Peter Kaltoft Thursday I posted a link to an article about R. Amnon Yitzhaq, who supposedly had stated that women are not allowed to drive. That caused a longer - and interesting - discussion, which ended with Daniel finding a response from R. Amnon Yithaq, answering on the article, which found its source in the Haredi (ultra-orthodox) newsmedia Kikar Shabbat (can be found here: facebook/הרב-אמנון-אסור-לאישה-לנהוגברכ.html ) The response can be found here: shofar.tv/videos/3339 What R. Amnon Yitzhaq states is - first and foremost - that hes been misquoted. He was asked a question about what Halachah states on the issue of women working as drivers (Halachah is Jewish religious law), and answered that according the gedolei haDor (the great men of the generation, used about the leading rabbinic legislators) it is not fitting for a woman to work as a driver. This is not a psaq (a ruling), but an opinion, and it doesnt state that its forbidden, but that its not fitting, since its not tzanuah (moddest). Though I still dont agree with him, and find it hard to see what is immodest about female drivers, it is still an interesting case, which has been - without a doubt - been misrepresenting his opinion, if we are to believe his explanation here. He didnt state that women (in general and in all cases, which actually is the claim of the Kikar Shabbat article) are not allowed to drive a car, but that it isnt fitting for women to work as drivers (Daniel, I do understand that thats what hes talking about), based on a concern of lack of modesty. What is noteworthy here, is not so much that non-religious newspapers get this wrong (the difference between a ruling and an opinion), but that an ultra-Orthodox newspaper does so (and he does mention the conflict he has with some ultra-Orthodox groups), since they do know the difference. So heres for those who found the case interesting, with a little insigt in Jewish law.
Posted on: Sun, 17 Nov 2013 06:23:11 +0000
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