Yesterday, we learned about the debate as to whether a person can violate a negative commandment to preserve human dignity. Today, we will resolve that debate: we cannot violate prohibitions in the bible to preserve the dignity of others, but we can definitely forego a positive obligation to preserve dignity. We will also delve into the religious obligations of women, which are lumped with slaves and minors.
After concluding the debate about Torah prohibitions and human dignity, the Rabbis ask a heart wrenching question, why does God no longer perform miracles for us the way God performed miracles for our ancestors? I consider the question heart wrenching because we have to remember the social position of the Rabbis asking us this question. Only two or three generations back their homeland had been invaded and defeated by a heathen army, they had been forcefully exiled from their homeland, the center of their religious observance had been destroyed and desecrated, they lived as the perpetual outsiders and social inferiors. The yearning for an imagined golden age when God protected them and gave them status far above what they enjoyed as they wrote is palpable in the wondering if they are as worthy as previous generations. The Talmud mourns, ” . . . whereas we afflict ourselves and cry out profusely in prayer and no one pays attention to us.” I wonder if the Rabbis could have carried on if we went back in time and told them more than 1,500 years later, not much would change!
As I just said, there is debate as to whether the current generation was as holy as previous generations. The proof that the current Rabbis were not as holy relies on two curious stories of sages of previous times lurking outside of the women’s mikvah. A mikvah is a ritual bath. For many forms of ritual impurity, part of the cleansing process is to immerse oneself in a mikvah.
In the first story, we learn that Rav Gidel would sit outside of the women’s mikvah so he could offer helpful instruction to the women entering on the proper method of immersion (Mansplaining!) His peers asked if he was not afraid of the Evil Inclination (yetzer hora in Hebrew). Rav Gidel said not to worry because the women seemed just like white geese to him. Not sure how that is an answer, but that was his answer.
In the second story, we learn how Rabbi Yochanan had the same custom as Rav Gidel. Rabbi Yochanan, who considered himself very good looking, said that if the women came out of the mikvah and looked at him, they would have children as beautiful as him! When the Rabbis ask Rabbi Yochanan if he is not scared of “courting the evil eye”, Rabbi Yochanan reminds them that his ancestor was Joseph and just as Joseph could withstand the temptations of Potiphar’s wife, so Rabbi Yochanan could withstand whatever temptations were present.
We then come to our next Mishnah which lumps women, slaves and minors together and asks what commandments from which they are exempted and which they must perform. The Mishnah states that they are exempt from reciting the Shema and from wearing tefillin, but they are obligated to pray daily, affix mezuzahs to their houses and to recite the grace after meals (the Berkhos Hamazon).
Of course, our view of women’s capabilities and role in society has evolved dramatically over the last 1,500 years (and the last 50 years)! I have heard many Orthodox Jews give explanations of how this is not somehow devaluing women, but just showing there separate roles. To a modern reader, that does not seem to come through in the Talmud, as there is definitely a view that women are somehow inferior to men in many respects. Nevertheless, I think we are asking the wrong question. We ask if women are exempted from these commandments, but I have seen no discussion of whether they are permitted to perform these commandments (although, there is some hinting in today’s Daf). Let’s assume that the Talmud gives women a wholly equal, but separate role than men. Does that mean that women cannot perform the same things that men are commanded to perform? Certainly, some people are abhorred by the idea of women taking on traditional male religious roles. We can see this in Israel where some have an incredibly negative, if not violent, reaction to women performing traditionally male rituals in their own separate women’s section of the Kotel (the Western Wall). I have not seen the textual basis for this attitude.
To understand the Gemara’s analysis of this Mishnah, we need to understand that a later Mishnah exempts women from all time-bound positive commandments. The Gemara wonders why we need to include the Shema and tefillin in this Mishnah since they are included in the general rule. The Rabbis also wonder why women are required to say the daily prayers and sanctify the Sabbath wine (Kiddush) since these seem to be positive time-bound commandments. In the case of daily prayers, we are requesting mercy from God and men and women both need mercy from God. In the case of the Sabbath Kiddush, we learn that the Sabbath rules are both positive and negative commandments, so women are obligated to follow them.
The recitation of the Berakhos Hamazon is a special case. This obligation is a positive commandment (something we need to do) and time bound (we need to do it at the conclusion of the meal). If so, why are women obligated? This leads to a debate as to whether the Berakhos Hamazon is a biblical or rabbinical commandment. There is also a debate if a woman’s recitation in the hearing of a man discharges the man’s obligation. In general, if we are obligated to recite a blessing and we hear someone else recite it, we have discharged our obligation. Ultimately, the Rabbis conclude that a woman’s recitation satisfies a man’s obligation, but the man should be very ashamed that the woman is better educated then him. I actually think this debate has the seeds of a feminist revolution in it. The Rabbis are forced to consider a woman discharging a man’s religious obligation and conclude that she can do it! Is there further analysis of this topic?
We then conclude with a new Mishnah which will introduce whole new concepts. Remember, yesterday, we discussed how we can become tamei (ritually impure) and how to purify ourselves so we are tahor once we become tamei. Much of the Talmud will focus on the minutia of this question. Men who have a seminal emission are known as a baal keri and are definitely tamei. To purify himself, a baal keri must immerse himself in a mikvah and wait until nightfall (See Leviticus 15:16). Ezra said that a baal keri cannot recite words of Torah until he becomes tahor.
This presents a problem for the Rabbis. Many men will awake after a seminal emission for one reason or another and will not be able to recite the Shema in the morning (which consists of three biblical passages). Our Mishnah starts with one opinion which says a baal keri should consider the Shema in his heart (and contemplate the Birkhot Hamazon), but not recite them. The Mishnah of course includes a dissenting opinion.
This Mishnah is very troubling to the Gemara because it seems to equate concentration with recitation. If that is the case, why not just say it. If they are different, then how does a baal keri fulfill his obligations? The Gemara concludes that this concentration is not a fulfillment of the commandment, but important nevertheless. I believe the impurity of baal keris will be the topic of many pages to come.