https://rabbijoshuahammerman.substack.com/p/what-the-talmud-says-about-kamalas
See my reflections on Prime Minister Netanyahu’s visit to Congress at the conclusion of this newsletter.
No sooner did Vice President Harris enter the presidential race than the Republicans began mocking her voice – and more specifically, her laugh. Former President Trump has even chosen the nickname “Laughin’ Kamala” – as if it is somehow unseemly for a human being to express joy through laughter.
We’ve seen it all before, of course and Trump is not the first to belittle successful women by mocking what comes out of their mouths.
Anne Carson wrote in her essay, “The Gender of Sound,”
Putting a door on the female mouth has been an important part of patriarchal culture from antiquity to the present day. Its chief tactic is an ideological association of female with monstrosity, disorder and death.
And Elissa Bassist wrote in Mother Jones:
Everyone hates the sound of a woman’s voice. The “nominal problem is excess,” wrote author Jordan Kisner in The Cut in 2016. “The voice is too something—too loud, nasal, breathy, honking, squeaky, matronly, whispered. It reveals too much of some identity, it overflows its bounds. The excess in turn points to what’s lacking: softness, power, humor, intellect, sexiness, seriousness, coolness, warmth.”
And that’s just for white women.
How unusual, how unfitting, how… unmanly to speak and laugh in this high-pitched timbre – and heaven forbid, to cry. Mark my words, there will be a totally manufactured cry-sis up ahead - as Hillary Clinton had in New Hampshire in 2016 - the first time Harris sheds a tear. A woman can never be accepted on her own terms. She must be knocked down to size, caricatured as crazy, emotional, out of control, unstable and therefore scary.
Or worse yet, alluring.
It is worth noting that the first reference to laughter in Bible comes when Sarah, a woman, hears that she is about to have a child, even at an age that would have long disqualified her from running for president (but I digress; this piece is about sexism, not ageism). In Genesis, a woman’s laughter is not only seen as normal, but the child that she was laughing about is even named after his mom’s wholly appropriate reaction – Isaac means laughter. The Torah is laughing with Sarah, not at her. Her voice is respected - treasured. In fact, shortly after this incident, Abraham is commanded by God to listen to his wife’s voice. Although the Bible was composed in a era steeped in misogyny, women’s voices are featured prominently, from the Book of Ruth to Esther to Song of Songs.
Of note: the first biblical weeping is also done by a woman - in the very same chapter as Sarah’s laughter - but this time by her counterpart and handmaid, Hagar. It’s as if to say that while male voices may boom and resonate, the wide range of honest, instinctive expression, from laughter to tears, is best captured by a woman. And indeed, ancient cultures are filled with laments chanted by and composed for woman - until, as happened in Judaism, they were silenced.
As Jewish history progressed from the biblical to the rabbinic era and beyond, attitudes toward a woman’s voice regressed.
The culprit here is a controversial Talmudic concept known as Kol Isha (“A Woman’s Voice”), which like many religious restrictions has taken on a life of its own, expanding in scope over the centuries, as female voices have continued to be suppressed and demonized.
Perhaps there may have been reasons within a pre-modern patriarchal society to reduce a woman’s public role. But Kol Isha was particularly insidious, inviting suppression, harassment and physical abuse - as has happened all too often to the Women of the Wall, a group of women who have prayed at the Western Wall for many years, and never without serious - and literal - pushback by Orthodox authorities. Once a woman becomes an object of scorn, or an object of temptation, or even an object of love — she has become, irrefutably, an object.
The Kol Isha controversy stems from a rabbinic discussion where the sage Samuel calls the voice of a woman ervah, meaning “indecent,” “shameful,” or “lustful,” in asserting that the Sh’ma, Judaism’s central prayer, must not be uttered while a woman is singing. For, as the passage states, “the voice of a woman is indecent” (kol be-ishah ervah); it would be an improper distraction from concentration on holy things.
The idea that an un-muffled female voice can lead men into a state of uncontrollable lust is insulting to both women and men alike. Are we guys that incapable of keeping our zippers zipped that we have to demand that women keep their lips zipped too? Ans if that is the case, what of gay men and male cantors? What would Samuel say?
The first wide-ranging prohibition of a woman’s singing voice didn’t occur until modern times. In the journal Conservative Judaism, Emily Teitz writes that Jewish women were in fact heard publicly throughout the Middle Ages, as teachers, entertainers and professional dirge singers, even within the synagogue itself. Rabbi David Golinkin’s responsum on the subject suggests that in the Talmud, Samuel may not have been referring to a woman’s singing voice at all.
Golinkin adds:
The current blanket prohibition accepted by Ultra-Orthodox rabbis was first suggested and rejected by Rabbi Joshua Falk (d. 1614) and was only given as a legal ruling by Rabbi Moshe Sofer… in the early nineteenth century (italics mine). However, this opinion is not in agreement with the simple meaning of the dictum by Samuel and with all of the opinions of the Rishonim (renowned rabbinic authorities of the Middle Ages).
The fact that such restrictions have become more pronounced over the past few decades mirrors the increased oppression of women in some quarters of the Muslim and Christian worlds. As feminism has taken hold, the reaction to feminism has been equally strong, pulling society both ways, to the left and to the right.
With female cantors and rabbis proliferating in the non-Orthodox world, and now becoming a reality even among the modern Orthodox, there is no turning back on this issue. My conscience will not allow me to participate in ceremonies that give undue deference to Kol Isha — for instance, purely secular celebrations of Israel or Holocaust commemorations where a woman’s voice should be heard loud and clear. How absurd it is to hear the songs of Naomi Shemer or the verse of Hanna Senesh having to be sung by a man. Sadly, these conflicts are occurring more often, as secular authorities mistakenly think that the most stringent Orthodox position is the “least common denominator” that all Jews will accept. That may be the case with glatt kosher receptions but not with female-free concerts.
As a committed pluralist, I need to accept that when I am praying with an Orthodox minyan, traditional restrictions regarding women will be upheld, mostly for reasons other than Kol Isha.
But we can’t allow Kol Isha restrictions to take on a life of their own, as religious restrictions so often do. Jewish tradition has no inherent problem with women. The problem isn’t Judaism. And discrimination against women, like all discrimination, is a slippery slope, one that leads to objectification and violence. We need to reverse this disturbing trend.
A few years ago, when a new Israel government was sworn in (don’t ask me which, there have been a lot of them!), one Ultra-Orthodox newspaper tried to airbrush women out of the picture completely. See below:
One wonders how that paper will handle the now very real possibility of a female American president. What will happen when she visits the Western Wall? What will happen when she, heaven forbid, speaks — or worse yet, sings – or worst of all, laughs?
Will the voice of Kamala Harris be heard?
Jeremiah (33:10) prophesied of a time when “the joyous voice of the bridegroom and bride would once again in the streets of Jerusalem.” Evidently that time has not yet come at the Western Wall or Mar-a-Lago.
Kol Isha is coming dangerously close to becoming the Jewish burka, a symbol of the subjugation and humiliation of half our population. We need to reverse this trend, in Israel and in Jewish communities everywhere. The Jewish burka must be eliminated.
And it’s time for Donald Trump and his ilk to stop mocking women’s voices and aim their ire toward legitimate policy differences. Because the arguments coming from Kamala Harris’s mouth this week, delivered in any octave, have been pitch perfect.
No matter what the Macho Messiah Club schemes up to diminish women, I’ve a feeling that this time, propelled by a ton of unfinished business from 2016, Kol Isha will not be silenced. This time the Women’s March will take place before the election, and it will end at the ballot box: a peaceful reaffirmation of democracy.
And she who laughs last will laugh best.
Will be wild.
Some notes on Netanyahu’s address to Congress
His timing could not have been worse. When President Biden made his epic announcement on Sunday, Bibi should have just mailed in the speech and graciously stepped back. Like Biden himself did. But gracious is not a word often used to describe Netanyahu, or any strongman wannabe.
He also should have known that his visit would exacerbate the very partisan political tensions in America that he claimed he wanted to reduce. Many people who love Israel were forced to swear fealty to a leader they don’t like - whom 72 percent of Israelis want to fire - by attending, standing and clapping repeatedly.
- He made this trip purely for political gain. But no political edge was gained. Bibi misplayed his hand, as he has so often when trying to game the American system. This is an extraordinarily heated moment here, the most politically intense since 1968. Both parties are consumed by the swiftly changing currents. We had the political version of an earthquake one week and a hurricane the next. And he just walked right into it. Two months ago, it might have made sense for him to take this silver-platter opportunity to humiliate Biden, which was definitely his secondary goal (aside from popularity at home), but things have changed.
- Biden checkmated him by bowing out of the race on Sunday, just as Bibi was in the air, and speaking on Wednesday night. The stutterer just outmaneuvered the silver-tongued orator with, of all things, words. Biden’s immortal words of this week created a Bibi sandwich. Bibi’s visit was ultimately just a waste of the new Israeli Air Force 1’s fuel. The “Wing of Zion” was clipped by the West Wing of the U.S., because now Biden will give one of the most consequential speeches in American history tonight, completely overshadowing Netanyahu’s hour-long snark-fest.
- Oh, and that loud click you heard at 3 PM was the sound of every television in Israel turning from Bibi’s address to the nation’s first Olympic soccer match in 48 years. Israel tied Mali 1-1. The team, which now has a legit shot to advance beyond the group stage, was loudly jeered in Paris throughout the game. And if you know Israel, those two things are ALL that’s going to be talked about tomorrow.
Those TVs clicked, that is, if Israelis tuned on Bibi’s speech at all. It was a repetition of what he has been saying for months on American and Israeli TV.
- Lots of strongman bluster - which now includes a perpetual growl evoking the spiritless leaders of the Soviet bloc circa 1952. None of that sly Bibi grin of the old UN cartoon bomb days. Maybe he’s trying to do a Victor Orbán impression - or mugging Trump’s mug shot.
- Given the cost of the war, and the fact that it is still going on, I can understand why he didn’t smile. But he looks very different from his prior visits. His defensiveness oozes from every pore. The weight of the responsibility that he has refused to accept is clearly aging him. There is a Macbeth-like quality to him that is both disturbing and a wee bit endearing for those who recall his carefree, confident early days in the sealed rooms of 1991 (see him at the end of this CNN coverage and here for the final fifteen minutes). He can’t escape the mire of his mistruths. A simple “It’s on me” would do it. But he can’t do it.
- It’s not just about October 7. Tel Aviv was bombed by a Houthi drone last week! Another failure to notch on his belt. How long must Israel suffer from such insufferable leadership. Every American Jew should be praying for new elections ASAP. Before more damage can be done. Before more innocent Israelis and Palestinians die. If the current chance (supported by IDF leadership) for a hostage deal is missed because he can’t say no to his far right cronies, we should not support him.
- So he lashes out. We American Jews are completely aware of the false narratives that have been fed to our college kids. We are aware of the effectiveness of Big Lies fed by Russians, Iranians and their own teachers. But Bibi did not help us to show them the rightness of Israel’s cause. He did not help anyone to feel more proud to be a Jew and a lover of Israel. He totally wasted his chance by yelling at our kids, and in his own way he was yelling at all of us. He was yelling at America, not just woke college administrators. He’s been watching way too much FOX News.
- These are our kids he is calling stupid. Does he call his kids stupid? (OK, Yair maybe). We need the Prime Minister of Israel to help us, to model pride, love, and unity, not pure dad’s-on-the-sauce-again frustration. Even in discussing October 7, his show-and-tell display of hostages and soldiers, they were props to him and they seemed uncomfortable in that role. Mr. Delusional was living out some fantasy of becoming the US President and giving a State of the Union address. So he brought props.
- He’s spoken to Congress more often than Churchill? Then act like Churchill. He was more worthy of an SNL Five-Timer’s jacket than any accolades for speaking to Congress four times, especially since his primary goal was to stick it to his US counterpart at least half those times.
- He thanked Biden - how could he not be a little magnanimous, considering he was deliberately playing into the hands of Biden’s opponents in an election year. But he showed no (zero) magnanimity, not a shred of sympathy for people who have suffered in his home region who happen not to be Israeli. He did not bemoan the suffering of Palestinian residents being traumatized on the West Bank, he showed very little sympathy for the innocent victims of Gaza and he did not utter the words “two states.”
- His Middle East NATO is a wonderful idea. Had he mentioned the words “two states” the ink would already be drying. And that’s all he has to do. He doesn’t have to get to two states. We may be many years away. He’s just got to say the words. As Thomas Friedman wrote today, there are two deals ready to be had. Today was his chance to make history. He didn’t. And that’s very sad. He’s trying to sell us a vision that he knows can’t happen.
- And by the way, Vice President Harris could not have attended today. Bibi could still have acknowledged her, given her new role. That would have been a true expression of bipartisanship and the smart thing to do. Fact is, neither presidential candidate was there today. And he should thank them both for that. If Harris had been there, every eye would have been on her, sitting / standing behind him. No one would have heard a single word he said. Campaign ads would have been cut while the speech was still going on - on all sides. Was she clapping? Smiling? God forbid, laughing??? She did him a favor. Acknowledge her, instead of stewing in your grievances over perceived slights.
- It’s very - very - sad that Israel’s leader at this perilous time is so trapped in his own personal prison - by his far right partners, his unpopularity, and a deep sense of guilt that must come slipping through on those many sleepless nights, for all the innocent blood that he has on his hands, all the innocent victims on all sides, all the people he failed to protect. And, lest we forget, the democracy he still wants to degrade. And trapped, ultimately, by his own sense of paralysis. All he can do is lash out.
- Why the hell did he have to come to America to do that?
- But the good news is that tomorrow morning, no one will be talking about any of this.
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