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Everyone knows we\u2019re not allowed to kill, right? After all, it\u2019s one of the \u201cBig Ten\u201d commandments.<\/p>\nEveryone knows we\u2019re not allowed to kill, right? After all, it\u2019s one of the \u201cBig Ten\u201d commandments.<\/p>\n
Not exactly. <\/p>\n
What we\u2019re not allowed to do is murder. Sometimes we actually have to kill. For example, if a violent person is pursuing an innocent victim with the intention of murdering him, we\u2019re supposed to kill the pursuer if that\u2019s what it takes to save the endangered party. So sometimes we may not kill and other times we may or even must kill. Context is everything.<\/p>\n
There are innumerable cases where certain situations call for actions that go counter to the norm. Here are just a few more examples:<\/p>\n
* We\u2019re not allowed to willfully injure ourselves or others. Nevertheless, we are obligated to perform bris milah (<\/em>circumcision);<\/p>\n * Marrying a brother\u2019s wife is perpetually prohibited as one of the arayos<\/em> (incestuous relationships) – unless the brother died and left no children. Then the act is not only permitted but meritorious;<\/p>\n * Sometimes we must eat \u2013 such as matzah and maror on Pesach night. Other times we are forbidden to eat \u2013 such as on Yom Kippur;<\/p>\n * We\u2019re not allowed to drive or use the phone on Shabbos but if someone requires urgent medical attention, we are required to do exactly that;<\/p>\n * Men may not shave with a razor but certain situations \u2013 such as being a nazir <\/em>(a nazirite) \u2013 required a man to do that very thing;<\/p>\n * We may not wear garments containing shaatnez, a combination of wool and linen. Nevertheless, several of the garments worn by the kohanim<\/em> (priests) in the Temple required both wool and linen.<\/p>\n These dichotomies may make it seem as if the rules are inconsistent but they aren\u2019t. As we said, context is everything. The same G-d Who says \u201cdon\u2019t do that\u201d also says \u201cexcept in the following circumstance.\u201d<\/p>\n So why am I telling you this?<\/p>\n Because of Rabbi Barry Freundel.<\/p>\n In light of the Freundel case, in which a rabbi abused his authority in order to surreptitiously videotape women in the mikvah, people are calling out for changes in mikvah protocols. Some ideas are sound, others are more alarmist and one idea is just wrong.<\/p>\n If a community wants to enact a rule that no man \u2013 including the rabbi \u2013 can enter the facility unless accompanied by a woman, that\u2019s their prerogative. If a mikvah wants to hire a female custodian, they can certainly argue a good case for it. But the idea that men can be removed from the mikvah portion of a woman\u2019s conversion process? It doesn\u2019t make any sense.<\/p>\n In a previous article<\/a>, I wrote about how some people think that Orthodox Jews are obsessed with tzniyus<\/em> (modesty). In a different article<\/a>, I wrote about how some people think that Judaism is too stringent, then they turn around and say that we allow ourselves too many leniencies. That\u2019s what\u2019s going on here. \u201cThe rabbis\u201d (it\u2019s always some nebulous collective) \u201ctell everyone to cover up their knees, elbows and collarbones but then they\u2019re in the room when the woman immerses!\u201d Intellectually, it seems inconsistent. But remember, context is everything. The same G-d Whose will we are endeavoring to fulfill by doing one thing under normal circumstances is the One Whose will we are trying to meet by doing something different in this one specific scenario. Under normal circumstances, men in the mikvah would be highly inappropriate. These are not normal circumstances. <\/p>\n It has been proposed that the beis din<\/em> (Jewish court) of three men wait outside while the female convert immerses, relying on the testimony of female attendants. This might be fine if the beis din\u2019s presence were a custom, a stringency or a modern innovation, but it\u2019s not. It\u2019s an inherent and indispensible component of the conversion process:<\/p>\n * The Talmud (Yevamos 47b) says that female attendants see that a female convert enters the mikvah until the water reaches her neck, at which point the beis din enters and informs the woman about various mitzvos.<\/p>\n * The Shulchan Aruch (Yoreh Deah 268:3) says that all the stages of conversion, including the immersion, must be performed by day and in the presence of the beis din.<\/p>\n * The Rambam (Hilchos Issurei Biah 14:6) says that women position a female convert in the water up to her neck while the beis din waits outside. They then inform her about various mitzvos while she is sitting in the water. She then immerses in their presence, after which they turn and exit so that they won\u2019t see her when she ascends from the water.<\/p>\n We get that it\u2019s a departure from the norm but it\u2019s what the halacha requires. Every step is taken to ensure the woman\u2019s modesty within those parameters. Pretty much the only thing that can be seen is the top of the woman\u2019s head and maybe her shoulders. That\u2019s more than is normally permitted but it\u2019s still relatively tame.<\/p>\n There is the feeling of vulnerability on the woman\u2019s part. A woman may also have that feeling at the doctor\u2019s office. This is how one convert I know described it. Immersing in front of the beis din was not something she particularly wanted to do but she wanted to convert and that was the process. <\/p>\n As with so many other things, circumstances sometimes require us to act counter to our standard operating procedures.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Everyone knows we\u2019re not allowed to kill, right? After all, it\u2019s one of the \u201cBig Ten\u201d commandments. Not exactly. What we\u2019re not allowed to do is murder. Sometimes we actually have to kill. For example, if a violent person is pursuing an innocent victim with the intention of murdering him, we\u2019re supposed to kill the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":384,"featured_media":38379,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_cloudinary_featured_overwrite":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[85],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-38374","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-inspiration"],"yoast_head":"\n