Years ago, at the Yeshiva of Flatbush dinners there used to be mixed dancing [there is a school in Manhattan that I believe still has that]. Then it stopped. Someone complained. Rabbi Eliach z"l [no religious extremist by any means] responded that we want to INCREASE Kedusha and not decrease it.
From an article in the often antisemitic-enemy-of-Torah-Jpost:
"It is wedding season again and with it the return in the Orthodox world of an enforced foolish social norm parading as Halacha; namely separate seating between men and women. In some circles, this means completely different wedding halls, although usually it means separate tables on different sides of the rooms with a walled partition between them."
How does one define "Halacha"? Wouldn't the vast corpus of responsa literature ["Tshuvos"] written by the Talmidei Chachomim of the generations qualify as Halacha?
Well there are LOADS of Tshuvos REQUIRING separate seating and it is CERTAINLY preferable [acc. to almost everyone] even if it is not an absolute obligation. One HAS to be ignorant in order to say otherwise. Like - if you are writing an article read by thousands, do your research...
If we are concerned with impure thoughts in a shul - wouldn't that be a concern at a wedding???
Have YOU ever been attracted to a woman other than your wife at a wedding??? [If the answer is no than you are either a Tzadik Yesod Olam, vision impaired or suffer from SSA.]
"The second is that to separate a married man from his wife is in fact the real sin. Husbands and wives should just be together. “A man shall leave his father and mother and cling to his wife and they shall be as one flesh” (Genesis 2:23). My wife is my partner and my best friend. She is my biggest critic and cheerleader all at once. I have precious few hours with my wife during the week and if we are going to go out for an evening, I do not want to spend it apart from her. It is just a waste of my time."
You can't be w/o your wife for a few hours? Please.
A waste of time? We don't attend simchas for our own pleasure. We do so in order to bring joy to the chosson and kallah. A self-centered person thinks that he goes to simchas for his own enjoyment. That is TOTALLY not the point. Just a by-product. Bringing joy to others makes us joyful.
"Perhaps, the bigger sin though is to separate young marriageable boys from young marriageable girls. In the Orthodox community, where gender segregated schools and camps are prevalent, why are we taking away a perfectly natural and kosher way for them to meet? I think the bride and groom should sit together before the wedding and play a little matchmaking by purposefully stocking the tables with members of the opposite sex who they think might go well together."
A new sin!!! Separating young men and women. Kedusha is sinful. Having hundreds of men be nichshal in histaklus dozens of times is a mitzva. New religion.
You are worried about couples meeting? Worry not. Religious people get married far far quicker and more frequently than irreligious people.
"The writer holds a doctorate in Jewish philosophy and teaches in post-high school yeshivot and midrashot in Jerusalem."
Shows what a doctorate in Jewish Philosophy is worth.
[Full disclosure: The author of this piece is an old friend and a nice person. But this article was a tendentious perversion of Jewish values and required a sharp response. For those interested in sources we have numerous recorded shiurim on the topic and one can search and find on hebrewbooks and the like.]
