In season 5 episode 18 and 19 of the TV show Seinfeld, Kramer was dating Leslie, a clothing designer. Jerry and Elaine were invited to dinner by Kramer, but Jerry complained that Leslie was a "low talker", meaning that no matter how hard he tried to listen to her, she was never loud enough to be heard. At the dinner, when Kramer excused himself for the restroom, Jerry accidentally agreed to wear Leslie's latest design on his upcoming appearance on The Today Show: a pirate-inspired puffy shirt. He tried to back out, but Leslie had already sold some retailers the shirts under the condition that Jerry would wear it on TV.[1]
In Saturday’s daf Yoma 20 two people are the quite opposite of a low talker. The
first is Gevini the Crier who summoned the priests, the Levites, and the
Israelites to assume their positions to begin the worship service in the
Temple.
“A baraita was
taught in accordance with the opinion of Rav, and a baraita was taught in accordance
with the opinion of Rabbi Sheila. The Gemara elaborates: A baraita
was taught in accordance with the opinion of Rav: What did Gevini the Crier, who was an
appointee in the Temple, say in his proclamation? Arise, priests, to
your service, and Levites to your platform, and Israelites to your
non-priestly watch. And the Gemara relates: His voice was so
strong that it could be heard at a distance of three parasangs,
slightly more than eight miles.
“There was an incident involving King Agrippa, who was coming down
the road and heard Gevini the Crier’s voice at a distance of three
parasangs. And when the king came to his house he sent gifts to him,
since he was so impressed with the man’s voice.”
(Sefaria.org translation)
The second person is the high priest, the Kohen Hagadol, whose voice was even
stronger than Gevini’s.
“The Gemara notes: And
even so, the voice of the High Priest was stronger and superior
to his, as the Master said: And there already was an incident where
the High Priest recited, in his confession that accompanied the placing of
hands on his bull on Yom Kippur: Please God, and his voice was heard in
Jericho. And Rabba bar Ḥana said that Rabbi Yoḥanan said: The
distance from Jerusalem to Jericho is ten parasangs.
“And not only was the distance greater
in the case of the High Priest than in the case of Gevini the Crier, here,
there is the issue of the weakness of the High Priest due to the
fast and his obligation to perform the entire service, while there, there is
no issue of the weakness of Gevini. And in addition, here
it was during the day, when sound does not travel as well, that the
High Priest recited his confession; and there it was during the night
when Gevini called the priests, Levites, and Israelites.” (Sefaria.org
translation)
I could never hold those
two positions. First of all and most importantly, I can never be the High Priest
since I’m not a Kohen, but an Israelite. Secondly, I have to remember constantly
to project my voice when I’m speaking. I’m happy if people in the last row in
the sanctuary can hear me. I’m not as bad as a Seinfeld low talker, but too
many times people tell me that they cannot hear my sermons. Sometimes I speak
too softly and since I move around the bimah,
the microphone fails to pick up my voice to amplify it. We solved the problem
by me wearing a portable microphone. A puffy shirt though would be fun to wear
on Purim.
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKWYg9qFOpA
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