idea is part and parcel of Jewish Thought, certainly one of the most intriguing and powerful ideas since biblical times.

Among Conservative rabbis and scholars there is no dogmatic belief about the Messiah's characterization . It is rather an open-ended issue of faith that compel us not to give up our dreams for a better world, a world of tranquility, peace and well-being for the Jewish people and for the whole world. 

A supernatural leader? A perfect being? We should be very careful about creating false expectations ; we know from our long history about the devastating effects of the so called false messiahs. That's why so many thinkers today refer to as 'messianic time' instead of a 'messiah' as a real figure.

Messianic time is undoubtedly an essential tenet in our religion, an ideal time we should hope for and actively work for in our personal lives.

I think that  perhaps nowadays it is important to stress that we all carry the sparks of Messiah within us, the consciousness of unity and knowledge of God. We each have to develop this consciousness ourselves through acts of love and mercy, helping shape the messianic dream and fostering unity in the world. This is our greatest challenge , to do our work of  ' tikkun olam ' , the mending of the world, through ethical and spiritual activity.

The great rabbi and kabbalist Abraham Abulafia saw the messianic age as a "new reality," a time when "each person regards every single human being as a close friend, as one regards each limb of one's body."

Based on the daily news it does not appear that the world is on the brink of redemption…but on the other hand there is reason to believe more than ever that an alternative reality could be actualized through positive actions and great deal of idealism. This is the call of our heritage that teaches us not to accept the status quo and to never lose hope.