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| Women as tank commanders in Israel (JNS) |
I saw 2 examples of this on opposite sides of the religious argument.
First, it used to be common sense that placing a man and woman in closed quarters for an extended period of time could easily lead to situations where sexual activity will result. Most people still see unmarried sex as immoral - although decreasingly so. Certainly Judaism does. The laws of Yichud (the prohibition against an unmarried man and woman secluded in a closed space) are designed exactly to prevent that.
It also used to be common sense that women in the military were not placed into combat. Today, that too is considered sexist. Today, any thought of separating the sexes in any way is seen as sexist or anti woman by denying women equal opportunity with men.
In fact social norms are changing even more. For the worse. Equal opportunity is no longer enough. The more extreme interpretations of liberalism has has morphed equal opportunity into into equal outcomes. Regardless of how they get there. It’s ironic that what started out as the very fine intention or assuring equality among all people has morphed into the grossly unfair social norm of equal outcome. a socilist idea if tthere ever was one. But I digress.
My point is that common sense is no longer valued. The only value is equal outcome. No matter what gets in the way - including common sense.
These thoughts came to mind when reading an article by Rabbi Moshe Taragin in the JewishPress:
Over the past few years, the army has begun integrating women into combat units... Two weeks ago, the army announced that a pilot program assessing the viability of women serving as tank commanders had proven successful and that, going forward, officer training courses for tank units would now be mixed-gender. This came as a shock to our talmidim who were aspiring to be officers. Serving in a mixed-gender tank unit creates obvious and significant halachic issues, as well as serious tzniyut considerations.
I get that feminists want to be given the same opportunities as men. But that desire cannot always override other considerations. Like the abovementioned significant Halachic issues. In my view common sense alone should dismiss any thought of a man and a women serving in such close intimate quarters such as the cramped space of a tank - for an extended period of time.
But this is not the world in which we live today. Today the idea of equal outcome for women and men in the military overrides both Halcha and common sense. Urging self control as do today's feminists suggest as a solution to avoid those problems does not always work.
An article by Akiva Lehman in VIN is another example of the disappearance of common sense:
The Torah’s view is that unless certain rare criteria are met, every Jewish man must try his best to be married before he turns 20. (Shulchan Aruch E”H siman 1)
This is in contrast to the opinion of the world around us that decries this as irresponsible.
What Akiva seems to miss is that there are many things recorded in the Gemara cited as Halacha that no responsible person in the civilized world would ever do today. For example, how many people would forcibly marry off their 12 year old daughter (a Na'arah?) The Torah gives a father that right. A right that is discussed numerous times in the Gemara under a variety of circumstances. Never once suggesting that this is ever an irresponsible thing to do.
Something that was once an acceptable and common practice can become an uncommon and unacceptable practice in a later time when conditions change. No one in his right mind would forcibly marry off their 12 year old daughter today. It would be considered major child abuse. Even though the Gemara talks about it so matter of factly.
This is what Akiva fails to understand. Times change. What was once an acceptable practice is now considered a form of child abuse. In our world today (and I mean the Torah observant world) this is as unacceptable as it is in the general culture. It would be tragic - and most likely scar a 12 year girl for life if she were to be subjected to that.
Obviously getting married by age 20 is not in the same league as getting married at age 12. But that does not by itself make it acceptable. Getting married too young is a prescription for divorce. Most young men at that age are nowhere near thinking about what it means to get married, have children, and support a family.
It makes no sense to use a what was once a common norm - in our era where it can cause great harm to one’s future. The less mature one is when getting married the more the chances of divorce increase. I believe that there is data that bears that out. A quick google search led me to the following online:
Couples who get married at age 20 are 50 percent more likely to divorce than couples who wait until they're 25, with 28 being the "sweet spot" when it comes to marriage, a 2016 study by Psychology Today.
Simple common sense should also tell you that getting marred to young is a bad idea. But common sense just doesn’t seem to exist anymore.
Waiting for the pendulum to swing back. Not sure it will happen in my lifetime. If ever.