Samuel Adler, Music of the Synagogue

Summary

The music of the synagogue is at once the oldest and the newest of all the li¬turgical traditions belonging to the major religious groups of our day. It is the earliest in that there is tradition recorded in the Bible from ancient times, and the most modern because of the hiatus that was imposed upon its growth and development from those early times to the Enlightenment at the end of the eighteenth century. This essay will outline parts of the earlier history of the music of the synagogue as well as provide an overview of the music of the American synagogue in greater detail.

Though the Bible is full of references to music and musical events in con¬nection with the Temple worship, we do not know what this music sounded like, since the ancient Israelites never developed a separate musical notation system. It is true that the Hebrew Bible has a system of musical accents on each word, yet it is a mystery to us regarding the actual sound of each of these accents. These accents or neumes are called Ta'amim and consist of circles, dashes, and other small configurations. Since the original Hebrew was written without vow¬els, the Ta'amim designate not only the word accent but often clarify its actual meaning when this is obscured by the missing vowels.

The problems today in the music for the synagogue begin with the fact that the system of musical accents, also sometimes referred to as the trope, was passed down through the ages by word of mouth. According to Eric Werner in a fascinating book entitled The Sacred Bridge, the music closest to the ancient Temple chant may be found in the chants of the Armenian Church. Because of its longevity and its isolation, the Armenian Church protected and codified its chants as far back as the third century. This was the historical period during which the Armenians converted from Judaism to Christianity.

From the time of the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem by the Romans in AD 70, we have the growth of the synagogue as a substitute for the Temple worship as well as for the Temple sacrifices. In addition, prayer services in the synagogues were named after the sacrifices offered at precise times in the ancient Temple. The services were entitled morning prayer (Shacharit), afternoon prayer (Minsha), and evening prayers (Maaviv).