[Avodah] Tzeni'us and gender roles

[kennethgmiller at juno.com]

(This is a continuation of my earlier post from Avodah Digest 26:132.

R' Micha Berger wrote:
> ... taking the podium is to my mind is a textbook violation of
> tzeni'us. ... A woman shouldn't want to be chazan. For that
> matter, a man shouldn't either, which is why we're supposed to
> decline the first couple of times the gabbai asked.

This halacha, that when a man is asked to be chazan, he should initially decline, is well-known. But the reason for it is not so clear, and I'd like to suggest that it is NOT because of tznius.

This halacha is in the Mechaber, Orach Chayim 53:16 - "One who is not the Shatz Kavua (regular chazan) has to decline somewhat before going to the amud..." The Be'er Hagolah gives the source as Brachos 34, which seems to be a reference to the very first lines of the new gemara near the top of 34a: "A braisa: One who goes to the amud has to refuse; and if he does not refuse, he is domeh l'tavshil she'ain bo melach (he is like a cooked food which has no salt)." I don't recall hearing this phrase ("l'tavshil she'ain bo melach") before; perhaps it means that he has acted in poor taste?

Aruch Hashulchan OC 53:15 says pretty much the same thing as the Mechaber did, including that if the person asking is an "adam gadol", then one should not decline at all, but should go right away, because one does not turn down a gadol. But the Aruch Hashulchan adds this interesting point: "But for something which involves sh'rirus (leadership), then one should decline a bit even when a gadol is doing the asking, since the declining will give the impression (d'hasiruv hu mipnei she'yisraeh) that perhaps he is not fit for the task (d'oolai aino ra'ui l'kach), and this is good manners (v'hu haderech eretz)."

Thus, I'd like to suggest that when a person declines the honor of being offered the amud, it is NOT because of tznius, but because of simple humility. Humility (anavah) and modesty (tznius) are very similar, but they are not identical.

Akiva Miller

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