By 5 Towns Central Staff

JERUSALEM, ISRAEL (Aug. 28, 2026)

A group of Gedolim, including Harav Moshe Sternbuch, Harav Shmuel Brandsdorfer, Harav Avraham Yitzchak Ulman and Harav Yehoshua Rosenberger, have issued a public p’sak prohibiting the use of musical instruments during davening.

The ruling specifically addresses the use of instruments during Hallel on Rosh Chodesh and Chol Hamoed, as well as during Selichos.

The rabbanim write that the recent practice of bringing musical accompaniment into shuls and batei medrash is contrary to the established mesorah and echoes a practice that the Chasam Sofer and his talmidim previously opposed. They state that introducing such changes into the traditional order of tefillah falls under the prohibition of “chukas hagoyim.”

According to the proclamation, the prohibition applies to all involved, including the musicians, gabbaim and those participating in the tefillah. The rabbanim further state that the prohibition remains applicable even when the musical accompaniment is intended for kiruv or fundraising purposes.