Sheloshah tso‘akim (Three Who Cry Out)

Hear, O Israel, descendants of holy ones: see that newcomers have recently arrived intending to make grapes, but instead have produced wild grapes [see Isaiah 5:2]. There is no local foundation for them and there are no roots—these customs are new and confusing. They introduce fresh melodies for the Sabbath, holidays, and the new month that confuse and dumbfound the folk in their synagogues. They cry with their mouths in cruelty, cleaving with their cry to the upper and lower windows of heaven; with the sound of roaring rivers [see Psalms 93:3], in a crouched posture. They hold their ears in their hands, with their upper arms at their hips, their heads nearly at their thighs. They gird their loins with a belt; without this, their innards would come out! From the sound of many, mighty waters [see Psalms 93:4], like a flood of water, mighty in strength like the grinders of millstones—and, truth to tell, their voices are pleasant to one who has no ears, and their appearance is beautiful to one who has no eyes, and as pleasant as vinegar is to the teeth. They bend themselves backward to the point where their faces turn black, like the black-skinned Ethiopian, and like the charcoal burner who works with sooty fire.

This is part of the praise due to them. Now let us speak of their colleagues who cause harm with their voices, and for whom it would be preferable to remain silent than to shout out [as they do]. This is actually stated about those who make the rounds of communities: the cause is the cantors of Gomer [Poland], Ashkenaz [Germany], Riphath, and Togarmah [Turkey] (Genesis 10:3), whose prayers do not ascend on high. Now the way you can remember this is through [the talmudic aphorism]: there are three types of people who cry out in prayer but are not answered [b. Bava Meẓi‘a 75b]. There is no thought given to the prayers—only they say with cunning, “Come on, come on!” [see Proverbs 30:15].

Behold, I shall now reveal the manner of their operations. They think they lead prayers in accordance with the manner of the sages—coming as a threesome, like a rabbinic court to cancel vows and consecrations. Their most senior member, whom one may describe as “the cantor,” stands in the center—he is the most distinguished, but he does not create anything of spiritual value. He exerts himself greatly with his shrieking, but he is liable to death as his deeds are offensive and worthless. And the second one stands at his right-hand side “to accuse him” [see Zechariah 3:1], on the step or aisle—he is the man whom he has adopted for himself as a daughter [see Esther 2:15]—he shouts out in the manner of those stomping in a winepress, and his voice is thick and coarse. He has no sensitivity in his throat, and on his tongue there is a deep cavity, like a ladle, and this yields neither pleasure nor rejuvenation of the soul. And while he does not cease [from this crude shouting] either on holidays or the Sabbath, he has effectively stopped praying. And on his left-hand side stands the third man, who will likewise not escape innocently [see Exodus 2:15]; I swear by my life and my head that he does not even know the Kiddush for Friday nights! And he is a child, so boorish one cannot even imagine, uneducated, like a wild boar of the forest.

These ascend before the ark [to perform the service]: the suckling infant with the gray-haired man (Deuteronomy 32:25), while the male calls out in the manner of a woman. The three of them shouting together, flailing their arms, jaws, and stomachs [see Deuteronomy 18:3], afflicting the hungry soul with starvation, turning the joy of the Sabbaths and festivals into pain! Speaking, they request generous donations from the attendees, and if they do not make such contributions of their own volition, then their fury burns like a raging fire, as though such voluntary contributions were obligatory! But it is sinful and sheer arrogance to compel someone to donate against his will. For one who shouts in triumph, and even roars [see Isaiah 42:13], is like one who perpetrates the deeds of Zimri yet seeks the reward due to Pinḥas, the anointed [see Numbers 25:1–15]. His mouth is open, like the place where the ashes [from the altar in the Temple] were piled up, known as the tapu’aḥ. This is mere vanity; he does not trouble himself with the service of the Almighty. He breathes out falsehoods, and shines forth with the brightness of the day, focused upon his meals—and he eats and drinks until he stinks, and one standing next to him can smell it! In his own view, his prayer is accepted as sweet. However, in this regard every God-fearing man should concern himself and not rest until he has abolished divine service of this nature, that has become commonplace throughout the world.

And furthermore, they have no understanding of the prayer that they are reciting, and as for what they are chanting, their intention is not to praise the One who dwells on high, but rather to introduce certain new melodies that they have heard in circuses where empty-headed hecklers sing, and, with the melody, they divide up the words into several independent parts; and on occasion they omit and swallow the fundamental words that were established by learned and wise individuals. And in addition, they do not pay attention to the proper cantillation of the Torah, and even when they are rebuked, they reply, “This is how we have always read, and no one has ever raised any protest against us!” Moreover, they do not understand how to honor to the Torah scroll, for during the reading from the scroll, they lie down and recline on mattresses and cushions. And when they bless the forthcoming new month or recite prayers for the departed while the scroll is in their hand, and they wish to sing a tune, the scroll then turns into a heavy burden for them and they hand it over to someone else. And they honor themselves by sitting in the center, while the scroll is set to the side, in the manner of empty-headed, worthless people (2 Samuel 6:20). But those of discernment and the elders derive no pleasure from such conduct, which is in their eyes as thorns and thistles.

One would not believe it, if one were told in how many ways they utter falsehood and lies, and alter the truth, saying, “The changes now being introduced are a tradition transmitted to me from the elders and from the great authorities, who were more precious than rubies [see Proverbs 3:15]”; and one transgression drags along another in its wake, as they hang their offense upon the shields of the mighty [see Song of Songs 4:4], whereas this never emanated from the mouths of the holy ones who study and teach Torah.

Look around and see the destruction caused by these people! The cantor begins to sing, uttering no words, and he stops in the middle, and the “the daughter” finishes the melody, while the third man comes in with soft and heavy tones—he has no idea of what he ought to be saying. And all of a sudden, the three of them shout out in unison, as though they were seized with fever, breaking out toward the skies. Their blood becomes heated up like meat inside a stewpot, their bodies perspire like donkeys laboring in pleasure, up to the point where the perspiration drips down from their foreheads right onto the ground beneath. Yet this labor drags them down to the pit of destruction. [ . . . ]

And to what great extent are we duty-bound to praise God and for our eyes to be opened to see the sweet-sounding leaders of the remnants of Israel who live under the rule of the kings of Ishmael, and the Jews of Italy, and those of Barbary and the other far-flung regions; and of Spain, who are scattered and dispersed, and the residents of Babylonia, and the rest of those dwelling under a base nation—the inhabitants of Medes and Persia, and the residents of India and Arabia up to the descendants of Ammon—the majority of them all singing [the divine service] in a delightful manner, and with pure speech, enunciating clearly, not stretching out their pronunciation of one word and saying another quickly. And this way is the correct way, acceptable to the One who formed all things and created the sun. The cantor stands in his proper place. He does not lie on the Torah scroll as though it were his bed. He does not shout out loudly in an arrogant manner as one crying out on account of an object he has lost or as one whose ship has sunk. Rather, he prays with his ordinary voice, for, as is the man, so is his strength; and he does not hold on to his ears and does not swing his head backwards behind him. Instead, he stands upright before the One who dwells on high, with his eyes toward heaven—such was their custom from time immemorial. Their cantors took special care over their bodies, and kept away from drinks causing intoxication, hastening every morning and evening to the synagogue—all cantors are duty-bound to adopt these practices!

The Holy One who led Israel through the desert for forty years—it is for His honor that I, the author, have come. Far be it from me that I should speak and create defects and blemishes in this matter; I seek to utter the truth—the truth for which every leader and speaker is responsible—to nullify the sounds of breach and destruction, for there is no hope for those thinking that worship of this kind will be accepted by the One who hearkens to the prayers of the broken-hearted. And my name shall remain undisclosed, and I shall not place it on record, on account of the masses of the people over whom a spirit of folly and madness has passed. And my prayer to God is to give us a wise and discerning heart, and to serve Him with a united spirit (Zephaniah 3:9), as is stated. Amen!