Re: Fw: Kol Isha

[wiener <wiener...>]

For those who would like to read more on the topic, here are some readings that 
have been recommended to the list before with annotations  (by whom?  I didn't 
note the source, so please re-identify yourself.)  I have not yet collected, 
let alone read them.  Perhaps one of our librarians can comment on their 
availability.  There is no entry for Kol Isha in the index to Rachel Biale's 
Women and Jewish Law.

1. Berman, Saul, "Kol Isha," article in the Rabbi Joseph H. Lookstein Memorial 
Volume?I will look into wider availability. 

A comprehensive treatment of the exegesis of this concept; Rabbi Berman, with 
characteristic subtlety and lucidity, explores the precise nature, context, and 
scope of what restrictions have been imposed, when, by whom, on what basis, and 
w/ what (often substantial) dissent and (quite liberal to quite restrictive) 
variability--as well as possible grounds for suspension of such restrictions 
altogether. R. Berman elucidates the thin basis in the Talmud, and in the 
history and origins of kol isha, for the restrictions that have developed (and, 
indeed, perhaps, for much or most of the accreted law of kol isha) and refers 
to the existence of substantial dissent re such stringencies as listening to 
recorded women's voices and mixed choirs.

2. Bleich, David, Contemporary Halachic Problems, volume II, pp. 147-52

elucidates the substantial variability of Orthodox halachic opinions in re, 
e.g., mixed choirs, mixed singing of zemirot, and listening to women's voices 
on recordings or on the radio. (Thus, the otherwise genial radio guy who would 
only play tracks from Wolf's CD that had no women's voices--even on background 
harmony vocals--was catering to a very stringent, far from normative, view.) 
Bleich is, laughably, far from a liberal voice in such matters (unlike, e.g., 
R. Berman), but does expound halacha, in my experience, w/ unyielding integrity 
(as opposed to pandering to whatever right-wing political trend has swept the 
Orthodox world--e.g., in re capital punishment); that he demonstrates a wide 
range of proscriptions _proves_ that there is such a range.

3. Kimelman, Reuven: cassette recording of presentation at 1997 International 
Conference on Feminism and Orthodoxy

a typically (for this brilliant teacher) rigorous analysis of the exact and 
variable meanings and implications (e..g, for zemirot, Megilat Esther) of the 
sources for kol isha. Funny in parts, too. 

Bob

    
    1.. -----Original Message-----
        From: TROMBAEDU (at) aol(dot)com <TROMBAEDU (at) aol(dot)com>
        To: World music from a Jewish slant <jewish-music (at) shamash(dot)org>
        Date: Sunday, February 18, 2001 2:26 AM
        Subject: Re: Fw: Kol Isha
        
        
    In a message dated 2/17/01 11:43:32 PM Eastern Standard Time, 
    nusach (at) hotmail(dot)com writes: 
    
    
    
        ....it were really part of oral law dating back to 
        the Talmud,,,,and....if oral law was part of Torah mi Sinai...then why 
        would 
        there be a wide variety of opinion on the subject?  IMHO kol isha issue 
is 
        nothing more than another attempt to "keep women in their place."
    
    
    There is a wide variety of opinion on just about every Halacha discussed in 
    the Talmud. I don't see why Kol Isha is any different. Halachic discussion 
is 
    precisely about the fact that Talmudic and Midrashic texts are sometimes 
    enigmatic, or there are multiple versions of the same text, with slightly 
    different emphasies of meaning. Some Halachic thinkers apply Kol Isha in 
very 
    limited circumstances, and some in an appallingly wide range of 
    circumstances. All are within the realm of Halachic discussion. I do not 
want 
    to discuss the particulars on the list, because I would feel compelled to 
    discuss my personal take on it, which Ifeel is best done in private. 
    My whole objection to the way this thread is handled is that many on this 
    list display a great deal of presumption when discussing Halachic issues, 
    with which they have no more than a vague familiarity. Which would not be 
so 
    bad, ifthey were not so casually dismissive of Halacha. For someone to say 
    that the whole reason for Kol Isha is to keep women in their place is a 
    disgusting display of ignorance of the process of halacha, and a lack of 
    repect for the many people who spend their entire lives studying Torah with 
a 
    great deal of integrity and intellectual honesty. That does not mean that 
    there are no Rabbis who are misogynistic. Rabbi's are going to be 
    misogynistic about as often as a lot of other people. But that does not 
give 
    anyone the right to assume that the Halacha is a reflection of that narrow 
    and specific point of view either. 
    I would be happy to discuss these issues with anyone, but not on the list! 
    
    Jordan