Q&A: Mixed Singing
Mixed Singing
Question
How did Deborah and Barak sing a duet? Isn't that forbidden?
Answer
Who says it's forbidden? The Talmud says it is like fire in flax, but in a religious context (like in the synagogue) that doesn't apply. And who says it was sung to a melody? And of course, the whole issue is anachronistic. Jacob also kissed Rachel, and the daughters of Israel would dance in the vineyards on the Fifteenth of Av before the eyes of the young men, and so on. There is no reason to assume that what is forbidden to us today was also forbidden then.
Discussion on Answer
Because only in later generations was it forbidden. And even if it is a Torah-level prohibition, it may be that it was introduced at a later time.
A. If it is a Torah-level prohibition, how could it have been introduced later? Do you mean that the sages uncovered the Torah's intent only long after it was written? Would one also say that about the thirty-nine categories of labor, which are Torah-level even though they have almost no explicit hint?
B. If it is a rabbinic prohibition, I find it hard to understand what changed so much in human nature that they needed to create masses of modesty laws. In the time of the Hebrew Bible, was the sight of young women dancing not something attention-grabbing? If indeed not, then maybe many of these laws could be repealed today, because in fact today everyone is mixed together in every normal place, so it doesn't attract attention?
There are many Torah-level prohibitions that came into being over the generations. If the sages expounded or interpreted some verse, that creates a Torah-level Jewish law that did not exist קודם. For example, Sabbath 64: "and she shall remain in her menstrual impurity," and in Passover Tractate 22: "You shall fear the Lord your God"—to include Torah scholars.
The same is true of rabbinic laws. Even if the need always existed, it is not forbidden until they forbade it. And besides, reality sometimes changes.
Why is something that was permitted then forbidden today?