Leave It To A Reform Rabbi... - UPDATED

...to leave out the Chazzanut choirs or communal Carlebach singing in modern Orthodox synagogues in his letter:

Personal, private prayer thrives on solitude, but the spiritual engine of communal prayer is music. Whether it be the praise band of the Brooklyn Tabernacle, the “old-time music” of Berkeley Springs’ love church, the antiphonal call and response of the Roman Catholic Mass, austere Gregorian chants, our Reform synagogue’s packed services or the powerful gospels of the African-American Baptist church that makes its home in our auditorium, music lifts the spirit, stirs the soul and enables us to experience transcendence in ways that even the most well-written liturgy cannot. Those who seek to learn how to pray should look for a congregation where the music is inspiring and worshipers sing their hearts out.

RICHARD A. BLOCK
Senior Rabbi
The Temple — Tifereth Israel
Beachwood, Ohio

Do they still use organs?


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UPDATE

I have just been informed by Rabbi Block that:

My letter had numerous other examples that we edited out.

And as Rabbi Block feels that I was transgressing, in embarassing him in public, I hasten to add an additional note from him:

I see my initial reply to you contained a typo. What I meant to type was that numerous other examples “were” edited out. I had no control over what was excluded and was neither informed nor consulted in advance.
I will happily concede that Orthodox and Conservative synagogues often have beautiful and inspiring music. My reference to the denomination of my synagogue had nothing to do with other movements, but was addressed at the description of a particular Reform congregation described in the original article.