העורך Editor
Yes, Women Do Have a Yeitzer Hara! Women Must Observe Shmiras Einayim!
I didn’t listen at all to the recent Halacha Headlines by Rabbi Ari Wasserman, and the Marei Mekomos could use work, but Baruch Hashem, at least they’re asking the right questions.
Listen to it here…
On Gender Confusion
A certain person (who shall remain uncredited) commented that if Lo Yilbash was about preventing the intermingling of men and women (as some commentators argue), why does the Torah call the act itself a “To’evah” (Devarim 22:5)?
Rather, it appears the Torah deems the confusion or loss of personal identity as an abomination, just like the perversion of weights and measures (ibid. 25:16), even if this doesn’t lead to anything else. (Sodomy is also referred to as a To’evah, although far more severe, perhaps also for a similar reason.)
This also partially explains the logic of cross-dressing on Purim (contra the Bach). Since it’s a joke (one could even argue that it is the extreme opposite of gender “confusion”!), it’s not part of the prohibition.
All this needs further study of course.
