A Talmudic Perspective on the Coldplay Scandal

The CEO of a technology company and one of his employees briefly became the center of national attention when a video taken at a rock concert exposed their extramarital affair—first to other concertgoers, then to the whole world. While from a traditional Jewish perspective such dalliances obviously deserve condemnation, Itamar Frankenthal is equally concerned about the gleeful sharing of the footage. He cites the Talmud’s teaching that “public humiliation is akin to bloodshed,” as illustrated by the story of Tamar and Judah in the book of Genesis.