Halacha Corner: Kaddish with Non-Jewish Melodies

Question: Is it permissible to recite Kaddish and Kedusha with non-Jewish melodies?

Answer: Rabbi Yehuda HaChasid wrote in Sefer Chassidim: "One who has a pleasant voice should be careful not to sing non-Jewish melodies, for it is a transgression. A pleasant voice was given to him only to praise the Creator, blessed be He, not for transgression."

It appears his intention refers to singing non-Jewish songs with their original lyrics, which are often love songs, as written in the Responsa of the RIF (Rabbi Yitzchak Alfasi, teacher of Rabbi Yosef ibn Migash, who was the Rambam's teacher) in these words: "A prayer leader who sings Islamic songs and utters obscenities from his mouth should be removed from his position, and about him and those like him it is said, 'She raised her voice against me, therefore I hated her.'" This ruling was cited by the Rema (Orach Chaim 53). However, reciting sacred songs and hymns to melodies that were composed for love songs appears to be entirely permissible, as the melody itself contains no prohibition or trace of prohibition.

Although there are several authorities (including Rabbi Masoud Rakach in his book Maaseh Rokeach) who maintain that even when the lyrics are sacred, such as Kaddish or Kedusha or words of praise and prayer to Hashem, the non-Jewish melody will detract from it. Nevertheless, many great Torah scholars took a lenient approach. It is known that several scholars composed songs of praise based on melodies from love songs, including the Bakashot songs composed by Rabbi Shlomo Laniado, Rabbi Avraham Antebi, Rabbi Mordechai Labaton, and many others. Also, Rabbi Shimon Aloof (Rabbi of the Ahava V'Achva community in New York) wrote extensively on this subject, arguing that even if there is some flaw in the melody, this only applies when the melody remains in the domain of non-Jews and still in the realm of impurity, but once the melody has been transferred to sacred songs, there is no concern of prohibition at all. The actions of all these scholars who practiced this way serve as instruction that this is the proper approach.

Therefore, the primary ruling is to be lenient in applying sacred words to non-Jewish melodies. Nevertheless, it is preferable to use in prayer melodies of sacred songs familiar to the congregation, even though these songs themselves may have been based on non-Jewish melodies, since over time the non-Jewish lyrics have been forgotten and replaced with sacred songs. They have already been transferred from the domain of impurity to the domain of holiness, and this is the common practice.

It is clear that even if it is permissible to listen to non-Jewish songs in order to transfer those melodies to sacred use, this is only in cases where there is no concern that one might come to think of forbidden matters while listening to those songs. Also, those songs must be in a style that settles the mind, not songs whose entire purpose is frivolity and emptiness. For such songs, there is certainly no basis to permit listening to them or using them for forbidden purposes.

Rulings of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef courtesy of "Daily Halacha" website

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