In this installment of Current Jewish Questions, Rabbi Yuter reevaluates popular conception of "Chillul Hashem/Desecrating God's Name" based on rabbinic sources.
Current Jewish Questions 3 - Chillul Hashem Sources (PDF)
Current Jewish Questions 3 - Chillul Hashem
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
The topic of "tzniut" or "modesty" has recently become a prominent point of discussion in the Jewish community, mostly in response recent incidents of religious violence in Israel (some of which we covered in the previous class on Religious Coercion). Recent essays by Rabbi Dov Linzer in the New York Times, Rabbi Aryeh Klapper for a Rabbinical Council of America blog, and an earlier one by Rabbi Marc Angel for The Institute for Jewish Ideas and Ideals have all attempted to present a more "moderate" view from what is often conveyed by Orthodox Jewish society.
But the common theme in these essays, and indeed what dominates the discussion of Jewish modesty, is almost exclusively framing the issue in the context of women. In particular, modesty is most frequently defined in terms of how women ought to dress, how a woman is supposed to behave, and in some general instances the appropriate role of women in Jewish if not secular society. With this focus on women, it is not surprising that tzniut/modesty is almost exclusively construed as a sexual ethic.
In this shiur I challenge this assumption by approaching the topic of modesty not from the socially defined understanding of tzniut, but rather how and when the root "צנע" is used in the Talmud. While the term is certainly used in the context of female sexuality or displays of femininity (B. Ketuvot 3b, B. Berachot 8b, B. Shabbat 113b, B. Sotah 49b), the Rabbinic tradition also applies tzniut to men as it pertains to his relationship with his wife (B. Shabbat 53b) and his mode of dress (B. Menachot 43a). Furthermore, the ethic of tzniut is asserted in the contexts of going to the bathroom (B. Berachot 8b, 62a), eating (B. Berachot 8b), not displaying one's wealth (B. Pesachim 113a), and even religious observance (M. Ma'aser Sheni 5:1, B. Sukkah 49b/B. Makkot 24a). (These and additional sources are in the attached source sheet with a modified Soncino translation.)
Given the contextual range of the root צנע, I suggest that tzniut in the Rabbinic tradition may best be described not as a sexual ethic at all (let alone a female one), but a general attitude of behavior of which sexual behavior is only one component. In other words, the true Jewish ethos of modesty does not exclusively pertain to sexuality, but rather reflects a universal ethic, one which is equally applicable to men and women in all facets of life.
Current Jewish Questions 2 - Tzniut / Modesty Sources (PDF)
Current Jewish Questions 2 - Tzniut-Modesty
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
In light of the recent religious violence in Israel, Rabbi Yuter begins his new Current Jewish Questions series with a discussion of religious coercion in Jewish law.
Current Jewish Questions 1 - Religious Coercion Sources (PDF)
Current Jewish Questions 1 - Religious Coercion
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Rabbi Yuter's Fundamentals of Judaism series returns with a discussion of ways in which rabbis can err, and their impact on rabbinic authority
Fundamentals of Judaism 6 - Varieties of Rabbinic Fallibility Sources (PDF)
Fundamentals of Judaism 6 - Varieties of Rabbinic Fallibility
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Rabbi Yuter's Confronting Chosenness class examines some rabbinic midrashim describing the Jews' acceptance of the Torah.
Confronting Chosenness 7 - Matan Torah in Rabbinic Thought Sources (PDF)
Confronting Chosenness 7 - Matan Torah in Rabbinic Thought
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Rabbi Yuter's Confronting Chosenness class turns to Rabbinic narratives on Avraham's chosenness and their broader implications.
Confronting Chosenness 6 - Avraham in Rabbinic Thought Sources (PDF)
Confronting Chosenness 6 - Avraham in Rabbinic Thought
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
In this Very Special 50th Podcast, Rabbi Yuter's Fundamentals of Judaism explores the basis for Rabbinic authority.
Fundamentals of Judaism 5 - Basis for Rabbinic Authority Sources (PDF)
Fundamentals of Judaism 5 - Basis for Rabbinic Authority
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Rabbi Yuter's Confronting Chosenness introduces Rabbinic era perspectives with a discussion on if the Jewish people's status as "chosen" is the result of an eternal cosmic decision or the result of a deliberate choice.
Confronting Chosenness 5 - Rabbinic Perspectives Cosmic vs Conditional Sources (PDF)
Confronting Chosenness 5 - Rabbinic Perspectives Cosmic vs Conditional
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Rabbi Josh Yuter addresses biblical solutions to the fundamental question: What Does God Want?
Fundamentals of Judaism 4 - What God Wants Sources (PDF)
Fundamentals of Judaism 4 - What God Wants
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Rabbi Yuter's Confronting Chosenness class concludes the Biblical segment with a discussion of how the Bible expects the Jews/Israelites were supposed to be distinguished from the other nations.
Confronting Chosenness 4 - Jews and Non-Jews in the Bible Sources (PDF)
Confronting Chosenness 4 - Jews and Non-Jews in the Bible
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
