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Full Body Scanners Stir Debate
By: DAN VERBIN
Published: January 28th 2010
With the introduction of whole-body scanners into airports in Canada and the United States, leaders in the Orthodox and Conservative communities on both sides of the boarder have begun a debate into the Jewish notion of tzniut (“modesty”
in a post-911, security-conscious world.
While the laws of tzniut are observed in different ways by each denomination, they generally require Jews to cover their bodies.
The most problematic aspect of the scanners is that they can see through clothing, something that has also been a cause for concern for civil libertarians.
Religious leaders in the American Orthodox and Conservative communities have even sent a letter to a Senate subcommittee asking for a compromise on introduction of the scanning technology. North American Muslim groups have also complained.
Rabbi Chaim Strauchler of Shaarei Shomayim Congregation, a modern Orthodox synagogue in Toronto, said that protection of life (pikuach nefesh) is a Jewish value that trumps all others. He gave the example of violating Shabbat to save a life – an act that is not only allowed, but required.
“Modesty in an essential value in our culture. Application of this is one of balancing the two values of human safety and modesty,” he said.
He also noted that going through a full body scanner is not really that different than getting examined by a doctor, which Jews of all types regularly do without any qualms.
The key is to use the scanners in a reasonable way that takes security into account but does not abuse the value of modesty in the process.
“That doesn’t mean that modesty is given a pass as a value in security situations,” he said. “You build your security system to ensure an environment of professionalism and you make sure that the images are not compromised and that they are only viewed by security professionals.”
Because the airport official would be viewing the image in a separate room away from the traveller being scanned, Rabbi Harvey Meirovich of Toronto’s Beth Tzedec Congregation, a Conservative synagogue, cannot even believe that this is a major issue.
The question of whether whole-body scanners violate Jewish modesty laws “is an absolutely ridiculous question to ask, particularly in a post-911 world,” Meirovich said. “This whole thing is a mountain out of a molehill.”
To him, the scan is not at all different from getting an X-ray. Like Strauchler, he also pointed out that the sanctity of life has supremacy in Judaism. He does not believe that the scans violate modesty, but even if they did, he said that saving lives takes priority.
“We live in a world where security has to be done. You have to weigh the modesty issue versus the life threatening potential,” said Meirovich. “The principal of pikuach nefesh takes precedence over all aspects of life. This is the case even if there was infringing on the modesty of a person. Even there, it is of less important than potentially saving a life.”
http://www.shalomlife.com/eng/4379/Full_Body_Scanners_Stir_Debate/
http://www.ynet.co.il/english/articles/0,7340,L-3831622,00.html
http://www.theyeshivaworld.com/article.php?p=44415
http://www.forward.com/articles/123364/
well, well...both religions seem to agree that it violates modesty. go figure.
in response to:
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2050142
By: DAN VERBIN
Published: January 28th 2010
airport security
Pic: fotolia
With the introduction of whole-body scanners into airports in Canada and the United States, leaders in the Orthodox and Conservative communities on both sides of the boarder have begun a debate into the Jewish notion of tzniut (“modesty”
in a post-911, security-conscious world.While the laws of tzniut are observed in different ways by each denomination, they generally require Jews to cover their bodies.
The most problematic aspect of the scanners is that they can see through clothing, something that has also been a cause for concern for civil libertarians.
Religious leaders in the American Orthodox and Conservative communities have even sent a letter to a Senate subcommittee asking for a compromise on introduction of the scanning technology. North American Muslim groups have also complained.
Rabbi Chaim Strauchler of Shaarei Shomayim Congregation, a modern Orthodox synagogue in Toronto, said that protection of life (pikuach nefesh) is a Jewish value that trumps all others. He gave the example of violating Shabbat to save a life – an act that is not only allowed, but required.
“Modesty in an essential value in our culture. Application of this is one of balancing the two values of human safety and modesty,” he said.
He also noted that going through a full body scanner is not really that different than getting examined by a doctor, which Jews of all types regularly do without any qualms.
The key is to use the scanners in a reasonable way that takes security into account but does not abuse the value of modesty in the process.
“That doesn’t mean that modesty is given a pass as a value in security situations,” he said. “You build your security system to ensure an environment of professionalism and you make sure that the images are not compromised and that they are only viewed by security professionals.”
Because the airport official would be viewing the image in a separate room away from the traveller being scanned, Rabbi Harvey Meirovich of Toronto’s Beth Tzedec Congregation, a Conservative synagogue, cannot even believe that this is a major issue.
The question of whether whole-body scanners violate Jewish modesty laws “is an absolutely ridiculous question to ask, particularly in a post-911 world,” Meirovich said. “This whole thing is a mountain out of a molehill.”
To him, the scan is not at all different from getting an X-ray. Like Strauchler, he also pointed out that the sanctity of life has supremacy in Judaism. He does not believe that the scans violate modesty, but even if they did, he said that saving lives takes priority.
“We live in a world where security has to be done. You have to weigh the modesty issue versus the life threatening potential,” said Meirovich. “The principal of pikuach nefesh takes precedence over all aspects of life. This is the case even if there was infringing on the modesty of a person. Even there, it is of less important than potentially saving a life.”
http://www.shalomlife.com/eng/4379/Full_Body_Scanners_Stir_Debate/
http://www.ynet.co.il/english/articles/0,7340,L-3831622,00.html
http://www.theyeshivaworld.com/article.php?p=44415
http://www.forward.com/articles/123364/
well, well...both religions seem to agree that it violates modesty. go figure.
in response to:
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2050142
Last edited:
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