the Chief Rabbis of Israel are spending some time visiting communities in the USA.
Kikar has a video clip of a visit by Rav Yitzchak Yosef, the Rishon LeTzion, to the Jewish "Halabi" communities in New York. Invited to visit a community school, Rav Yosef was greeted with a performance by the students. Rav Yosef stood and watched the performance, despite the fact that it had both boys and girls singing.
the video is now on youtube:
thoughts:
1. it is not really anything new. We have seen him, and other chief rabbis and other important rabbis, sit through performances of women, generally at State ceremonies, without walking out.
2. Once again, the people who make a big deal out of such situations, as uncomfortable as they might be, are acting holier than the Pope - er, holier than the Chief Rabbi.
3. If a frum school would have girls perform before the chief rabbi without being sensitive to the person they are performing before, especially knowing it is a great rabbi, can we really get upset at the secular government or army, or private ceremonies, when they hire or present a female performer despite the religious people in the audience?
4. perhaps our common understanding of kol isha is not really correct or the halachic understanding of kol isha. perhaps we have gotten too extreme in considering every lilt in the voice of a female to be kol isha, and maybe that is not really the halachic case.
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