A Halakhic Endorsement of Coed Schools

One medieval commentator provides support for this beautiful Modern Orthodox practice

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It has long been the practice in Modern Orthodox communities to establish coed schools, in keeping with the "Modern", egalitarian part of their ethos, if not the "Orthodox”. However, halakhic justification has been hard to come by, does the Torah not warn in many places that undue interaction between the sexes leads to immorality?

Of course, as the great Modern Orthodox intellectuals have reminded us repeatedly, halakha was not universally kept by the Jewish people, certainly not in all ages. This applies doubly regarding the sexual code (arayot). For example, the Jews in the desert freely ignored the violation of taking Midianite women. Men of the tribe of Benjamin had no problems having their way with another man's concubine. The prophets already complained about infidelity and immorality among the Jews of the First Temple. Clearly these laws were not always considered binding. Therefore, it would be a mistake to blithely assert, as chareidi ideology insists, that tradition demands adherence to the halakha in this matter.

However, upon review of this past week's parashah (Torah portion), one can find additional halakhic support for this practice. On the law of "Seduction of a young maiden" (Ex. 22:15), the medieval commentator Rabbi Moshe ben Nakhman (1194-1270) comments

כי דרך ארץ להיות בחורי חמד מפתים בתולות

It is proper ethical conduct for handsome young lads to seduce young, unmarried maidens

What does this mean? As we know, derekh eretz (proper ethical conduct) is among the most important Jewish values, to the extent that the Sages say derekh eretz kadmah l'Torah, ethical conduct supersedes Torah observance. Nachmanides is ruling that it is derekh eretz, ethically proper, for young men to seduce and sleep with unmarried young women, presumably in the spirit of egalitarianism. Although Nachmanides was most well-known as a halakhist and a mystic, he also had rationalist tendencies, having had the benefit of a rigorous secular education in the best universities of the period, to which this egalitarianism is undoubtedly owed.

This position of Nachmanides is a hearty, full-throated endorsement of the Modern Orthodox practice of coed schooling from one of the most pre-eminent halakhic authorities in history. And even those who disagree mee'ikkar hadin (by the strict interpretation of the law) would admit that this source provides a yesh al mi li’smokh (one upon whom to rely).