Jerusalem – The Sephardi chief rabbi of Israel appeared to compare women who wear immodest clothing to animals in a public sermon.
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Rabbi Yizhak Yosef also counseled religious soldiers on how to protest required attendance at Israel Defense Forces ceremonies that feature women singers in the Saturday night speech first reported Sunday by the Hebrew-language haredi Orthodox news website Kikar Shabbat.
“If secular people knew how much we respected women, and all that we do to preserve women’s dignity: A woman is not an animal, you have to respect her honor. Dressing modestly is that honor,” Yosef said, according to Kikar Shabbat.
Yosef said that when he attended a state ceremony that included women singers he took off his glasses so as not to see the women and then buried his nose in a small book he carried with him to show to those around him, including the prime minister and the president, that he was not listening.
“That’s what the soldiers should do. If the soldiers are somewhere that they are ordered to hear a woman’s voice — and what kind of strange order is that anyway?” he said “Take off their glasses, put a book in front of their eyes, and show conspicuously that we’re not listening, that our mind is on Torah.”
Religious men are not permitted to hear the singing voice of a woman. It is an issue that has dogged the IDF and its relationship with its religious soldiers, who have been required to attend ceremonies that feature women singers.
Don’t go to the army
How primitive a way to speak.
The closest to an official explanation I have seen in the media as to why the military even holds what is basically a social event is that it is a deliberate policy to imbue its own culture onto the captive audience. I remember the enormous secular backlash when the military disciplined a soldier for bringing and trying to share contraband (ham sandwich) with others during official duty. Where is the secular backlash protesting this cultural coercion? (And the sandwich was a different matter, as I once explained – imagine being on duty on the Temple mount and sharing the sandwich with the Muslims there …]
Jewish land ??
This rav seems to have inherited his father’s proclivity to speak without thinking and engage in hate speech more suitable for the very “animals” he criticizes. Yes, a frum member of the IDF is allowed to take of his glasses and stick his nose in a sefer to show his lack of interest in women singing. He is NOT allowed to engage in open display of disrespect, whether by using vile language or engaging in disruptive behavior. If Yosef cannot handle these events, he should stay home. Perhaps he might learn a yiddeshe vert with respect to showing respect for ALL yidden, even those you disagree with.
I wish I would’ve known it was that simple! I’ve been stuffing my ears with the leftover cholent [from my 100% shomer shabbos home]. Having glasses and a sefer would have saved me quite the mess.
Its a shame that we let these things get in our way in terms of solving the crushing poverty issue among charedim. Yes the tzionim should stop these mishagasim. But us charedim should not use this as an excuse as to why its assur to go to the army. Or even worse why its assur to go to work. Instead we should work it out so that we are not stuck in this uncomfortable position again. I believe if there is a strong enough will this issue can be resolved. Our knesset members can bring it up with Bibi. They can fight like they fight for funds for yeshvas.. We can reach out to our american friends who know how to put pressure on Bibi as well. Something in me tells me that we don’t want to work it out. We want cahredim to be forced to listen to lady singers so that we can use it as an excuse as to why the army is chazor trief.