Re: Kol ishah

[Jonathan Schorsch <jonjack...>]

You're right: "ervah" means "nakedness," but the clear implication is
"shame" or "shameful."  But my apologies for an overstated (late-night,
on-the-fly) translation.

>> ervah (sexual abomination?)
>
>No- just nudity.
>
>> Get the play
>> on words "arev" (beautiful) to "ervah" (sexual abomination)?
>
>Isn't arev with a vet and ervah with a vav? Also, during the Hazan's prelude
>to RH/ YK mussaf doesn't he ask for his voice to be Me'urav bada'at im
>habriyot (with a vet)- containing/ including knowledge of life? I guess the
>(vet) words arev, eruv, and erev are all related, but personally I don't
>know enough to explicitly draw the connection.
>                            EK
>
Yes, but puns can be both aural as well as visual.  The root 'RV signifies
several things, as do most Hebrew roots.

Also, Bob Wiener wrote to me:

>>One of the questions I still have is the connection between seeing and
>>hearing women.  Apparently the issue of mehitse and kol isha are
>>connected.  But does your reference to the Shulkhan Arukh mean that
>>the kol isha can be heard, even during prayer, as long as she can't be
>>seen?  If so, why not women in the synagogue choir -- at least in a
>>choir loft?  Or is there an issue of shaliah tsibur that comes into
>>play here?  Just some of the questions that come to mind.
>

All good questions, to which I have neither the answers nor the time right
now to find them. The citation of the verse from Song of Songs and the pun
in the citation have a logic (beauty leads to distraction and stray
thoughts, i.e., sexual). The passage from the Shulkhan Arukh implying that
an unseen woman's voice is not a distraction I find unusual (I only refered
to it second-hand and did not look it up myself), but not out of the
question (i.e., a woman can pray with -but separated - from men). It may
not necessarily refer to her leading the prayer, but doing it
alongside/aloud, which COULD have been interpreted as kol isha (since its
singing). Probably the Shulkhan Arukh and the many others who discuss this
distinguish between prayers and "superfluous" presentation: a choir, a
concert -- though choirs might have sung in "essential" parts of the
service in, say, Renaissance Italy. For instance, the music for Hosha'na
Rabbah ceremonies in Casale Monferrato 1733 (I have the CD from Hebrew U.)
were all performed for the mystical midnight/morning vigil ceremonies,
which are not at all obligatory services.

Also, I would imagine Rachel Biale discusses this whole issue in her book
on women and Jewish law (which is packed away in my basement right now so I
couldn't check).

Jonathan


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