What sort of music is acceptable?

Question:

Music is an important part of life... It holds so many memories for each of us... So what is acceptable? Please help and guide me.

Answer:

I agree. Music is such an important part of life. It has the power to connect us to all kinds of places. It is important that we choose music which connects us to a "good place," as opposed to putting us in a state of mind that brings sadness or anger, or provokes negative thoughts and/or emotions.

Even better than a "good place" — if you can connect to music that puts you in a "holy place," that is the ultimate.

There is a lot of good and holy music out there. Start by visiting our Jewish Music section — it contains some articles about music, as well as plenty of audio files with quality Jewish and chassidic music and melodies:

Blessings,

Sarah Zadok

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5 Comments

Sam Leon November 7, 2014

Re: For Simon Rabbi Freeman,
You say a Jew can't listen to music which is overly lewd, but let me ask you this: I came across a beautiful song once called For the Love of a Princess. It was all instrumental, yet the movie clip it accompanied was a rather intimate scene. The song itself wasn't lewd, but the accompanying clip was. What do I do about that? Reply

Anonymous Boston, MA January 20, 2010

Why should we shelter ourselves from the truths of the world by only listening to music that brings us to a "good place"? Many musical artists have very profound things to say and express that can sometimes be dark...sometimes when I'm in a dark mood, these types of music help as something to connect to. I love the symphonies of Shostakovich, Messaien's Quartet for the End of Time, and Stravinsky's Rite of Spring to name a few. I think these are just as much gifts from G-D as "positive" music is. Reply

Evan Jeck Philadelphia, PA September 1, 2009

musica MATISYAHU ROCKS!!! My favorite song on Youth album is "Dispatch The Troops" Reply

Tzvi Freeman Thornhill, Canada September 2, 2008

For Simon There is no prohibition whatsoever against listening to any music, as long as it is not associated with foreign worship (such as church music) or overtly lewd.

Everything a Jew does must have a higher purpose, listening to music included. Some music is easier than other music to elevate into that purpose. It's up to each person, according to his situation, to determine what he can elevate and what he cannot.

Personally, I play Bach and Torrega on my classical guitar. Reply

Simon London, UK August 18, 2008

types of music To continue this, is it permissible to listen to western classical orchestral and instrumental music? I am (or at least, was) a classical musician but I find that there is little (not, I accept, none!) "classical" (read real) music available in the Jewish world - mostly folk type and relatively unsophisticated vocal material. Reply

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