This question came to hanut me this past week, I was listening to Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat on my MP3 player while working around the house. At one point I needed to go to the bathroom and, without thinking about it, continued to listen to Joseph.
Now, I don't want to say that Joseph is a "davar sheb'kedusha;" I'm fairly certain it's not. But it can very easily lead one to think about the personages and the story involved -- and that clearly DOES count as divrei Torah.
So, where does one draw the line between the secular and permitted and the holy and the not permitted? When the secular and the holy are sort of mixed in this fashion, where is the dividing line.
(Related question: Can one
The Wolf
10 comments:
THEY CANCELLED KINGS!?!?!
Actually, nothing goes better with defecation than "I'm a lumberjack" by Jackal.
Sadly, yes, they canceled Kings. It's a shame... it was quite interesting.
The Wolf
I don't have this problem as much as with what seems to be an innocent book or mag. Sittin' down, all comfy with my reading material, and OOPS - there's a Bible quote or some discussion of a religious topic. If it's a browser-type book (like Uncle John's), I just flip the page, but if it's a linear-read it usually gets closed up and removed as bathroom reading.
Er Wolf, hate to nitpick, but your last question about Kings raises some interesting scenarios. Discussion, by definition, requires two or more people. So presumably if two people are present in the bathroom none of the activities we generally associate with bathrooms are going to be taking place. Since they aren't taking place then why would the discussion not be allowed? Is it bathrooms as a location where thoughts of Torah are not allowed or is it that one should not think of Torah while engaged in basic bathroom activities.
Sigh... Some of us are crazy enough to talk to ourselves too. :)
Nonetheless, I'll concede the point. The post has been modified.
The Wolf
Well, since you never know when you might have a Torah-related thought (or even start humming a secular tune that may be Bible-based), many of the Gedolei Yisroel now hold that it's best not to go to the bathroom at all.
My rabbi in high school said it is ok to go through gemorah notes that we took while we are in the bathroom. I think the main issur is thinking about G-D in the bathroom. However, reading bible stories and things would probably be permitted.
in college i avoided reading my geology textbooks in the bathroom. ma rabu ma‘asékha Hashem and all that.
what about when you listen to JM in the AM when you get up. if you put on the radio in the bedroom, what about hearing it in the bathroom or toilet room
I always had an issue with my dad davening at the top of his lungs when I was trying to use the bathroom...
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