According to the latest eye-popping news from Jerusalem, the ultra-orthodox or haredi community has come up with a stunning new way to keep men and women apart: eyeglasses that blur rather than clarify. Turning the notion of 3-D goggles on their head, these specs block out the world instead of embracing it.
Then again, there’s ample precedent for this kind of thing. Consider the mechitzah, the ritual partition that separates male worshippers from female worshippers. Years ago, an opaque curtain, made out of heavy fabric, stood between them, cutting off everyone’s sight lines. But these days, in many a contemporary orthodox synagogue, the old-fashioned curtain has given way to a technologically sophisticated version of plexiglass that allows women to “see out,” while preventing men from seeing “in.”
When examined from this perspective, it’s not too much of a stretch to liken a pair of so-called modesty glasses to a miniaturized, privatized and portable version of a mechitzah. Wonder of wonders!
Still, I cling to the hope that the story of this brand new invention is a complete and utter fabrication. Otherwise, the prospect of a world in which people--read men--deliberately make a point of not seeing what’s around them is an awfully cloudy one.
