Where are the Women in the Maccabeats Video?
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Special to the Jewish Week
We love the Maccabeats. Like most of their day school friends, our kids have been singing “Candlelight” since December.
“Candlelight,” their big hit, is a smart and funny parody of the pop chart hit “Dynamite.” It is also an expression of Torah, with overt Hebrew lines sung unabashedly before millions of viewers on television and the Internet. This is fitting, as the Maccabeats are a product of Yeshiva University, the flagship institution of modern Orthodoxy. For all these reasons, the Maccabeats make us proud not only as Jews, but as modern Orthodox Jews. They show the world that you can take halakha seriously and engage in the best aspects of modernity.
Yet we were let down by the Maccabeats’ more recent release, their Purim song. Like “Candlelight,” the Purim song takes a number one hit and reworks it to tell the story of the holiday. The video is once again slick and professional, and the music is catchy. But in a song and video devoted to the story of Esther, there’s one major missing element: women.
Women are entirely absent from the Maccabeats’ rendition of the story, and from the Purim seudah (meal) at which it is told. Okay, there are a couple of girls in the video, most notably a baby who is meant to portray the Purim heroine. Aside from these literally infantilized presentations, women aren’t there.
One can argue that the Maccabeats are an all-male a capella group. There’s no reason they need to have women singing in their videos. And many in the Orthodox community might take issue with women singing in deference to the halakhic considerations of kol isha, the prohibition on men listening to women’s voices lest they become aroused.
Fair enough. But the Maccabeats’ failure to deal with the presentation of women sadly reflects a broader issue in Orthodoxy, namely the inability of so many Orthodox institutions to include women in their public culture.
Women are welcomed in the public life of Orthodoxy when that public takes place in the form of words, when their bodies—including their voices—can be separated from their minds. They have become important voices in the print culture of Torah, as evidenced by the phenomenal growth of advanced study institutes for Orthodox women in Israel and America and the publication of erudite works by Orthodox women scholars.
But the Orthodox community remains challenged to find a way for women, in their bodies, to participate in the public life of the community. If we can be modern enough to make a snazzy music video, can’t we also be disciplined enough not to reduce a woman to a sexual object when she ascends the podium? Or do we have to turn her into a baby and erase women’s presence from the video of a Purim seudah? (The image of a Purim meal full of men with young children and not a single woman present is simply preposterous.) Are we really no more advanced than Shakespeare’s England, where the parts of women had to be played by boys?
The most ironic aspect of the Maccabeats’ writing women out of the Purim story is not the fact that the Book of Esther is about one woman (Vashti) who refuses to be reduced to a sexual object, and another (Esther) who finds her voice. The real irony comes when one watches the video for the song that was parodied, P!nk’s “Raise Your Glass.” The video is a provocative salute to women’s empowerment. The song’s refrain is an exhortation to the marginalized of society to show their individuality:
So raise your glass if you are wrong,
In all the right ways,
All my underdogs,
We will never be never be anything but loud
And nitty gritty, dirty little freaks
Don’t allow yourself to be marginalized. Write your own story, show your power, raise your glass, raise your voice: That’s the point of the song.
To a potential Orthodox viewer of the video, the point is made with extreme images, including some that would offend their sensibilities. Yet in a most poignant irony, the Maccabeats’ video, which makes women invisible from a story to which they are central, is extreme in the opposite direction.
We’re sure the Maccabeats had all the best intentions in writing their song and making their video. They weren’t thinking about gender politics. And that’s precisely what disappoints us. The problem is not with the Maccabeats. It is with an Orthodox community—of which we are members and leaders—in which even the best-intended efforts still fail to meaningfully include images of women. (This is in powerful contrast to the Purim video by the Israeli group Ein Prat released a month ago, which is also set to the P!nk song, but includes women fully. It can be done. The Maccabeats just didn’t think to do it.)
If we are truly committed to living a life of commitment to Jewish law and engagement with the modern world, we can’t hide our faces when confronted with the question of the public portrayal of images of women. That is a betrayal of the message of Megillat Esther. It’s time for us as a community to hear the voice of Esther, and to welcome her into the public square.
Rabbi Josh Feigelson is the Campus Rabbi at Northwestern University Hillel. Natalie Blitt is a Jewish educator. They are married and live in Evanston, IL.
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Why do you have to find an "issue" to stir up Sinas Chinam? Chill out folks and let everyone do their bit for Klal Yisrael!
I disagree. The reason the Maccabeats most likely did not feature women's images in their video is to show that as Torah-observant people they refuse to objectify women in that way. What the writers seem to take issue with is the prohibition of gazing at women (or causing others to gaze at women by putting them on display). The Maccabeats are taking this into account (and I'm sure put clear thought into their decision to make women "invisible" in their video) whereas the video upon which the Purim song was based doesn't appear to do so, according to the above description. I also take issue with the authors' interpretation of Vashti's role in the Megillah. But I cannot fit this part into a short comment.
I completely agree. I also felt that lyrically the second song was inferior to the first, but beyond that, noticed that there are no similar opportunities (or resulting adulation) for women's groups.
In an unintentional synergy, my own post from last night addresses this issue of women's voices in the Orthodox world through the lens of my own experience with singing (or rather, not singing) in yeshiva high school. I think that for many girls (and boys), this is an important issue with all kinds of ramifications for future confidence and success.
If you're interested, check out my post: "A Glee-ful Musical Awakening"
I'm so tired of revisionists painting Vashti as a heroic feminist. She was an egotistical princess who thought she was better than her husband because of her family background. She didn't refuse to appear out of any motives other than being full of herself.
And the idea that the Megillah is "about" her, even in part? That's just bizarre.
What I don't understand is why this article was written about the Maccabeats.
"One can argue that the Maccabeats are an all-male a capella group"
Yes, of course one can argue that, because it's true. If one of the Stern College *all-female* a capella groups produced a video, would we be wondering why there are no men in it? No, because it makes perfect sense that a music group's videos feature its members.
The article even states "The problem is not with the Maccabeats" - because it isn't. It has nothing to do with them.
You can always try this parody from a Shul in Atlanta: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8OucAlBdRM
I would just like to point out that there are NO adults in the video, other than the maccabeats themselves...
While the article is well written and raises some interesting items, this is the lamest excuse for an article. Pretty far reaching to a make a point. IMHO
I think that it's ludicrous to criticize a men's a capella group for doing a video with only men. It comes across as just looking for a reason to complain. Not to mention that this isn't *just* a men's a capella group, but one from YU.
When I was in college, there was an argument over whether the kitchens in the Hillel should stay kosher. The Reform and some of the Conservative students wanted to be able to bring in whatever they felt like, and claimed that their rights were being trampled upon by the terrible fascist frummies.
The counter-argument was that the Reform Jews *could* eat kosher food, while the Orthodox Jews *couldn't* eat treyf food. And that given this, the appropriate thing would be to make the kitchen at the Hillel accessible to everyone.
The Reform counter-counter-argument was that while it was true that they *could* eat kosher food, it hurt their feelings to have to. I hope I don't have to explain how that's an incredibly petty and thoughtless argument.
So, Candlelight. There was an incredibly wide and diverse viewership of that video. It's probably the single greatest act of pirsumei nissa in Jewish history, in that it spoke to the whole world, and not just with platitudes like, "Hanukkah is about religious freedom". But a significant group of Jews would have been alienated by the video including female performers. You know this. You don't have to like it or agree with it, but you know it's the case. And even if you don't agree with their reasons, you also have to accept that they have grounds for their position (particularly in context of their communities). I don't happen to agree with them either, but I can see where they're coming from.
So. They could have included women performers and driven part of their viewership away, or done the simple thing of keeping a video of an all-male a capella group from an Orthodox college all-male. And the only counter-counter-argument is that while feminists *could* watch a video that didn't include women, it hurt their feelings to do so. V'hameivin yavin.
Esther is the star of the whole Megillah. It isn't like she'll be missing on Purim. This one song didn't focus on her. Find a better fight.
I think it is possible to have fun and show the world we are cool without breaching the holy standards of tznious. If women want to make something for women only, thats a separate thing but we dont need to go around parading our Jewish women like other cultures do in their music videos.
Why do the authors of this article need to go out of their way to make an issue out of nothing? Yeshiva University has a split campus boys and girls. There are no girls on the Macabeats. Finished. Why should they go out of their way in order to put in women (when some viewers may prefer it like this anyways)? If an all-female accapella group wouldn't have men in their video, nothing would be said.
Did anyone notice that the seuda was not trying to be a "real" Purim seuda b/c there were lights and a director who called "cut!" in the middle of it?
It was meant to be over the top and silly. The Chanukah party in "Candlelight" had no women in it either. Theses are videos about the group.
There are FAR more important things to worry about!
Ridiculous article. You're simply looking for trouble. They did a wonderful job and, as a modern orthodox jew, I commend them for the elegant way in which they addressed the tznius issue. They made the video acceptable to all types of jews without needing to offend anyone. You're critisim is entirely out of place and even has a tone of bulleying.
I think this article is pointless. With everything that is going on with Am Yisrael now, you had to find something to write about and cause trouble. The Maccabeats are an all make acapella group as was written, they didn't leave girls out of their video on purpose. They are all boys and there are no girls in their group, and that is ok! To write an article on this and waste time is not what we need now.
Let's be honest-- this article was written way before the Maccabeats video came out and was simply waiting for a recent current event to latch on to.
There's a reason why they call you 'Feminazis'.
Seriously, get a grip here. You sound ridiciulous. Stop acting like the Maccabeats are the RCA. They're just a bunch of kids who put together a video. Sad they didn't put women? Ok, that was their casting call. Deal with it.
If anything, I applaud them for finding a way to have fun within the halachic framework that they feel comfortable with. You may not follow the same opinions as them or have a different comfort zone. Ok. Why can't you just respect that?
She could actually be either stuck up OR a feminist. All the megillah says is that she told the eunuchs that she would not leave her guests to come down to the king's party.
Literally, "Queen Vashti refused to come at the king's command conveyed by the eunuchs..." (JPS trans). She may simply have been a typical wife who had had enough of her husband's 180 day drinking binge.
I think the Maccabeats are fantastic and truly to be praised for spreading the good name of Jews and Judaism in really fun ways. All three of my children love the songs and videos too. To agree with this (as do the authors) does not prevent thoughtful people from also questioning what these videos can tell us about our Orthodox culture and raise issues that need to be addressed. Upon first watching it - I thought, "how brilliant to use a child for Esther since they obviously 'can't' use a real grownup woman in their video" (and risk offending and alienating segments of the Orthodox community and perhaps violating their own codes). I commend Josh and Natalie for not stopping there and not accepting that "can't" is a good enough reason. We must understand why they "can't" have women in their video and what that says about Orthodoxy's approach to the embodied female and her public presence and representation in Orthodox culture. And still raise our glasses to their creativity.
Next week will there be an article on why there were no men in the Spice Girls?
Seems to me like you're writing an article just for the sake of writing an article. It's as if you had nothing to do this week and just decided to pick on some random point that occured to no one else on Earth. You wrote: "The image of a Purim meal full of men with young children and not a single woman present is simply preposterous." Really? Have you ever been to an all-male yeshiva on Purim?
The Maccabeats are an all male group from an all male college. These young men have chosen to learn and grow in a religious, all male setting. Why does that seem to bother you so and why would you expect women in their video? I'm impressed that they managed to produce videos that have garnered such widespread attention and praise without relying on sex and overt sexuality. The videos come across as a bunch of nice guys have a good, clean, and very entertaining fun together. I thought the idea of using a little girl as Queen was adorable and fit their sweet, innocent image perfectly.
There was a great interview with the Maccabeats this morning on Jewish Pride Radio. Hear how they started the group and where the Maccabeats are headed.
Why does everyone think so much political thought was put into this video? They were having fun, and using kids and babies to play the characters in the Purim story was meant to be cute.
It's an all-male group at an all-male school. Their video is a reflection of their environment and what they have immediate access to and think about right away. I consider it a good thing that they can have fun without girls. Just like girls should be able to have a good time without thinking about guys. If this was a group of girls who go to Stern College, nobody would blink an eye at the absence of men in their video.
Women in Torah leadership and female empowerment is obviously a worthy cause, but it's a step backward to approach it with such anger and bitterness by insulting a fun music video.
IS THIS GUY FOR REAL??? ITS GOTTA BE A JOKE ARTICLE IN THE SPIRIT OF PURIM AND ADAR.
THERE ARE PLENTY OF SPOOFS BY WOMEN ON YOUTUBE WITH NO MEN IN SIGHT.
DONT MAKE NOTHING INTO SOMETHING.
AMEN SISTER!!!
very nicely put. most of teh responses here allude to the author being a feminazi etc. they just come off sounding defensive and like they are the ones with the agenda. You, on the other hand make a clear non biased observation (I will admit I agree with it).
My issue is not that there are no women in the maccabeats its that when they decided to make a video with a mock purim seudah they most likely (based on general modern/centric practice) never thought to have women there. I can say that as a 29 year old modern orthodox woman who has lived on the upper west side and in Washington heights that the only seudot I have attended are my own - and my roommate and I decided to host one because we were tired of purim seudahs only being for the guys (even in modern orthodox circles). The problem here is that most people probably don't even realize this is a problem. Poeple should not be so quick to brush aside the learned social norms that are portrayed so easily in this video (even if they are not grossly evil)
Is there anyone who agrees with this article?
Thank you for a thoughtful article. It seems clear from the comments that your expressing these opinions was a courageous thing to do within the Orthodox community.
Way to attack the Maccabeats when all you really wanted to do was raise a global issue. Are you proud that you piggy-backed on the Maccabeats fame to help get your message out?!
"the Maccabeats’ failure to deal with the presentation of women..." Is it the Maccabeats responsibility to deal with the presentation of women? They have no reason to! They are telling over a story! The reason they used kids, perhaps, is to appeal to the younger audiences with a "cuteness" factor. They are not in any way infantilizing the Esther character of the story and the role of women in the Purim story.
Don't try to defame a great bunch of Orthodox boys who are spreading a meaningful message to millions of people just because you want to get up on your soapbox. Perhaps you should look into your own flaws before galabanting on about someone else's.
Everyone has rightly pointed out that this article is entirely unsubstantiated. But I would like to approach the shortcomings of this article from the feminist perspective.
I believe that this article is counter rather than contributory to the feminist agenda.
The feminist critique can point to a multitude of concrete instances in which Halakhah clearly conceives of the male as “normative”: women’s exclusion from time-bound commands, their exclusion from communal leadership (sra’ra), and Talmudic concepts such as “light/feeble intellect/awareness” (da’atan kalot), and kavod ha’tzibur (“respect for the community”, a concept utilized in the Talmud’s exclusion of women from the public reading of the Torah). Halakha was born into a sexist context where men constituted “matter” and women “form.” The rigid assumptions Orthodoxy makes about Halakhik development traps Halakha in a series of sexist, societal assumptions upon which the system was initially constructed. This article offends an authentic feminist critique: it takes issue with peripheral and basically irrelevant non-issues of alleged “gender discrimination” and brings them to the forefront, missing entirely the source of Orthodoxy’s “gender-equality” problem. The source of sexism in the Orthodox community lies not in contemporary social norms or any social phenomena of bigotry. It is the philosophical andocentrism embodied by the Halakha that diminishes a woman’s worth and social conception. Even if producers of this music video subconsciously embodied a sense of male-elitism, their sentiments would be perfectly in line with the tenants of the Orthodoxy/Halakha that they seek to uphold.
Also, feminism undermines it critique of Jewish patriarchy in blindly applying its critique to every phenomenon involving Orthodox individuals. A legitimate sociological theory must move from the facts to the theory, rather than arbitrarily impose a theory upon random phenomena.
I think the ideas are so important and definitely worth thinking about- there's no reason for the Orthodox world to stay stagnant and not even discuss these blaring contradictions in our daily life.
Using the Maccabeats video just gets you all to pay attention- how many of you would actually read another article about women in public Orthodox life???
Why were the authors not offended that the video contained no:
A) Senior citizens
B) Asians
C) African Americans
D) Chasidim
E) Special needs children
F) YU guys who cannot carry a tune
G) Anyone in a wheel chair, etc.
This is classical liberal preaching about how every snapshot they see needs to contain full diversity, etc.
What utter nonsense.
This was nothing more than a video made by an all-male group of themselves.
You gotta just relax & look for other fights to pick.
I am personally hosting a seudah for both men and women this Purim. I do think that if no intense drinking takes place, then it is appropriate to have mixed seudot Purim. I don't think there is any obligation to do so, especially if you attend an all-women's or all-men's college like Yeshiva College or Stern College. I'm just guessing but I would bet that the reason only children were included in the video was to be cute. They weren't circumventing any halachot. In fact, I think that part of the idea of using children was to convey the message that how young adults act on Purim does leave an impression on Jewish children. We should all consider whether we want the message of Purim to our children to be that it's a holiday of "getting wasted" or whether it should be about celebration of Jewish life and Torah, like most Jewish holiday seudot.
One more point, one of the most popular college all male a capella groups is called "On the Rocks" out at the University of Oregon.
See their wildly popular take on "Bad Romance" here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rp_TBm3Gwq0
Not one girl in the video. Why? It's about them and their performance.
Where's the irony og a bunch of men singing one of Lady Gaga's greatest hits and not icluding any empowered women?
The couple who wrote this article needs to find something better to get worked up about.
I would also like to point out that there were no infants in the video! I guess it is ok since the authors of this article are acting quite infantile! This is an all boys group at an all boys school singing a song about Purim and making a video to entertain. They did not set out to create social commentary.
I guess that since Rabbi Feigelson felt "I'm not ready to pronounce judgement (though I have some ideas, feelings, and intuitions of my own)" regarding a woman demonstrating an orgasm in person on a teacher's desk in a classroom over 100 students at his university, we can get a little bit of an idea of where he is coming from!
Wow that was just dumb, can't you find your own basis for toting a moderate feminist agenda without use the Maccabeats video as a springboard. They are, after all, an all male acapella group... and while you are trying to empower woman, why not refrain from strengthening the stereotypical role of woman as homemakers "The image of a Purim meal full of men with young children and not a single woman present is simply preposterous."
Heck, I though someone would complain about the overuse of compression, auto tune, and other studio processing programs meant to make mediocre singers sound acceptable. Now that is an argument worth sinking your teeth into.
I am not adverse to calling out misogyny in the Jewish world. This video simply doesn't qualify as that. These are single guys most of whom are still in school, for whom the presence of women in the video would have been the cause for much questioning and gossip. Is it such a stretch that a bunch of guys would get together to eat and drink too much in one of their apartments with no women around? It's a stretch to read anything more political than that into this video.
BTW, Lisa's rejection of the feminist reinterpretation of Vashti is only half right. All these different readings are based on separate Midrashim explaining the story.
I'd like to point out that, while the acting segments of the Fountainheads' video had no ostensibly objectionable portions, the large majority of it is unacceptable by Orthodox standards (namely women dancing/singing in public and immodestly dressed). Many people would argue that any YouTube video with women performing would be a breach of tznius as the forum is too public.
Another issue with including women in the music video would be the whole aspect of informal "socializing" that comes along with that kind of thing. While most Purim se'udas are "co-ed", they are usually attended by families and not exclusively single guys and girls.
i agree, everyone relax my god.
Wow, way to suck the joy out of Purim. "the Maccabeats’ failure to deal with the presentation of women"? What?? I thought they dealt with "it" beautifully. They had an adorable little girl we all (well, most of us) said "awwwwww" to. Maybe she represents innocence and hope for the future? If you don't have anything nice to say...
seriously?
it's an all-male acapella group and the video only features the members of the group - why would women be there? you may as well complain that there are no women in the Bohemian Rhapsody music video. i'm as feminist as they come and even i can't fathom the issue here.
So let me get this straight, this couple who describe themselves as leaders in the Orthodox community find Pink's original song more congruent with the lessons of Megilat Esther (as they understand it) than the song/video by the Maccabeats?
Sounds to me like they need to get back in touch with their roots.
Too me, this article is a classic study in what happens to well-meaning people who are too open minded.
Kudos to the Maccabeats for NOT caving in to "gender politics". It's not their fight and it doesn't need to be made into their fight.
Wanted to point out that there is another purim parody video on youtube called "Groggers Up" done by the Young Israel of Toco Hills in Atlanta, GA. This is a modern orthodox synagogue and the video includes men, women and children and the women are front and center rapping!
Have you ever heard of Kol Isha or do you pick and choose which Halachot work or dont work for you? I think too much emphasis is put on attempting to achieve what men do .......of course you and other women can do something like this.....but for women's groups.....and it doesnt have to be publicized on facebook or any other public website. Esther Hamalka was Tzanua and although she had to make compromises in being the Queen, she would not have been in a competition with men . She didnt have to be in competition....she knew how important she was to the Jewish people. Once again as long as it is in the right enviorment....there are alot of wonderful things women can achieve and still feel special.
It occurred to me that the Macabeats may have anticipated something akin to an article as this. I'm assuming this is what the Greeks crashing the party was supposed to represent.
Judaism is MORE than an identity, it's a religion. I would hope a publication that calls themselves the Jewish Week should know what Judaism is about.
Firstly, we do not celebrate Vashti as a heroine. Her refusal had nothing to do with her respect for herself and her sexuality but rather was part of an ongoing power-struggle with her husband.
Secondly, we are orthodox jews!!!! have you been so colored by the disgusting music videos that have been produced in secular media that you cant even appreciate a video without woman in it??????? we as woman understand our role in this holiday, and do not need the Maccabeats to show us our place in this historical event by putting some girls dancing in a music video.
Seriously??? i hope this is Purim Torah.
I think the article makes a very good point, though I'm not sure the Maccabeats are the best example of the lack of women's presence in Orthodox Judaism (they are just making a cute video, after all). However, the intellectual snobbery, closed-mindedness, thoughtlessness, and frankly rudeness of some of the comments are astounding. Seriously guys? That's what Judaism is supposed to be about: free exchange and debate of thought. There's nothing wrong with saying you disagree, but to call someone a 'feminazi'? That's not only insulting, but is a personal attack. That's the kind of behavior that causes a chilul Hashem.
I don't understand why this rabbi has no respect for the orthodox homosexual community. These young men are doing an admirable job at expressing who they are.
I totally fell for this--I feel like a fool! It must be a joke, peoples!
is it just me or did this article of two desperate people with an agenda finding an excuse to rant about there gripes with a community who regardless wont read their article?
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