Today’s daf TB Berachot 24 is most difficult for one
who has modern sensitivities. Obviously, one should not recite the Shema in
full view of nudity. The problem arises when the rabbis begin to define what
constitutes a woman’s nudity.
Rabbi Yitzḥak stated: An exposed handbreadth in a
woman constitutes nakedness. The Gemara asks: Regarding which
halakha was this said? If you say that it comes to prohibit looking
at an exposed handbreadth in her, didn’t Rav Sheshet say: Why did the
verse enumerate “anklets and bracelets, rings, earrings and girdles” (Numbers 31:50), jewelry
that is worn externally, over her clothing, e.g., bracelets, together
with jewelry worn internally, beneath her clothing, near her
nakedness, e.g., girdles? This was to tell you: Anyone who gazes upon a
woman’s little finger is considered as if he gazed upon her naked genitals,
for if his intentions are impure, it makes no difference where he looks or how
much is exposed; even less than a handbreadth.
Along these lines, Rav
Ḥisda said: Even a woman’s exposed leg is considered nakedness,
as it is stated: “Uncover the leg and pass through the rivers” (Isaiah 47:2), and it is
written in the following verse: “Your nakedness shall be revealed and
your shame shall be seen” (Isaiah
47:3). Shmuel further stated: A woman’s singing voice is
considered nakedness, which he derives from the praise accorded a
woman’s voice, as it is stated: “Sweet is your voice and your countenance is
alluring” (Song
of Songs 2:14). Similarly, Rav Sheshet stated: Even a woman’s
hair is considered nakedness, for it too is praised, as it is
written: “Your hair is like a flock of goats, trailing down from Mount
Gilead” (Song of
Songs 4:1). (sefaria.com translation)
Tamar Ross Writes:
Were anyone to ask me, as a woman, for my opinion regarding
this state of affairs, I would have to answer in all honesty that I find it
very disturbing. Focusing so much attention on my body and its potential
influence upon men’s consciousness bears very weighty cultural implications
with regard to my freedom of movement, my self-image, and my general status in
society. Therefore, were I to choose to approach this difficulty through the
halakhic medium, on kol isha] means:
to hear [generally], and is not [limited to] the matter of Qeri’at Shema”10-the sense being, that a man ought to be
careful insofar as possible to avoid listening to a woman’s voice altogether.
But then he goes on to say that, since we are living among the Gentiles, which
makes it is more difficult to be stringent as here there are women who sing in
public places, one may be lenient when there is no alternative, and even allow
a man to recite Shema (which requires
special kavvanah-i.e., attentiveness;
mental-spiritual focusing) while hearing the voice of a woman singing. R.
Joseph Caro rules similarly in his wake.11
As against these positions, I might
cite the view of Rabbi Moshe Feinstein, a 20th century posek, who ruled that “it is forbidden
to read Shema while hearing the voice
of a woman singing” and that, concerning this matter, “one may not draw any
distinction between an Israelite woman and a Gentile.”12 To these I
could add the opinion of R. Menahem ha-Meiri (13th century), who
states that “it is forbidden at all times to look at her or to listen even to
her this position, such poskim continue
an already well established trend, as documented in the words of Meir Poppers
in his well-known compendium, Hanhagot
Tzaddikim-“He should refrain from listening to a woman’s singing voice, for
a woman’s voice is ‘erva.”15 https://www.academia.edu/35661867/Tamar_Ross_The_Contribution_of_Feminism_to_Halakhic_Discussion_Kol_be-Isha_Erva_as_a_Test_Case_Emor_no._1_January_2010_37-69
You don’t have to be a woman to find this
objectionable.
“Rabbi Herzfeld’s article, “Kol
Ishah” states that many rabbis including, Rabbi Yechiel
Weinberg, Rabbi Moshe Lichtenstein and Rabbi David Bigman, agree that
women may sing publicly. Many in our community have not adopted this view and
run the risk of destroying our spiritual community if women are treated like
Dinah and locked in a box. Rabbi Herzfeld writes: “If we deny the girls of our
community the ability to express themselves through song, we run the very real
risk of allowing them to be serenaded by an alternative influence.”
Consider Neshama Carlebach’s recent
announcement that she is “making aliyah to the Reform Movement.”
“Rabbi Herzfeld
further points out that by not allowing women to sing, the Orthodox community
is teaching men that girls “are such erotic creatures that it is impossible to
have an encounter with them that is not erotic…We are in fact reinforcing the
notion that our spiritual personality cannot rise above our physical nature.”
“After reading Rabbi
Herzfeld’s article, my interest was sparked and I did some research. It seems
that the word erva comes from the root ayin-raish-hey which
means to uncover, bare oneself. The idea of revelation in this root seems to be
more innocent than the Gemara’s later definition of erva as
unchasteness or lewdness.
“Right
now I choose to understand the idea of a woman’s voice as revelatory – innocent
and chaste – and my songs as pronouncing the Jewish truth of holiness that is a
part of our lives.”
https://www.myjewishlearning.com/the-torch/singing-is-a-mitzvah/
I have listed the web sources
I consulted so that you can follow those links to deepen your own study of this
issue.
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