Nodiging 2:8-17

Equality Lost: Essays in Torah Commentary, Halacha, and Jewish Thought by Rabbi Yehuda Henkin, Chapter 8 Kol ‘Isha

The Voice of a Woman

On Sept. 5th, nine military cadets of the Israel Defense Force officer training school, all Orthodox Jews, walked out of an official event marking operation Cast Lead. A group of soldier-singers had taken the stage, but when a woman started her solo, the nine cadets stormed out. Four of them refused to come back to the hall, despite being warned that they were breaching an order, and two days later were expelled from the school.

Their objection? That Orthodox Judaism forbids a man from hearing a woman sing. These soldiers adhere to the strict interpretation of the expression “Kol B’Isha Erva.” This might translate as, “the voice of a woman is like nakedness.” Or as, “the voice of a woman is like her vagina.”

The rabbinical debate over the meaning of this Talmudic expression is old and complex, and the variations in its interpretation are many. For some Orthodox Jews, though, it is a clear command: thou shalt not hear a woman sing.

[48]Mijn duive, [49]zijnde in de kloven der steenrotsen, [50]in het verborgene ener steile plaats, [51]toon Mij uw gedaante, doe Mij [52]uw stem horen; want uw stem [53]is zoet, en uw gedaante is liefelijk.
48. Aldus wordt de gemeente van Christus genoemd vanwege hare
kuisheid en eenvoudigheid. Zie Matth.10:16, en boven,
hfdst.1 vs.15.
49. Daar schuilende uit vrees der vijanden. Zie Jer.48:28. Anders:
die u onthoudt in de scheuren der steenrotsen; beschaamd zijnde
vanwege de mismaaktheid uwer zonden.
50. Die u in onbewoonde plaatsen, in holen en spelonken, vanwege
de vervolging verbergt; gelijk 1 Kon.18:4; Ps.55:7,8, en Ps.68:14;
Openb.12:6. Sommigen zetten het over, een verborgen trap, duidende
zulks op den Heere Christus, die de trap en ladder is naar den
hemel; Gen.28:12; Joh.1:52.
51. Dat is, kom tot mij, wandel voor mij oprechtelijk, gelijk
Gen.17:1; Rom.12:1; Ef.5:27. Te weten, nadat gij door mijn Geest
en bloed zult gereinigd zijn.
52. Dat is, uwe gebeden en lofzangen. Zie Ps.5:4, en Ps.28:2, en
Ps.42:5, en Ps.50:15, en elders.
53. Dat is, zij is mij aangenaam, te weten als zij uit een waar
geloof spruitende is.

Als een duif in de rotskloof…

Luisteren naar haar gezang of niet?

Tradition Today: A woman's voice

By REUVEN HAMMER

If we consider the original meaning of the verse from Song of Songs, it is clear it is a positive statement praising the beauty of a woman’s voice.

Photo by: Ariel Jerozolimski

‘Let me hear your voice, for your voice is sweet,’ pleads the young lover to his beloved in the Song of Songs (2:14). Contrast that biblical verse to the saying of the third-century Babylonian sage Shmuel: “A woman’s voice is indecent.” Yet this is the very verse that Shmuel cites to justify his saying (Brachot 24a)! He derives his idea from that verse because of the similarity of the sound of the Hebrew word “indecent” – erva – and the Hebrew word for “sweet” – arev.

Although spelled differently, they sound alike. Thus Shmuel, using the methodology of midrash, reads the verse as though it means“…your voice is indecent” – i.e. sexually stimulating, seductive. This is not the only time that a midrash interprets a verse to mean the opposite of its plain meaning.

If we consider the simple, original meaning of the verse from the Song of Songs, it is clear that it is a positive statement praising the beauty of a woman’s voice, with absolutely no negative connotation. The young man is asking to see the visage of his beloved and to hear her voice because both are beautiful. Indeed, the original meaning of the entire book of Song of Songs is simply to praise the love between man and woman, to extol the beauty of physical attraction and of love. It is unfortunate that we have allowed one statement by one sage to cause us to stray so far from the biblical praise of the beauty of women and their voices and to have instituted instead a policy not merely of modesty but of almost abhorrence of any contact between men and women, of hiding and isolating women not only at times of prayer but at all times so that they are not to be seen, heard or touched. The author of the Song of Songs would have been shocked and astounded at such an attitude.

IN THE Talmud, Shmuel’s statement is not presented as law, nor does not appear in the earlier laws of the Mishna. It is simply an exhortative statement by one sage of his opinion that women’s voices are seductive. In later tradition this was interpreted in many different ways. Some said that it meant a man should not listen to a woman sing, others that a man merely should not listen to a woman singing while he is reciting the Shema, as the Shulhan Aruch has it (OH 75:3).

In the past, not listening to women sing may have been the practice of certain elements, but until recently it was not the practice of mainstream religious men. Even today one has only to attend the Israel Opera and other musical events to see the large number of kippa-wearing men in the audience.

Had this really been the law in ancient times, the Israelites at the splitting of the sea would have been deprived of listening to Miriam lead the women in song – “Then Miriam the prophetess, Aaron’s sister, took a timbrel in her hand, and all the women went out after her in dance and timbrels. And Miriam chanted for them: Sing to the Lord for He has triumphed gloriously…” (Exodus 15:20-21). Centuries later they would not have been able to listen to the song of the great judge Deborah – “On that day, Deborah and Barak, son of Abinoam, sang…” (Judges 5:1). And let us not forget that the voice of mother Rachel was also heard to good effect – “A voice is heard in Ramah – wailing, bitter weeping – Rachel weeping for her children” (Jeremiah 31:15).

What a shame that this practice of not listening to women sing is now being taught to so many boys and young men in religious educational settings and is becoming more accepted in all religious circles. Men are being needlessly deprived of the joys of listening to the wondrous sound of women singing, be it opera singers or singers of Israeli songs such as the late Shoshana Damari and Yaffa Yarkoni.

If forced to chose between seeing a woman’s voice as sweet – arev – or indecent – erva – I know which I would choose. I think that the Song of Songs had it right.

The writer, former president of the International Rabbinical Assembly, is a two-time winner of the National Book Award. His latest book is The Torah Revolution (Jewish Lights).