When is it Permissible to Listen to Music During the Omer?

Greetings,<\/span><\/p>

1. The custom is to be stringent not to listen to music with instrumental accompaniment during the Omer (Responsa Yechaveh Da'at, Part 6, Section 30).<\/p>

2. Sephardim can be lenient and listen to music from Lag BaOmer and onward (see Responsa Yechaveh Da'at, Part 3, end of Section 30), however, among Ashkenazim, the practice is not to listen to music until the Three Days of Mourning, that is until the 3rd of Sivan (between Passover and Shavuot, Chapter 15, footnote 4, in the name of Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Auerbach zt"l, and in the Koveitz Mibeit Levi on the Festivals, page 152 in the name of Rabbi Shmuel Wozner zt"l, who states that one should not listen to music throughout the Omer. Nevertheless, it is written in the book Netaei Gavriel, Passover, Part 3, Chapter 53, Section 3, that for the Three Days of Mourning, the custom is to be lenient).<\/p>

On Lag BaOmer, it is permitted for both Ashkenazim and Sephardim to listen to music (see the pamphlet Ki Ba Moed on the Omer, page 40, Section 68, and Netaei Gavriel there, Section 2).<\/p>

Best regards,<\/span><\/p>

Hillel Meirs<\/p>