Q&A: Several Questions
Several Questions
Question
- Is it permitted to read novels?
- What is the definition of love songs that are forbidden to listen to? Only when there are explicit expressions, or even just a simple song that a woman sings to a man, like: “Just smile” and the like?
- Is internet protection required? And if so, how do I know which kind?
- I heard you say that “there is no point in getting emotional during prayer”; and that is difficult for me, since prayer is service of the heart, and the heart is emotions, no?
- Is there proof of the resurrection of the dead?
- Is it permitted to sing a song with a guitar to my fiancée?
- Is it correct to claim that the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) is a history book?
- Is one obligated to follow the rulings of the Shulchan Arukh?
- In tractate Shabbat the Sages say: “A woman is a flask full of blood, etc.” Is there disrespect toward women in this?
- Can it be said that the stories of the Torah did not really happen?
Thank you very much in advance… I very much appreciate the Rabbi’s attitude
Answer
- Why not? It is advisable to read good novels.
- I think the criterion is whether it can arouse forbidden thoughts. Some of the greatest poets of the Middle Ages (Rabbi Shmuel HaNagid, Ibn Ezra, and others) wrote love poems. If the context is artistic, I do not see a problem with it.
- It is advisable to avoid stumbling blocks. I do not know how to state a clear halakhic line about what is required and what kind of protection. It is very advisable to avoid Haredi filtering, because there they filter ideologies no less than prohibitions (like this site). There is common sense, and it is worth using it.
- For the Sages, “heart” means thought, not necessarily emotion. I have a few columns and an article about the status of emotion; you can search the site.
- No.
- Definitely.
- It has historical dimensions in it. But I do not think it is correct to see it as a history book.
- No. It is a custom when you do not have a position of your own.
- Maybe.
- Definitely. Maimonides says this about some of them, and of course the allegorists do as well.
Discussion on Answer
1. Decide for yourself.
5. You are allowed to meet with her and talk with her at length, so I do not see why not sing. In any case, this is not really a prohibition even regarding an ordinary woman. There is common sense.
10. I have explained several times that “an obligation to believe” is an oxymoron. Search here on the site about authority regarding facts. Of course, believing something does not require proof. There can be softer considerations. Nothing has proof in the absolute sense.
6. Even in Jewish law, if the Rashba writes something, that does not make it binding, so in something that is not Jewish law certainly that is so. Maimonides explained the visit of the angels to Abraham as an allegory. And in addition, this is again “an obligation to believe.” By the way, the Rashba did not place a ban on allegorism, but on the study of philosophy under age 25. I do not know what that means.
How does the Rabbi explain the fact that the medieval authorities (Rishonim) forbid keeping heretical books (philosophy)? Apparently the value of truth is not always relevant, is that not so?
First of all, this is already in the Talmud: “Do not stray.” And Elisha ben Avuyah, from whose lap heretical books fell, etc.
In some places this is probably only a warning to the masses, and whoever obeys it, that is probably really good for him (because in any case he is not a thinking person). Maimonides writes this and himself read all kinds of books of idolatry and heresy.
It is also possible that they imposed the prohibition on someone who is secure in his faith and is looking for an outlet for his evil inclination, and not on someone who is seeking truth.
And beyond all that, anyone who means this seriously is simply mistaken.
1. “Why not? It is advisable to read good novels.” – what is meant by: “good novels”?
5. How can there be an obligation to believe in the resurrection of the dead if there is no proof for it?
6. Seemingly, it should be forbidden to sing to my fiancée, since as long as you are not married she has the status of just any woman?
10. Are we not bound by the view of the Rashba (responsa part 1, ?) who wrote that from the time of the Patriarchs one must believe that the stories of the Torah did indeed happen? [For there the Rashba comes out against the view of Philo of Alexandria the allegorist].