Matzav Inbox: When Did Goyishe Music Become Acceptable?

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Dear [email protected],

I am writing to express my concern regarding a trend that I believe warrants discussion and reflection within our community. Specifically, I have noticed a growing number of individuals within the frum community who utilize non-Jewish music as background accompaniment to their social media posts, statuses, and Instagram stories.

We have a responsibility to uphold a certain standard. Having such music on frum social media pages is a disgrace! What a chillul Hashem!

Using non-Jewish music as a backdrop to your social media presence goes against everything we stand for.

Anyone who does this should be ashamed of themselves. It’s a bizayon.

So you’ll ask me how I know about it? I have a good friend who works in the world of fashion, producing clothing. This friend has many connections in the industry and told me that it is hard to believe how many so-called “influencers,” especially women, use non-Jewish music on their posts. It’s shocking, disturbing, and disgusting.

Enough is enough.

We should call these people out and let them know that you won’t stand for it. Protest it! Let them know! Don’t stand for it!

It’s time to bring some taharah and purity back into our machaneh.

Sincerely,

Disgusted

54 COMMENTS

  1. YAWN. go crawl back into your holier than thou hole. Every day, someone posts their personal peeve.
    Yesterday it was tesla/internet. today its music. Maybe call tesla and have them block goyishe music
    (which just happens to be better than most of the garbage that jewish “musicians” put out today).

      • once upon a time, there was plenty of good jewish music; dveykus, rabbis sons, etc. Most of todays jewish music is chasidish havara, which I, personally, don’t care for.

    • You’re wrong. He’s right. It’s not “holier than thou”. Both should be holy.
      We are a mamleches kohanim viGoy kadosh.

  2. Not too many years ago, pleasant ” goyishe” music was played at weddings without a problem. Usually played at cocktail hour and as relaxing music at dinner. Stop the new chumras , enough already.

    • PErhaps “pleasant goyishe music” was played at weddings with “cocktail hours” . I don’t knw of any heimishe chassunah that played goyishe music.

      • Yes, it was played. I was a band musician and we played it. Ask those 40 and over. Let’s not revise history.

      • I remember the excuses “there’s no good Jewish music”, or “Jewish music is garbage”. You reveal yourself to not only be ignorant, but hateful.

        There’s so much good Jewish music out there.

        I personally have stopped listening to non Jewish music about a year ago, and my quality of life is way better.

        I don’t want to preach what you should do or not do – as a musician I’m aware how hard it is.

        But, you should NOT defend non Jewish music.

        Music affects you, and by listening to music from an impure source, it pushes one’s consciousness to do aveiros hameivin yavin.

    • Why do you call it a chumra? Besides there is plenty of jewish or even so-called jewish music out there that you don’t have to go so low to post pure non-jewish music

  3. Okay. There are many more grave issues that come before this. Social media is unhealthy and not Jewish. Just stay away. The point isn’t the non-Jewish music. That’s a problem from within that. Let’s stay focused and on target in identifying the real issue you may wanna address here.

    • Even though there are more pressing issues, this one should not be ignored and is also relatively easy to address, unlike some of those pressing issues.

  4. Goyishe music is not acceptable. Insta”trash” is not acceptable. Being an “influencer” is a completely goyish concept. What are you surprised about?

  5. You are 100% right. However, the real issue is with the social media itself. Everything that you said negatively about the non-jewish music applies to social media as a whole. We should be better than that.

  6. What? The entire social media is a pirtzah. I know that it has been trampled to the point of being considered norm, but the problem begins there.

    I believe far more serious and insidious is the style of music that accompanies our weddings and other simchos. These may be compositions that are sung to holy words from Tehilim, Siddur, etc. But the music is clearly goyishe, and this is total disgrace to kedushas Yisroel. There are several singers who perform at Simchas that flatly refuse to sing these songs (I can’t even call them nigunim). The dancing that accompanies such music veers into patterns foreign to Klal Yisroel. It would be far more beneficial to all if there was a stop put to this. Those who have fallen into social media are probably less inclined to follow restrictions about background music.

  7. Disgusted,
    Is this a post against women? Why are you concerned about Frum social media pages. It doesn’t meet your standard. KEEP OFF “Frum social media” your problem would go away. I learned this technique from a Ostrich just don’t look there. These “Frum social media” are not made for the Frum audience as Frum don’t belong on Instagram.

    • First, even if it’s made for non-Jews, it’s irrelevant; anything made by a Jew should be held to the standard of that Jew, not the audience. Second, some pages are made for both Jews and non-Jews.

  8. Ahhhh, if only the author realized that all the “Jewish” music made today is super goyish… would he say we shouldn’t listen to music at all? Half of today’s artists trying to be the it “frum” boy band star, and the other half are trying to out-techno each other. It’s all goyish. Don’t be a hypocrite. If you’re gonna call out goyish music, do it all the way and call it out in the “Jewish” music world too. If not, mouth shut and get over it.

  9. a) what heter is there to be on “social media” b) what heter is there to have music after the beis hamikdash was destroyed. In Europe my zeyda told me the wedding seuda was on Friday night and there was no dancing or music and they were ehrlich.

  10. You’re worried about social media?! How about a standard chassuna these days where the new chosson and kalla come into the wedding hall to blaring goyisha music??????????????? The half hour intro, as the chosson/Kallah stand there holding hands lifnei am viever, is as goyish as goyish can be! Besides the fact that these lowlife musicians attempt to destroy the average person’s hearing! The “social media and Tesla owners” are the least of the problems.

    • You mean לפני עם ועדה ??????
      If you’re going to use expressions to try to make a point of yours, then at least use the correct expression. Now if you want to get into the issues of whether or not they should be holding hands in public at that point without some public harchokos, That’s up for discussion however, the reality is, if you look at every single non-hasidic wedding, you will see that there’s no public harchokos at that point. והמבין יבין

    • Priorities shouldn’t cause other things to be lost.
      You mean “bifnei am viAida”…
      Their respective teachers can tell them not to hold hands then…
      The baalei simcha who are paying for the music can contractually obligate the musicians to keep the music below a particular decibel level.

      For now, you can also wear ear-plugs, which is a good idea to always have with you when attending a chasunah, dinner, etc.

    • Good point. When did this mishigas start that there must be this looooooong rocked up musical introduction before the chosson and kalla come into the ballroom?

  11. Just the idea of ‘ “influencers,” especially women’ is the true chillul Hashem and bizayon. The music just follows…

  12. You are 100% correct. I have a friend who has Instagram and she tells me how SOOO many “frum” woman use very inappropriate music for their background. The woman also don’t even dress Tzniusly 99% of the time which is a problem all in itself. Some of these woman surprisingly are very well known individuals.

  13. English music is the “final straw” for this poster?? I would think the materialistic excesses of the generation and the total disregard for carrying on shabbos in a “questionable” eruv is significantly worse than a little jingle. we are not talking hardcore rap music here.

  14. Dear Disgusted,

    I certainly hear what you have to say, have you given any thought that most of what we call Jewish music is, in fact, non-Jewish originally? Have you given thought to many of the wonderful nigunim we use during Shabbos zemiros, and to understand where they really came from? Many of them were bar songs that people would sing in their drunken stupors. What about others which were marches of armies, armies which were never friendly with our people ?

    So yes, you might be right in the year 5783 but if you’re going to ask questions about the music used in 5783, what you’re doing is you’re raising questions about the songs and the music of 5683.

    What about all the intros that take place at a chasuna, before the chosson kalla come in for the first dance? Did you ever think about where those are from, or is it just you know nice music to get the crowd moving etc so it didn’t bother you?

  15. I DON’T have a good friend that works in the world of fashion producing clothing, so I never knew this even existed on social media as well.. But from what I see at some weddings and even watching so called clips of singers and orchestras at weddings promoting business on some Jewish websites really one has to wonder how low we have sunk…

  16. Is this supposed to be satire?

    You are objecting to non Jewish music on social media? But you are not objecting to people using social media?

      • You understand there is a difference between the internet at large and Matzav. Stop hating, recognize the problem and move on. A problem is a problem regardless of how when or where it is posted.

      • You’re wrong, one can use the internet as long as it’s filtered as opposed to Tesla where it can NOT be filtered, so your joke and poking fun about another well meaning concerned Yid falls apart, you should be ashamed and embarrassed of yourself,

        • No, you should be ashamed. At the Citi field asifa the rabbonim clearly stated that all internet is assur, and that includes Matzav.

  17. As a follow up, I laugh because I do not take part in any social media (facebook/instagram/tiktok etc).
    I just try to live my life as best as possible, but i just cannot stand it when people take it upon themselves to criticize others. Please just do us all a favor and shut up. “Syag Le’Chachma SHtikah”.

  18. So it starts in frum camps where non Jewish music tunes are used for theme songs, color war etc. My counselor (noted Rabbi’s daughter) admonished me for not knowing the tune of a song that would never be played in my parents home nor in my own.
    However these “influencers” are not exactly Torahdike and their followers are probably not either.

  19. How is acceptable for ” frum” women to act and perform on ” social media”?.. even cooking shows with all the dancing and winking and overly made up and sh pritzus sheitels…. etc. And no, I don’t gave Instagram etc

  20. I think the letter writer us being sarcastic. However, the whole idea of women being “influencers” and promoting themselves on social media is wrong. And I don’t have access to instragram.

  21. Pretty cool how within 10hours of posting this letter 456 people responded as if this is the most important thing in the world

  22. Really not my concern helping a fret I worry.

    My radio is nice. No yidden music unfortunately.

    I do not have a budget to buy CDs and more so, I do not have a useful CD player in my home easy to use.

    I listen to WORLD music when it is on. It is World music by many gentiles and often unorthodox Jews. The songs stick.

    I would like to listen to more Yiddish music. I find it does not stick so well, some of it is too jumpy for every mood.

    And classical music is good for the whole world.

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