What the Churban changed in our lives
When the Sanhedrin stopped sitting…
Forty years before the Churban it left the Lishkas HaGazis
Then Yavneh, Usha, and on
Restrictive
…song ceased from the houses of feasting
Voices — or instruments? A machlokes
A seudas mitzvah: song is allowed
Our custom: music at a seudas mitzvah
Why the Sanhedrin?
It kept the feasts in check
Without it, no new days of joy
Its leaving: the writing on the wall
“They shall not drink wine with song”
Yeshayahu 24:9
“The elders left the gate, the young their song”Eichah 5:14
Sotah 9:11
When Song Ceased
בִּטּוּל הַשִּׁיר
מִשֶּׁבָּטְלָה סַנְהֶדְרִין,
בָּטֵל הַשִּׁיר מִבֵּית הַמִּשְׁתָּאוֹת,
שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (ישעיה כד) בַּשִּׁיר לֹא יִשְׁתּוּ יָיִן וְגוֹ׳