Where does the truth lie?

The coat of arms of the priestly Rapaport family first appeared as a colophon at the end of Avraham Menachem Rapa of Porto’s Mincha Belulah (Verona, 1594). Instead of a motto, a banner proclaimed the author’s name above and below the shield which featured a pair of hands raised in priestly benediction in the upper half, while below was depicted a crow on a branch, a reference to the author’s family name. The shield is flanked by two heraldic ‘supporters’. The ‘supporters’ feature two female torsos rampant facing away from the shield. They are nude from the waist up.

It was by no means rare to encounter nude women in Hebrew books between the sixteenth and the early eighteenth centuries, even prominently displayed on the covers. Nevertheless, nowadays such nudity proves unsettling to the Orthodox public.

The coat of arms clearly shows two topless women. This cannot be mistaken. However, when Mincha Belulah was reprinted the ‘supporters’ were modestly transgendered and piously rendered with beards! 

I am looking forward to the reprint. Black hats will most definitely feature and potentially streimels. One question still remains, why aren’t the ‘supporters’ wearing tzitzus and a yarmulke?

When interviewed, Rav Aaron Lichtenstein was offended by the fact that the ‘supporters’ were given beards. He responded, “I know that Judaism today is summed up by the size of one’s hat and length of one’s beard but look at me, I am clean shaven and whose daughter did I marry?” Rav Lichtenstein was referencing the fact that he is married to Rav Yosef Dov Soloveitchik’s daughter, the seminal figure of Modern Orthodox Judaism.