No fan of “monkey” business

Recently, our local Jewish newspaper printed a distressing article about Rabbi Herschel Schachter, Rosh (head of) Yeshiva and Rosh Kollel of Yeshiva University’s Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (RIETS), *allegedly* the rabbinical seminary of Modern Orthodox Judaism. As a posek (decisor of halachah/Jewish religious law), he was asked whether a woman is permitted to read the ketubah (Jewish marriage contract) at a wedding. He’s reported to have replied that “even if a parrot or a monkey would read the ketubah, the marriage would be 100 percent valid. . . . Yes, a monkey could also read the ketubbah.” That it never occurred to him that Jewish women might feel insulted by his choice of words is astounding. I would have expected a rabbi to understand the basic concept of derech eretz (common courtesy and consideration). If this is Rabbi Schachter's idea of leading by example, I pity the Orthodox.