Time for Truth: Miami,et al,
Does it need to be zero sum?
Women [ with men] could vote for the House, while
men vote for the Senate
It would be ‘Progress’ [for those who need to have]
ME: I am not sure if this is an attempt to demonstrate that the moderate position does not always make sense. If that is the point of that comment, I agree, it does not always. But more often than not, in my view, it is more logical then the extremes because most arguments taken to extremes produce absurd results.
However, here, to me, there is only one possible answer that women’s suffrage was not a mistake. I understand that is influenced by my world view that A) it is not inconsistent to say that women and men are not exactly alike and might be better off in different roles, but B) they are equally as intelligent and there is no reason to prevent them from what I consider to be such a basic right.
Also, I have already acknowledged that my prediction about this halachic issue (which was due to my incorrect assumption that women voting was too new to really have been dealt with) was incorrect.
I do not for whatever it is worth (and I realize, that is not much), think that R’ Kook’s arguments were very convincing. He clearly stated he felt women were not as smart, and it seems all of his other views were consistent with his conclusion that women were not only not as smart as men, but did not have the same neshamah as men etc….
And Indeed, all of his other reasons appear to be in support of that main conclusion, which I have to assume is not normative halacha.
The rest of his reasons: Marital strife? So does that mean single women can vote? Modesty? Anything a women does that you feel is a man’s purview can lead to that argument.
Anyway, I admit, my prediction on this one was incorrect. But again, while perhaps not in the charedi world which believes in absolute daas torah, one has to distinguish between a rabbi’s views that are based in halacha vs ones that really are not and are on non-halachic issues.
It would not surprise me if at the time, he was in the majority on the voting issue because that is where the world’s mind was at. Indeed, that was yet another one of his arguments, that Israel should not be among the first to do it. But that does not mean these were halachic opinions as evidenced by the fact that there are religious women in the Kinneset today.
I doubt his answer would have been the same if the question was about an issue that he believed had a clear halachic answer.
Again, just my .02.