Urban Dictionary: Locker Room Tak
The crude, vulgar, offensive and often sexual trade of comments guys pass to each other, usually in high school locker rooms. Exists solely for the purpose of male comedy and is not meant to be taken seriously.
Washington Post, 9/14/2917
"...It was the kind of “locker-room talk” in which “real men” engage...“People don’t like the truth”...“He speaks like real men spoke”...“Real men speak like, ‘Man, she had a fat a–. You see her a–? I had to squeeze her a–. I had to grab that fat a–.’ Right?..."So he’s talking locker-room talk. Locker-room talk. ‘I’m the man, you know what I’m saying? You know who I am. Yeah, I grabbed her by the p—-. And?’”
(יד) לֹא־תְקַלֵּ֣ל חֵרֵ֔שׁ וְלִפְנֵ֣י עִוֵּ֔ר לֹ֥א תִתֵּ֖ן מִכְשֹׁ֑ל וְיָרֵ֥אתָ מֵּאֱלֹקֶ֖יךָ אֲנִ֥י ה'
(14) You shall not curse the deaf, or place a stumbling block before the blind. You shall fear your God: I am the LORD.
- Why do you think the Torah cares about cursing people who cannot hear them?
- Why is God’s name invoked at the end of the verse?
...אף על פי שאין בנו כח לדעת באי זה ענין תנוח הקללה במקלל ואי זה כח בדבור להביאה עליו, ידענו דרך כלל מכל בני העולם שחוששין לקללות, בין ישראל בין שאר האמות, ויאמרו שקללת בני אדם גם קללת הדיוט תעשה רשם במקלל ותדביק בו המארה והצער...
(1) ...Even thought we do not have the power to know in which way a curse impacts upon the one cursed, and with what power within speech there is to bring [that impact] upon him, we know more generally that people are concerned about curses - whether Israel or other nations - and say that curses of people, and even curses of commoners, have an impact on the one cursed and attaches malediction and distress to him...
- What message does this send about the power of speech?
- How do you think curses might actualize and affect those who cannot even hear them?
...אבל קללת החרש אחר שלא ישמע ולא יכאב בו שלא יהיה בזה חטא, הנה הודיענו שהוא אסור והזהיר ממנו, כי התורה לא הקפידה בענין המקולל לבד אבל הקפידה גם כן בענין המקלל לבד כשהזהיר שלא יניע נפשו לנקימה ולא ירגיל לכעוס...
But cursing the deaf - since he/she can’t hear or feel hurt because of the curse - behold, there is no sin in the matter. Therefore, the Torah teaches us that cursing the deaf is forbidden, and it warns about it, since the Torah is concerned not only with the one who is cursed, but also with the one who curses, who is warned not to be vindictive and hot-tempered.
- How does this approach to not cursing the deaf differ from Sefer HaChinuch above?
- What does he teach us about the dangers of privilege and how to address them?
- Does the Rambam or Sefer HaChinuch’s approach resonate more strongly with you? Are there other reasons you think it might be forbidden to curse someone who can’t hear you?
מעיין המושך לפני עבודת כוכבים לא ישחה וישתה מפני שנראה כמשתחוה לעבודת כוכבים ואם אינו נראה מותר מאי אינו נראה אילימא דלא מתחזי והאמר רב יהודה אמר רב כל מקום שאסרו חכמים מפני מראית העין אפילו בחדרי חדרים אסור אלא אימא אם אינו נראה כמשתחוה לעבודת כוכבים מותר
Likewise, if there is a spring that runs before an object of idol worship, one may not bend down and drink from it, because he appears to be bowing down to the object of idol worship; but if he is not seen, it is permitted. The Gemara asks: What does the baraita mean when it states: If he is not seen? If we say it means that he is not seen by others, doesn’t Rav Yehuda say that Rav says: Wherever the Sages prohibited an action due to the appearance of prohibition, it is prohibited even in the innermost chambers. Rather, say: If he is not seen as one who bows down to an object of idol worship, i.e., he turns his side or back to the idol, then it is permitted.
Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, "What is the theme of the stories of Genesis?"
When a society loses faith (LB: see end of Lev. 19:14), eventually it loses the very idea of a sexual ethic, and the result in the long term is violence and the exploitation of the powerless by the powerful. Women suffer. Children suffer. There is a breakdown of trust where it matters most. So it was in the days of the patriarchs. Sadly, so it is today. Judaism, by contrast, is the sanctification of relationship, the love between husband and wife which is as close as we will ever get to understanding G‑d’s love for us.