Our final daf of Masechet Kiddushin shares two new Mishnayot. Both extend the notion of seclusion to every-day decisions about career.
Our first Mishna teaches that bachelors and women should not be teachers. Bachelors should not herd cattle nor should they sleep with other bachelors under a blanket. Ultimately the rabbis permit these activities.
Why shouldn't bachelors and women be teachers? Not because of a fear of sexual interference, but because teaching invites opportunities to be alone with parents of the children. This can lead to temptation and to seclusion. Why shouldn't bachelors be alone with cattle? A fear of bestiality. And why shouldn't two bachelors be permitted to sleep under a blanket together? A fear of homosexual behaviour. However, the rabbis agree that Jewish bachelors can be trusted not to engage in bestiality nor in homosexual behaviour, and so these actions are permitted.
Interestingly, this leniency allows men to be together, two under one blanket. Certainly some of the rabbis themselves were gay. Were these decisions agreed upon to permit men more opportunities to find intimacy with each other? Or is this leniency coincidental?
Our second Mishna is longer. It teaches that men should not choose trades that force them to be secluded with women - whether with one woman or with a group of women. Rabbi Meir teaches that one should teach his son a clean and easy trade, and to pray (for success) to the One to Whom wealth and prosperity belong - for every profession offers the possibility of poverty and wealth. The trade does not determine poverty or wealth; we earn our conditions based on our merit. Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar teaches that animals have no trade and yet they are happy. We will experience anguish in our trades - and he claims that he committed evil actions and thus lost his livelihood.
The rabbis share their opinions regarding which tradespeople are robbers (ex.donkey drivers, sailors, pot-makers, storekeepers, etc.) and which are good-hearted. Rav Nehorai suggests that teaching our sons only Torah, and not trades, will keep them happy in their youth and healthy in their old ages. This is proven by texts.
The Gemara shares a list of professions that one should avoid - in fact, we should avoid those who practice those professions. Smiths, carders (weavers), bloodletters, barbers, launderers, bath house attendants, etc... Bloodletters are described as particularly arrogant, envious, and prone to thieve and sin sexually. Needlework is said to be a clean and easy trade, but the rabbis remind us that it would have to be particular needlework that was done by men only.
One statement compares good to bad trades: perfumers to tanners, for example. And then we learn that while women and men are both needed in the world, "Fortunate are those who have male children and woe is to those who have female children". No comment is required here.
Our final daf opens up the concept of kiddushin to the importance of maintaining respectable and gendered roles through one's professional work. The distancing of men and women ensures that the structure of ancient society could continue to function without much upset. However, the inequity of that society sits like a secret unspoken. Yes, women have attempted to reframe our roles. However, reading today's daf emphasizes the lived reality of both men and women: a strict patriarchal structure ensures that some men are satisfied with their lives with many men and almost all women live with less respect, less value, and less power to determine their own destinies. This is ancient Judaism: a beautiful, intricate, complex system that honours G-d through hierarchy.
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