نگاهي گذرا به سير تحول كاركرد موسيقي در حيات ديني يهود

A Glance at the Development of the Function of Music in Jewish Religious Life

در مطالعه حاضر، سير تحولِ موسيقي در حيات ديني يهود از ابتدا تا پايان هزاره اول ميلادي مطالعه شده است. هدف از نگارش اين مطالعه نماياندن ارتباط بين شرايط سياسي- اجتماعي موجود در جامعه يهود و رويكرد آنان به موسيقي بوده است. در اين مطالعه، كه به روش توصيفي- تحليلي نگاشته شده، نخست قدمت موسيقي و اَشكال اوليه آن در عهد عتيق بررسي شده، سپس، با مراجعه به گزارش هاي تاريخي، به عصر معبد دوم پرداخته شده و نشان داده شده است كه چطور در اين عصر، هنر موسيقي در جامعه يهودي اورشليم به اوج شكوفايي اش رسيد. با اين حال، از اوايل عصر پراكندگي، ملاحظه مي شود، به سبب پيدايش نگرشي منفي درباره استفاده از آلات موسيقي در ميان عالمان يهودي، استفاده از اين آلات در مناسك ديني تحريم شد و موسيقي در فرهنگ ديني يهود در قالب سرود خواني به حيات خود ادامه داد. بدين ترتيب، در مطالعه حاضر نشان داده شده كه چطور در زمان گشايش و رفاه نسبي رويكرد متدينان قوم يهود به موسيقي در مجموع مثبت بوده است و در هر زمان كه شرايط زندگي براي اين قوم سخت و جانكاه شده توجه آنان به موسيقي كمتر شده و آنان رويكردي بدبينانه به آن اتخاذ كرده اند.

From ancient times to the present day, music as one of the earliest forms of art has had a significant role in religious ceremonies. Whether instrumental or vocal, music has been an inseparable part of rituals in almost all ancient religions. This research focuses on Judaism as one of the greatest religions in which music has always played a significant liturgical and ceremonial role. The aim of this article is to show how the religious Jews‟ attitude toward music has been related to the social-political conditions the Jewish society has gone through in different phases of its history. It surveys the transformations of the form of music in different phases of Jewish religious life throughout history. Applying a descriptive-analytical approach, this research covers the history of the music in Jewish community from the beginning to the end of the first millennium C.E. The Old Testament as the earliest existing document about the early Jewish communities contains useful information about the earliest forms of music in Jewish culture. Thus we have started our survey on music in Jewish community from the reports of musical events in the Pentateuch. We have shown that the earliest form of music in Judaism has been mostly vocal music. Although, some instruments such as shofar were also used by the time of Moses. As inferred from the other books of the Old Testament, the use of the instruments in religious ceremonies became more popular after the conquest of Jerusalem by David. However, it was after the foundation of the second temple that the instrumental music reached its climax in Jewish religious life. At this time, a wide collection of ancient instruments were used in temple orchestras. Unfortunately, the grace of the music of this time started to become forgotten with the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 C.E. Since the beginnings of the great Diaspora, due to the negative rabbinic attitude toward instrumental music, the use of instruments in Jewish religious ceremonies and congregations was declared forbidden. Therefore, from that time on, music in Jewish religious life continued to exist in the form of singing in the synagogues. This occurrence led to a dramatic growth in the vocal music among the Jewish devotees. During this time, several methods for singing Biblical verses were proposed, and a few were abolished. This research shows that at any time that the Jewish community has lost its political grace, a negative attitude toward instrumental music can be observed among the devout Jews. On the other hand, at the times of glory and victory, an increasing significance has been given to the use of instruments in Jewish music. By focusing on music in Jewish religious life alone and its ebb and flow of popularity and presence in the religious settings and events throughout the noted timeline, we have attempted to provide a historical-critical outlook on the attitude of Judaism toward music. We have shown to what extent the religious attitude toward music can be dependent on different conditions the religious community has been facing throughout its history.