TOPIC: non jewish music

hey ya'll!!
i have a question whichs been bothering me for a long time.
so whats the problem with non jewish music? im not talking about the bad stuff of course! im just talking about the music which is clean and gives a message. Whats the problem with that? honestly i find some of the non jewish music is better then the jewish music. ( in terms of beats...)

Sorry it took so long to put up your post! This new moderation thing is confusing! Took me forever to figure out where the unapproved posts are instead of opening EVERY SINGLE topic and sub topic and seeing them....

There's a lot of issues with non jewish music. It's erev shabbos in Israel, but Motzai shabbos I'll be sure to post up some of my thoughts. Plus I'll forward this onto one of the Rabbi's and he will post an answer too within a few days!

Hi there!

Good topic...

In terms of beats, I think you're unfortunately very right - there's a lot of non-Jewish music which would sound more settled and proper than a ton of Jewish music, in that respect.

There are Hashkafa issues with non-Jewish music - regarding what people talk about, what memories they bring, what ideals they defend... And this can indeed be problematic.
And the choice of lanugage can also be an issue...

But who said that ALL non-Jewish music is bad? If the Hashkofa and the beats and the style are compatible with ours, what would be the issue...?

Well LiveAndLearn, most people are listening to beats that may not be horrible, but they still make you want to dance, and are intended to bring that out in you. Okay, so let's say you don't listen to that, you listen to classical music or slow heart jerking songs (find me a fast beat that doesn't want to make you dance inappropriately) there's still a problem.

The beat in a song is created using the writer's neshomah, if the composer is impure. (Which I promise they are) or they have different values, ideas, taivos, and whatever else they have going on, those are expressed through the beat, and that's what your neshoma will hear. It's a very deep idea brought from the Kabbala, I believe there is a more in depth explanation of this theory written by one of the big Rabbi's like the Maharal. I can try to get that for you two.

But honestly, no matter what the Rabbi says, even IF he's right, don't feel pressure to immediately change and dump all your stuff. It's a level you should work towards, and it's okay if you aren't there yet, it's not like you are doing an outright issur. Again, I'm not saying there is no problem, there is definitely a problem with it, and just keep whatever you learn in mind when you try to grow and decide the next step Hashem wants you to do

Excellent question!

Firstly, if your asking whether secular music is mutar or assur, I'm not qualified to answer that, you'd have to ask a posek. I am able to explain, on a practical level why it is so discouraged, And the reason is on 2 levels:

The first, is cultural. We have a very beautiful culture that started at Har Sinai and has been developed generation after generation by chazal and doros of yidden kedoshim v'tehorim. That is our culture and it is beautiful, pure and holy.

One of the rules of culturalism is that you cant be 100% of 2 different cultures. To the extent that you are part of one you can't be part of another. A person cant be 100% Chinese and 100% Mexican. One can combine the cultures and be partially one and partially the other. But one can never be 100% both. That's the way culture works. Music is one of the strongest components of any culture. Every culture has its music. Which means the more we integrate ourselves into secular music the less absorbed we can be in the purity, holiness and beauty of yiddishe culture, by force. And that's a shame. For the sake of our purity, holiness, and yiddishness secular music is discouraged.

The second reason is mystical: One of the major mystical rules about music is that you don't just listen to it, you become it. That's why sad music makes us sad and happy music makes us happy etc, and the reason we feel an urge to dance and sway when hearing music- it's literally an attempt to become the music we are hearing. It's also the reason music is such a great escape,. The passuk says by Shaul Hamelech "vhaya knagen hamagen" which simply means "the musician played music", but literally translated says "when the musician became the music".

Now here's the interesting part, The Igra D'Pirka (author of the Bnei Yisaschar) in section 290, reveals a mystical principle that a person's soul extends into what he does and makes. The mystical term for it is "koach hapoel b'hanifal". He explains, that when it comes to music, this rule of thumb tells us that the composer "the poel" is actually in the song he composed "the nifal". The song is an expression of the composer's soul, and his soul is actually in the music. Being so, given that we become the music we hear, we actually become the soul of the composer! When listening to secular music one becomes the soul of the secular composer and one can appreciate why it is discouraged.

Something to keep in mind: If you're working hard to accomplish something spiritually and having trouble doing it, it could be that becoming a secular soul by listening to secular music is making the process difficult. Maybe limiting the amount of secular music you listen to may make your growth process more efficient.

Hatzlacha!