Well, there's Jewish tradition in between. Rich musical temple services are described in the Babylonian Talmud, tractate Arakhin. Levites playing all kinds of kinnorim (lyres), nevalim (harps), khatzotzerot (trumpets), khalilim (flutes), tuppim (drum) and many others. The reason why these instruments aren't allowed in orthodox congregations today is that that kind of service belonged to the temple which was destroyed in 70 CE and had no double. I haven't heard about the carrying an instrument violates the Sabbath argument, but it may be so. Quite a bit of Jewish musical tradition was preserved in the early Christian congregation of Rome, which had sprung out of the Jewish congregation. A core group of the new Christian group was formed by Levites.
Mathias "howard posner" <howardpos...@ca.rr.com> schrieb: > Sorry, left out a sentence, rendering the message rather obscure. > > On Dec 20, 2009, at 11:32 AM, howard posner wrote: > > > Christian practice derives in large part from post-Temple Jewish > > practice, in which, traditionally, instruments are forbidden in > > services. Alexander points out that there are Biblical references to > > instruments in the Temple, and indeed, Psalm 150, with its references > > to instruments (including nevel and kinnor, both of which are > > sometimes translated as "lyre" or "lute"), is a common part of modern > > Sabbath morning services. > > Left out: But in traditional congregations, the psalm, like > everything else, is sung without instruments. > > > The reasons given for it vary: some say > > it's because we're still in mourning over the destruction of the > > Temple, others that playing (or tuning, or carrying) instruments > > violates the Sabbath. To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
