Welcome to the Judaism community on Codidact!
Will you help us build our community of learners? Drop into our study hall, ask questions, help others with answers to their questions, share a d'var torah if you're so inclined, invite your friends, and join us in building this community together. Not an ask-the-rabbi service, just people at all levels learning together.
Was Avraham not modest?
The Mah Tovu statement of Bil'am's, though intended as a curse was actually praise, and attested to (via Bava Batra 60a) the modesty of the children of Israel. They did not construct their tents in a way that others could see in to their private places. This sense of tzniyut was admirable.
But one of the famous traits of Avraham Avinu (sourced from various commentators) is that his tent was open on 4 sides. Wouldn't this provide a michshol, allowing anyone to see into his tent at all times? This seems to run counter to the behavior lauded in the desert.
Is there any commentator who attempts to reconcile this apparent contradiction in how people should comport themselves vis-a-vis their (open) tents?
0 answers
0 comment threads