Parshas Beshalach describes how after the splitting of the sea, Moshe led the men in the singing the Song of the Sea (Shiras Hayam). The Torah describes how Miriam led the women in dancing and with tambourines. She called out to them “sing to Hashem for He is very exalted, a horse and its rider He cast into the sea.”
The commentaries question how Miriam and the Jewish women could sing in the presence of the men, due to the prohibition of Kol Isha. They offer a number of different explanations;
- The women distanced themselves so that they were not in earshot of the men.
- The women were not singing. They played tambourines and danced to the side while the men sang.
- Miriam was addressing some men who had come to watch, telling them to go and sing to Hashem with the other men.
- Another explanation is that at the Sea, the Jewish people experience a revelation of G-dliness, akin to the times of Moshiach and the Resurrection of the Dead. The prophet describes how in the times of Moshiach “the older men and women will sit (together) in the streets of Jerusalem” and we will hear “the voice of the groom and the voice of the bride”. This will be permitted because in the times of the Resurrection, there will no longer be a Yetzer Hara and therefore no need for the stringencies on modesty. So too, at the splitting of the sea, the Jewish people were on that level and there was no Yetzer Hara associated with the women singing.
The Halachic Sources
This Gemara records the teaching of Shmuel that the voice of a woman is consider Ervah. His ruling is derived from the verse in Shir Hashirim “Your voice is pleasant and your appearance is beautiful”. The Posuk identifies the voice of a woman as being a source of desire. The passage in the Gemara also identifies others parts of a woman which are considered Ervah, including her exposed hair.
The Poskim understand that this refers to the singing voice of a woman, as opposed to her speaking voice or playing musical instruments.
The implication of the Gemara is that because it is considered Ervah, one may not recite Shema while one can hear the voice of a woman singing. Based on this, the Shulchan Aruch rules that one should not hear the voice of a woman singing while reciting Krias Shema. The Ram”o adds that this applies even to one’s own wife. This prohibition applies to any woman singing, whether she is married or single.
Shmuel’s ruling also has application in the general laws of Tznius. Since her singing is considered Ervah and a source of desire, a man may not listen to a woman singing at other times as well. This is codified in Shulchan Aruch Even Haezer in very strong terms “one must greatly distance themselves from women... it is forbidden to hear the voice of an Ervah... One who intentionally does so should be given Rabbinic lashes.
Beis Shmuel on the Shulchan Aruch writes that unlike during davening, the issue of Kol Isha in relation to Tznius, only applies to women whom one is forbidden to marry (Arayos), such as a married woman or one’s sister in-law or daughter in-law. With the exception of whilst Davening, he writes that it is permitted to hear the voice of a single girl or to one’s wife who are not forbidden in marriage. This seems to be the implication of the Shulchan Aruch which writes that it is forbidden to hear “the voice of an Ervah”.
This is also the view of the Magen Avraham who limits the general prohibition of Kol Isha to a married woman in the presence of other men.
However the Ba’er Heitev quotes the work Be’er Sheva who writes that the general prohibition of Kol Isha applies to all women, including single girls and widows. According to his view, the only woman’s singing that a man may listen to is his own wife (except at a time of Davening).
The Mishna Berura adopts the approach of the Magen Avraham and Beis Shmuel that aside from Davening, the general issue of Kol Isha only applies to an Ervah and not to a single girl. However, even when permitted, he adds that one should not intend to derive pleasure from her singing.
He further qualifies that once a girl has become a Niddah, she is considered Ervah and it is forbidden Min Hadin to hear her singing at all times according to all opinions. Once a girl reaches the age by which we expect her to become a Niddah, her singing voice is forbidden. Since it is accepted that unmarried girls do not go to Mikvah, she remains Ervah from then on.
In contrast, the Kitzur Shulchan Aruch suggests that the prohibition applies to all women without distinguishing between whether she is an Ervah or not. This is also the opinion of the Aruch Hashulchan in both Orach Chaim and Even Haezer. He writes that the prohibition of Kol Isha applies to all women other than one’s wife.
Modern-day Poskim
Harav Moshe Feinstein writes a Teshuvah on the topic of Kol Isha in an education institution, where fathers were coming to listen to their daughters singing. The questioner writes that he would be unable to protest the participation of men without causing significant Machlokes.
Based on the position of the Mishna Berura, he writes that certainly girls aged 11 and up should be considered Ervah, since this is the age when girls can become Niddah. Whilst it is possible that the girls may not yet be Niddos, we can’t know and therefore can’t distinguish. He adds that one should be stringent even for girls under 11 if listening to the singing is for pleasure. This would apply specifically to slightly older girls, possibly from the age of 9. He concludes that due to the circumstances described, being a Shaas Hatzorech (a pressing need), it is permissible for a man to hear singing by girls under the age of 11. But where there is no pressing need, one should not permit even this (under the age of 11), because we say “that one who is stringent we consider holy” - והמחמיר קדוש ייאמר לו.
Yalkut Yosef quotes both of the opinions concerning single girls, that there are those who permit listening to singing by girls who have not yet become Niddah and that there are those who dispute this. He concludes that one who is stringent should be blessed. He writes that his father, Harav Ovadiah Yosef rules like the latter view.
Harav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach understands that the Issur of Kol Isha applies to younger girls as well and is recorded as saying that the prohibition of Kol Isha is from the age of 3. Kol Isha applies even when the girls are singing as a group and even if one does not know who the girl is or does not see her. The Issur still applies nowadays even though men are accustomed to hearing women’s voices.
