Are Jewish mourners forbidden from listening to music? On the face of it, the prohibition is absolute. Certainly, it is forbidden for mourners to attend concerts, or performances in general. Indeed, even recorded music should be avoided during the first 30 days of mourning, as well as during the Three Weeks of national mourning for the destruction of the Temple which we are observing at the moment. But does this mean that all music is prohibited? What about liturgical music, the music of the synagogue?
A mourner during shivah, the first week of mourning, cannot attend the first part of Kabbalat Shabbat; the mourner thereby misses most of the psalms and hymns of celebration, which are intended to be sung, although he is invited to enter before the recitation of the psalm for the Sabbath day. Beyond the shivah, a mourner generally does not lead shabbat or festival services for the rest of the mourning period, though this is not an outright proscription: If he is usually the cantor, he may continue to perform his duty.
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