Q&A: Women Singing
Women Singing
Question
Does the Rabbi listen to women singing? What does the Rabbi think about Haredi women singing—Narkis, for example, a Haredi singer who received permission from a rabbi to sing before men / with men? Is there a prohibition for a Haredi woman to sing in front of secular men, for example?
Answer
I do listen, as long as it isn’t something provocative or immodest. In my view this is not a formal prohibition but a concern about improper thoughts, and it should be discussed as such. There is no significance at all to the question of whether the woman is Haredi and whether the audience is Haredi or secular.
By the way, I really love Jane Bordeaux. They really sing very beautifully. 🙂
Discussion on Answer
I was traveling and the message got garbled. Corrected version:
On what basis is it assumed that this is not a formal prohibition? If once it is written in Jewish law it doesn’t become a formal prohibition? And would you say the same thing about actual nakedness/sexual exposure too (for someone who claims he has no improper thoughts)?! What’s the distinction?
This could be discussed at length. But Rabbi Avraham Shamma already wrote an article about this (not a purely halakhic one), and many others as well; take it from there:
http://www.old.kolech.org.il/maamar/%D7%A7%D7%95%D7%9C-%D7%91%D7%90%D7%99%D7%A9%D7%94-%D7%A2%D7%A8%D7%95%D7%95%D7%94-%D7%91%D7%A8%D7%90%D7%99%D7%99%D7%94-%D7%A2%D7%9B%D7%A9%D7%95%D7%95%D7%99%D7%AA/
On what basis is it assumed that this is not a formal prohibition? If it was written in Jewish law, doesn’t that make it a formal prohibition? And would you say the same thing about actual nakedness/sexual exposure too (for someone who claims he has no improper thoughts)?! What’s the distinction?