[Avodah] fashion models and opera singers

[Zev Sero]

Chana Luntz wrote:

> The comparision to the opera singer case would seem pretty
> straightforward.  If this particular opera singer did not sing, somebody
> else would, making it a same side of the river case.

As I said, I don't think it's even a "one side of the river" case.
In the "one side of the river" case you are still helping the nazir
to do an avera.  He could have got the wine himself, but in fact he
didn't, you handed it to him, thus making it easier for him.  If you
hadn't done that, perhaps he'd have decided that it wasn't worth the
effort, or perhaps on the way to get it he'd have had a hirhur teshuva
and not done it.

But in our case the man has bought his ticket, dressed up, is sitting
in his seat, and is going to hear a woman sing, no matter what you do.
Your singing isn't even going to cause him to hear more kol isha than
he would otherwise do, because if you turn down the gig then the woman
who replaces you will sing exactly the same songs, for exactly the
same amount of time.  And by you taking the gig that other woman will
*not* sing.

That's why I gave the analogy of standing with a tray of wine available
to all comers, right next to a goy who is holding an identical tray,
and a nazir who declares his intention to drink exactly one cup, no
more and no less.  You're not handing him the cup, or making it in any
way easier for him to do the avera.  Nor are you increasing the
quantity of wine he will drink.  His choice of your wine rather than
the goy's may be completely random, or perhaps it's because your wine
is better than the goy's; it still doesn't matter, because drinking
good wine is no more of an avera than drinking bad, so long as the
quantity of wine drunk remains the same.


 
> "Thus three approaches can be found with regard to aiding one who wishes
> to sin.  Maimonides maintains that the biblical prohibition is always
> violated by aiding.  Rabbanu Nissim (Ran) belives that biblical law is
> violated only when others cannot also execute the act; Tosafot maintains
> that when there are others who can - and will aid the violater or he
> could act alone, neither rabbinic nor biblical law is violated."

I'd say that in our case even the Rambam would permit it, because you're
not actually aiding him.



> Of course defining a woman to be a kadesha based on these types of
> actions would make it much more difficult for kohanim to ever marry, so
> I think that mostly poskim have shied away from such a position.

Why?  A kohen can't marry a zonah, but I'm not aware of any issur on
his marrying a kedesha.  In fact AFAIK a kohen is allowed, lechatchila,
to marry an actual prostitute, so long as she hasn't been with anyone
whom she could not marry, or with a chalal.

-- 
Zev Sero               Something has gone seriously awry with this Court's
zev at sero.name          interpretation of the Constitution.
                       	                          - Clarence Thomas