[Avodah] Concerts in Reform temples

[Joel C. Salomon]

On 08/11/2010 06:59 PM, Prof. Levine wrote:
> At 06:26 PM 8/11/2010, R. Y. Schaffer wrote:
>> Is anyone aware of the halachah concerning concerts in Reform temples?
>> Specifically, I was an organist in a previous life, and am interested in
>> dusting off my chops and playing again. There are several Reform (and
>> Conservative, I believe) places in NYC with concert organs, and I would
>> like to avail myself if possible. I've been having trouble reaching my
>> rav, so I'd like to see if anyone has experience with this question here.
> 
> In a previous gilgul ( >:-} ), I used to speak for Chabad.  (I know that
> many will not believe this, but it is indeed true.)
> 
> Once I was asked to speak at a Chabad Shabbaton in Framingham, MA in
> Harold S. Kushner's (When Bad Things Happen to Good People) temple.  Not
> long before the event, I became uneasy about this, given that I knew
> that people would be riding on Shabbos to hear me speak.  I called Rav
> Shimon Schwab, ZT"L, and asked him what I should do. I explained that
> nothing would take place in the sanctuary.
> 
> Rav Schwab was a very wise man. He said to me, "I will not pasken for
> you, but I hold that one is not even allowed to walk through the door of
> a reform or conservative temple. Whatever you do there strengthens them.
> I know that Reb Moshe holds that one is allowed to teach in their
> afternoon schools, but I disagree." He suggested I call someone else.
<snip>
> So, I have to assume that according to Rav Schwab you should not go into
> these places at all.

There's an important distinction to be made:  Your talk was connected to
a Jewish religious event, while the original poster is (I assume) asking
about a secular performance.  Rav Schwab's operational sentence is,
"Whatever you do there strengthens them"; this is not directly relevant
to the OP.

A few months ago I took a temporary job with the Census Bureau as a
recruiter.  Among my responsibilities was to administer & proctor the
application tests, and some of these tests were held in church
basements.  Rav Hillel David gave me these guidelines:
* If a test was scheduled in a church or mosque basement (i.e., not the
sanctuary) I could go, provided I entered through a side entrance; and
* If it was in a heterodox temple, I could even use the main entrance,
provided it was not during scheduled prayers.  (I don't remember whether
he differentiated between basement & sanctuary.)

(Caveat:  There might be another distinction to be made, between my case
& the OP's, regarding leniencies for parnassah.)

--Joel