An organisation representing Jews in South Africa is being sued for alleged discrimination over a ban on women singing at the annual Holocaust Memorial ceremony.
The Jewish Board of Deputies (JBD) in Cape Town has banned female voices in the secular ceremony since 2005, in order not to offend a handful of rabbis who believe women singing before a mixed audience is immodest and should be prohibited, according to the plaintiffs.
The case – brought by the South African Centre for Religious Equality and Diversity (Sacred) and two South African Jews, Gilad Stern and Sarah Goldstein – is expected to be heard this month, before this year’s Holocaust Memorial ceremony on 5 May.
“It’s appalling that a Jewish civil organisation is adopting a gender policy that is anathema to the modern world we live in. It’s a terrible insult to women,” Stern, an orthodox Jew, told the Guardian.
The JBD, a secular umbrella body representing Jews and Jewish groups, organises the annual ceremony which includes speeches, readings, prayer and music.
According to an affidavit lodged by Stern at Cape Town’s equality court last week, the JBD’s decision to ban women was taken to avoid “offence to certain Orthodox Jewish persons who are of the view that men should not hear women’s voices in song, based on a Talmudic dictum referred to as Kol Isha, which in essence means ‘a woman’s voice is lewdness (erva)’.”
The affidavit says: “Whilse the ceremony is not a religious ceremony, the JBD has taken the view that if women were allowed to sing, the rabbis might absent themselves entirely from an important event in the Jewish community calendar.”
The plaintiffs want the court to declare the ban unlawful and unconstitutional under South Africa’s Equality Act.
Stern has floated a compromise under which due warning would be given of women singing to allow those objecting to temporarily absent themselves from the ceremony. Rabbi Julia Margolis of Sacred said: “The denial of voice is a most fundamental attack on the very worth and dignity of women in our community.”
The organisation pointed out that many religious orthodox individuals and organisations disputed the interpretation and application of Kol Isha.
Margolis added: “We feel that it is not only our our right, but our moral obligation, and indeed duty, as concerned South African Jews to challenge this unacceptable gender discrimination ... We will not stop until women’s voices are heard at public events – and in each and every Jewish community in this country.”
In a statement, the JBD said the issue was “part of an ongoing conversation with the various sectors of our community, all of whom are deeply invested in this emotional and important ceremony. The [JBD] will continue to work towards an inclusive ceremony where all members of the Jewish community can attend without exception.”
