Yoma 30 ~ The Talmud, Congenital Penile Malformations, and a Greek Vase

In today’s page of Talmud comes this ruling:

יומא ל, א

דְּאָמַר רַבִּי אַמֵּי: אָסוּר לְאָדָם שֶׁיֵּצֵא בְּנִיצוֹצוֹת שֶׁעַל גַּבֵּי רַגְלָיו, מִפְּנֵי שֶׁנִּרְאֶה כִּכְרוּת שפְכָה, וּמוֹצִיא לַעַז עַל בָּנָיו שֶׁהֵן מַמְזֵרִים

Rabbi Ami said: It is prohibited for a man to go out with the drops of urine that are on his legs, because he appears as one whose penis has been crushed. [A man with that condition is incapable of fathering children. People who see urine on his legs might suspect that he is suffering from that condition] and spread rumors about his children that they are mamzerim [which is a person born of a forbidden relationship. Therefore, one must be certain to brush the drops of urine from his legs].

Rabbi Ami’s teaching goes like this. If a man has drops of urine on his legs, people might think that this happened because he has a penile malformation. And if that’s the case, he couldn’t have fathered any children, because of his malformation. And if he does happen to have children, rumors will spread that they could not have been sired by the man in question. And then they might be declared mamzerim.

There is in fact a Torah prohibition forbidding a man with a penile malformation to marry (Deut 23:2):

לֹֽא־יָבֹ֧א פְצֽוּעַ־דַּכָּ֛א וּכְר֥וּת שָׁפְכָ֖ה בִּקְהַ֥ל יְהוָֽה׃

No one whose testes are crushed or whose member is cut off shall be admitted into the congregation of the Lord.

The precise meaning of these categories are not certain. But the Tosefta (a group of teachings that sort of supplement the those found in the Mishnah) adds some details:

תוספתא יבמות 10:4

איזהו כרות שפכה כל שנכרת הגיד מן העטרה ולפנים אם נשתייר מן עטרה לפנים אפי' כחוט השערה סמוך לראש ומקיף את כולה כשר ניקב מלמטה פסול מפני שהוא שופך נסתם כשר מפני שהוא מוליד וזהו פסול שחוזר להכשירו מעוך וכתות נתוק וכרות כולם בביצים דברי ר' יהודה ר"א בן יעקב אומר כולם בגיד ר' יוסי אומר מעוך וכתות בביצים נתוק וכרות בגיד

Who is considered a man “whose member is crushed (כרות שפכה)”? …a man whose hole [i.e. his urethra] is at the base of the penis is forbidden [to marry] for he is a man who spills his seed [- that is, he is incapable of fertilization].

Hypospadiasis in Greek Literature

The disorder that is described in today’s page of Talmud is a called hypospadiasis. This is a congenital (meaning birth) defect, and occurs when the penis does not form properly in utero. As a result the urethera, which is the thin tube that carries urine out of the bladder and into the toilet bowl, does not end at the tip of the penis, but rather at some other place, usually in the midline of the shaft.

It was first described by Aristotle in the 4th century BCE. He noted that boys with this disorder would sit when they urinated, rather than stand.

There have been instances of boys in whom the termination of the penis has not coincided with the passage through which the residue from the bladder passes out, so that the passage came too low; and on this account they sit in order to pass water, and when the testes are drawn up they seem from a distance to have both male and female generative organs.

Of course this would avoid the very problem that is dealt with in today’s page of Talmud, namely, how to keep spots of urine off of one’s legs. (It would seem that the sages of the Talmud didn’t think this one through…)

The term hypospadiasis comes from the Greek physician Galen, who lived some 500 years after Aristotle. Hypo means under and spadon means a fissure. Other ancient physicians also mention the malformation, like Heliodorus (1st century CE), Antyllos (2nd century CE) and the Byzantine physician Oribasius (c.320-400 CE.)

Talmudic and Modern Medical classifications of Hypospadiasis

The Talmud in Yevamot details some of the different types of hypospodiasis:

יבמות עו, א

אמר רב יהודה אמר שמואל ניקב ונסתם כל שאילו נקרי ונקרע פסול ואי לאו כשר הוי בה

רבא היכא אילימא למטה מעטרה אפי' נכרת נמי אלא בעטרה עצמה איתמר נמי אמר רב מרי בר מר אמר מר עוקבא אמר שמואל ניקב בעטרה עצמה ונסתם כל שאילו נקרי ונקרע פסול ואי לאו כשר

Rav Yehuda said that Shmuel said: If a man’s member had been punctured and it later healed and the hole closed up with flesh, in any case where, if he would emit semen, it would tear open again, he is unfit to enter into the congregation; but if not, he is fit.

Rava discussed this ruling and raised a question: Where is this perforation? If we say it is below the corona, at the end of the man’s member, why should this perforation render him unfit? Even if the member was entirely severed, he would also be fit. Rather, the hole is in the corona itself, that is, at the point where the corona meets the rest of the member. It was also stated explicitly that this is the case, as Rav Mari bar Mar said that Mar Ukva said that Shmuel said: If a man’s member had been punctured in the corona itself, and it later healed and the hole closed up with flesh, in any case where if he would emit semen it would tear open again, he is unfit; but if not, he is fit.

This discussion seems to be focussed on injuries to the penis, rather than congenital malformations like hypospodiasis, but it demonstrates that the rabbis took the classification of penile injuries and malformations very seriously. Rav Huna, for example, states that המטיל מים משתי מקומות פסול -”a man who urinates from two openings” cannot marry a Jew. This is a good description of a urethral fistula, in which there is an additional tract in the urethra that ends somewhere other than at the tip of the penis.

So much for the Talmud’s classification. Today, the disorder is classified by where the tip of the urethra (called the urethral meatus) is located, and as you can see in the diagram below, the meatus can be close to the tip of the penis, where it should be, or quite far from it. This classification is not the end of the story however, because there may be other things that make life difficult, like curvature of the penis.

The meatal locations in varying degrees of hypospadias. The potential meatal locations of hypospadias in varying presentations, ranging from glanular hypospadias to perineal hypospadias. From Chen Y et al. The current state of tissue engineering in the management of hypospadias. Nature Reviews Urology. February 2020

hypospadias in ancient Greek art

There is one (and so far only one) example of a representation of hypospadias in ancient Greek art. As Konstantinos Laios of the History of Medicine Department at the Medical School of the University of Athens in Greece pointed out in his article on the subject, it is known as the “phallus-vulva” vase, and dates back to around 610 BCE. It was discovered at Naucratis in Egypt in an unspecified sanctuary, but one probably belonging to Aphrodite. As you can just about see in the rather poor quality image from the paper, there is a hole at the base of the penis that “led archeologists to conclude that …[it] was the representation of a vulva, which was reinforced by the small-dot decoration around it. Therefore, it was believed that this decoration depicted male and female genitals seeking fertility. Moreover, in a cult or sexual context, it was associated with the god Dionysus and goddess Aphrodite.”

The so-called “phallus-vulva” vase. Part of the archaic Greek pottery of Chios. From Konstantinos Laios, Marianna Karamanou, George Androutsos. A unique representation of hypospadias in ancient Greek art. Can Urol Assoc J 2012;6(1):e1-2.

But Dr. Laios thinks there is more to this vase:

From our point of view, this phallus has the typical characteristics of a third degree penoscrotal hypospadias. The absence of the chordee is not problematic and the place of the meatus denotes an erected form to unveil the hole. This is a unique case, as other examples of hypospadias representation in ancient Greek art are not known.

Repair of Hypospodiasis - Then and Now

The Talmud in Yevamot actually records a kind of plastic surgery operation that was described by the famous Babylonia sage Abaye:

יבמות עו, א

שלח ליה רב אידי בר אבין לאביי היכי עבדינן מייתינן שערתא ומסרטינן ליה ומייתינן תרבא ושייפינן ומייתינן שומשנא גמלא ומנכתינן ליה ופסקינן ליה לרישיה ודוקא שערתא אבל פרזלא מזרף זריף וה"מ קטן אבל גדול מיקפולי מיקפל

Rav Idi bar Avin sent the following question to Abaye: What should we do to expedite the healing of such a perforation? Abaye answered: We bring a sharp-edged grain of barley and lacerate the area around the hole with it. We then bring fat and rub it on the spot, and afterward we bring a large ant [shumshena] and let it bite inside the hole. [This leads to bleeding and the formation of a scab, which eventually heals as new flesh grows there.] We also cut off the ant’s head so that it should remain in place until the wound is fully healed. And this procedure must be done specifically with a grain of barley, but an iron tool would cause inflammation [zareif ]. And this applies only to a small perforation, but a large one will eventually peel off and reopen.

(And that ant thing? It’s real, though given the location of the wound, I would think twice.) Compare the surgery recommended in the talmudic era with this description of what is around the corner:

Urethral tissue engineering has been studied for many years with increasingly promising results. However, for repair of hypospadias specifically, creation of a long, tubular construct with the ability to facilitate robust angiogenesis and fast regeneration is required. New technologies could improve generation of this type of construct. Amongst the various advances are the use of nanotechnology and 3D bioprinting. Nanotechnology enables researchers to directly influence the cellular microenvironment and influence processes such as vascularization and wound healing. In particular, nanofibres composed of synthetic or natural polymers are effective in altering the microenvironment as mod­ules of drug delivery or sensors for cellular migra­tion. Extracellular matrix­ mimicking nanofibres have been used to evaluate the spatial and temporal processes of cell emergence onto damaged or organized matrices, which can potentially be used to characterize the process of wound healing in hypospadias repair and identify risk factors for fistula formation. They are also effective in local drug delivery…

3D bioprinting also has applications in tissue engi­neering. The use of the now commercially available 3D bioprinter might enable urethral constructs to be printed with specifications tailored to each patient’s needs. Furthermore, the precision and accuracy of the printer might help make cell seeding more uniform than conventional methods.

It is a technology that is still in its infancy, but is already being used to save lives and help restore human dignity. It would take a while to explain it all to Abaye, but once he grasped the idea, he would, no doubt, be very willing to swap his barley and biting ants for a nice new shiny 3-D printer.

Future applications of 3D bioprinting and nanotechnology in hypospadias repair. The use of 3D bioprinting and nanoparticles along with cellularization to create urethral constructs for hypospadias repair. Autologous stem cells can be collected, cultured and incorporated into 3D bioprinted urethral constructs tailored to the patient’s needs and supplemented with nanoparticles for use in repair. From Chen Y et al. The current state of tissue engineering in the management of hypospadias. Nature Reviews Urology. February 2020.

Next Time on Talmudology: Sharpening Knives

Yoma 29a ~ Psalm 22 and the Husband Stitch

Psalm 22 opens with the following phrase: לִמְנַצֵּחַ עַל אַיֶּלֶת הַשַּׁחַר - and it turns out to be rather difficult to translate. One translation is “To the chief Musician upon Aijeleth Shahar,” which is not really much of a translation. Another translation is “For the leader; according to “The deer of the dawn.””

The rabbis may have understood the words, but they found the meaning of this verse to be challenging. In today’s page of Talmud there are three explanations. The first comes from Rabbi Abahu:

יומא כט,א

דִּכְתִיב: ״לִמְנַצֵּחַ עַל אַיֶּלֶת הַשַּׁחַר״, מָה אַיָּלָה זוֹ קַרְנֶיהָ מַפְצִילוֹת לְכָאן וּלְכָאן, אַף שַׁחַר זֶה מַפְצִיעַ לְכָאן וּלְכָאן.

It is as it is written: “For the leader, about the morning hind” (Psalms 22:1); just as the antlers of a hind branch out from here to there, so too, the light of dawn diffuses from here to there.

This explanation is an atmospheric one. Just as the antlers of a deer grow in several different directions, so to the light of the dawn, known as אַיֶּלֶת הַשַּׁחַר “ayelet hashahar” - is diffused in many directions.(One of the many meanings of the phrase אַיֶּלֶת הַשַּׁחַר is “the morning star, “which is the name of the planet Venus.)

Another explanation comes from Rabbi Assi, who links Queen Esther to the appearance of the dawn:

אָמַר רַבִּי אַסִּי: לָמָּה נִמְשְׁלָה אֶסְתֵּר לְשַׁחַר — לוֹמַר לָךְ: מָה שַׁחַר סוֹף כל הַלַּיְלָה, אַף אֶסְתֵּר סוֹף כל הַנִּסִּים

Rabbi Assi said: Why was Esther likened to the dawn? It is to tell you: Just as the dawn is the conclusion of the entire night, so too, Esther was the conclusion of all miracles performed for the entire Jewish people.

That’s nice. But it is on the explanation of Rabbi Zeira that we will focus:

אָמַר רַבִּי זֵירָא: לָמָּה נִמְשְׁלָה אֶסְתֵּר לְאַיָּלָה — לוֹמַר לָךְ: מָה אַיָּלָה רַחְמָהּ צַר וַחֲבִיבָה עַל בַּעְלָהּ כל שָׁעָה וְשָׁעָה כְּשָׁעָה רִאשׁוֹנָה, אַף אֶסְתֵּר הָיְתָה חֲבִיבָה עַל אֲחַשְׁוֵרוֹשׁ כל שָׁעָה וְשָׁעָה כְּשָׁעָה רִאשׁוֹנָה

Rabbi Zeira said: Why is Esther likened to a doe? It is to tell you: Just as in the case of a doe its womb is narrow and it is desirable to its mate at each and every hour like it is at the first hour, so too, Esther was desirable to Ahasuerus at each and every hour like she was at the first hour.

Rabbi Zeira here articulates a very surprising explanation, whose purpose was to praise Esther's anatomy. He claims that the vagina of the female deer (and not the uterus, even though that is the usual translation of the word rechem,) is especially “narrow” and so the male deer finds intercourse especially pleasurable. (A female deer is called called a doe or a hind, from where we get the Yiddish word for a deer - hinda.) So too, the wicked Persian King Ahasuerus longed for intercourse with Esther and found each time as pleasurable as the first.

So a couple of things. First, the vagina of a deer is not especially narrow. It is the perfect size for what it needs to do. It is no more comparatively narrow than that of a dog, a monkey, or a whale, and there no evidence whatsoever that male deer have a greater urge to mate than does the male of any other species. Indeed, it is the very presence of those other species on the planet that indicates that the mating urge of the males of each of those species is perfect, thank you very much. Even that of the Black Widow spider, in whom the tiny male mates with the larger female, only to be eaten alive, in an example of what biologists call sexual cannibalism.

Second, Rabbi Zeira’s midrashic explanation in fact tells us about his mindset, rather than revealing any fact of the natural world. A man longs for intercourse with a woman who has a narrow, or tight vagina. That is what Rabbi Zeira is saying. But before you mutter something inappropriate under your breath, you should realize that this fantasy is still prevalent, and can be found in the medical literature.

The Husband Stitch

Here is a 2020 entry from Medical News Today about “the husband stitch.”

The “husband stitch” refers to an extra stitch that some women may have received after vaginal delivery led to their perineum becoming cut or torn.

This stitch extends beyond what is necessary to repair a natural tear during childbirth or a cut from an episiotomy. The supposed purpose of the husband stitch is to tighten the vagina to its predelivery state.

It is important to note that the husband stitch is neither an accepted practice nor an approved medical procedure. Researchers have gathered most of the evidence about the husband stitch from the testimony of women who have had it and from healthcare workers who have witnessed it.

The origin of the husband stitch, or vaginal tightening surgery, traces back to the mid-1950s.

While repairing a vaginal delivery tear or episiotomy, a gynecologist would tighten the entrance of a woman’s vagina by adding an extra stitch.

Doctors stated that this procedure could improve a woman’s well-being by preserving the size and shape of the vagina, either to increase the frequency of her orgasms or to enhance a man’s pleasure in intercourse. At that time, it was also called the husband’s knot or a vaginal tuck.

Is the husband stitch an urban legend? No. Here is an excerpt from a peer-reviewed paper that appeared in Seminars in Plastic Surgery titled Aesthetic surgery of the female genitalia:

Vaginal laxity, as it is called, is a common complaint among parous women. Although women report that reduced sexual sensation is the most common specific symptom of vaginal laxity, it is not clear that this phenomenon is directly related to sexual dysfunction.

Vaginal tightening surgery has been around since the mid fifties, where gynecologists used to tighten the entrance of a woman's vagina with an extra stitch while repairing vaginal and perineum tears or episiotomies after giving birth. At that time it was notoriously known as the “husband's stitch,” the “husband's knot,” or the “vaginal tuck,” and doctors discreetly referred to this procedure as “improving a woman's well-being.”

The goal of these procedures is to reconstruct (or to narrow) the lower third of the vagina, which includes “the orgasmic platform, internal and external vaginal diameter (introitus) and the perineal body.” The procedure enhances vaginal muscle tone strength and control, and decreases internal and external vaginal diameters. Women choosing to have their vaginas tightened are generally healthy women without true functional disorders. 

In vaginal tightening procedures, portions of mucosa are excised from the vaginal fornices (via scalpel, needle electrode, or laser) to surgically “tighten” the lower third of the vagina. Presently there is no standardization of this procedure: It can be an anterior colporrhaphy, a high-posterior colporrhaphy, an excision of lateral vaginal mucosa, or a combination…known complications are localized infection and vaginal bleeding. Ninety five percent of patients treated with lateral colporrhaphy reported an improvement in sexual sensitivity, as well as greater vaginal tightness at the 6 months follow-up

Rabbi Ziera’s explanation of the first verse of Psalm 22 reflects this male fantasy, one which today, some women will accomodate by undergoing surgery. Rather than shy away from discussing these intimate and important areas of our life, the Talmud gives us an opportunity to explore them. It is up to us to do so with modesty, empathy and equity, while always giving the lead to women that for centuries, they were denied.

“They take the baby so that they may fix me where they cut. They give me something that makes me sleepy, delivered through a mask pressed gently to my mouth and nose. My husband jokes around with the doctor as he holds my hand.

– How much to get that extra stitch? he asks. You offer that, right?
– Please, I say to him. But it comes out slurred and twisted and possibly no more than a small moan. Neither man turns his head toward me.

The doctor chuckles. You aren’t the first –

I slide down a long tunnel, and then surface again, but covered in something heavy and dark, like oil. I feel like I am going to vomit.

– the rumor is something like –
– like a vir–

And then I am awake, wide awake, and my husband is gone and the doctor is gone. And the baby, where is –

The nurse sticks her head in the door.

– Your husband just went to get a coffee, she says, and the baby is asleep in the bassinet.

The doctor walks in behind her, wiping his hands on a cloth.

– You’re all sewn up, don’t you worry, he said. Nice and tight, everyone’s happy. The nurse will speak with you about recovery. You’re going to need to rest for a while.”

— Carmen Maria Machado, The Husband Stitch. Granta.

You Talked: We Listened. Copernicus Now in Paperback

Every few days I would get an email asking if there was a way to buy my book other than by winning the New Jersey Lottery. The list price for the hardback edition of New Heavens and a New Earth; The Jewish Reception of Copernican Thought is…$105. I know. Insane.

But armed with some good sales numbers Oxford University Press has released a new paperback edition. So now the wait is over. You can head over to Amazon and buy it for the bargain price of only $34.95 - that’s a third of the hardback price. It’s the perfect summer read for those lazy days round the pool or at the beach.

So for all those who wrote, thank you for your interest and support.

You can download and read the Table of Contents and the Introduction here and here.

Buy on Amazon

“This fascinating volume offers both a definitive history of the Jewish encounter with Copernican thought and a carefully-nuanced analysis of how religion and science interact. A model study.”

— — Jonathan D. Sarna, Braun Professor of American Jewish History, Brandeis University and Chief Historian, National Museum of American Jewish History, Philadelphia, PA

“..a major work of historical scholarship which is sure to provide a vital point of reference in the science-religion debate for years to come”

— — Mark Harris, University of Edinburgh. Expository Times, May 2015.

“Très bien documenté et très dense tout en restant très agréable à lire et très accessible, rempli de bon sens et de pondération dans ses analyses et ses conclusions, très utile pour notre temps...”

— — Jean-Francois Stoffel, Review of Ecclesiastical History 2017

“Jeremy Brown has written a deeply researched and insightful account of a fascinating chapter in the often-fraught encounter between religion and science: the impact of the Copernican revolution on Jewish thinkers from its first appearance to today. This is an enthralling work, a wonderful addition to scholarship on a subject that continues to engage us today.”

— The late Chief Rabbi Lord Sacks, author of The Great Partnership: God, Science and the Search for Meaning

Yoma 20b ~ Sound Propagation at Night

In discussing the service on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish Year, the Talmud notes that the voice of the Cohen Gadol, the High Priest, could be heard from a distance of ten parsangs. In case you were wondering, a parsang is an old Persian measure, and is about 3 miles or almost 5km. This means that the voice of the High Priest could be heard over 30 miles away! The Talmud notes that it could be heard at this distance even during the day, when sound does not travel as far as it does at night. Here it is, in the original:

שקלים כ,א

דְּאָמַר מָר: וּכְבָר אָמַר ״אָנָא הַשֵּׁם״ וְנִשְׁמַע קוֹלוֹ בִּירִיחוֹ. וְאָמַר רַבָּה בַּר בַּר חָנָה אָמַר רַבִּי יוֹחָנָן: מִירוּשָׁלַיִם לִירִיחוֹ עֲשַׂר פַּרְסֵי

וְאַף עַל גַּב דְּהָכָא אִיכָּא חוּלְשָׁא, וְהָכָא לֵיכָּא חוּלְשָׁא. וְהָכָא יְמָמָא, וְהָתָם לֵילְיָא

דְּאָמַר רַבִּי לֵוִי: מִפְּנֵי מָה אֵין קוֹלוֹ שֶׁל אָדָם נִשְׁמָע בַּיּוֹם כְּדֶרֶךְ שֶׁנִּשְׁמָע בַּלַּיְלָה? מִפְּנֵי גַּלְגַּל חַמָּה שֶׁמְּנַסֵּר בָּרָקִיעַ כְּחָרָשׁ הַמְנַסֵּר בַּאֲרָזִים

There already was an incident where the High Priest recited, in his confession that accompanied the placing of hands on his bull on Yom Kippur: Please God, and his voice was heard in Jericho. And Rabba bar bar Chana said that Rabbi Yochanan said: The distance from Jerusalem to Jericho is ten parasangs.

…here it was during the day, when sound does not travel as well, that the High Priest recited his confession… As Rabbi Levi said: Why is a person’s voice not heard during the day in the manner that it is during the night? It is due to the fact that the sound of the sphere of the sun traversing the sky generates noise like the noise generated by a carpenter sawing cedars, and that noise drowns out other sounds…

So today on Talmudology we ask: Is Rabbi Levi correct? Does sound really travel further at night? And if so, why?

Yes. It is true

Rabbi Levi is completely correct. Sound does indeed travel further at night, as you can see below in this helpful graphic. (For the man with the trumpet, think Cohen Gadol. For the dog, think Jericho.)

From here.

The first thing to know is that the speed of sound is dependent on the temperature of the air. Sound moves quicker in warm air and slower in cold air. During the day the sun heats up the earth’s surface, and in particular it heats up the air that is closest to the ground, which is where the sound travels the fastest. But a heat gradient bends the sound waves upwards, much in the same way that a lens bends light rays. (The gradient in which atmospheric temperature decreases with elevation by an amount known as the adiabatic lapse rate.) As a result, the sound waves travels up and away from the listener, and the sounds are quieter.

The reverse happens at night. At night the ground cools quickly. The higher air is warmer than the air close to the ground. The sound further from the ground travels faster at night causing the sound wave to refract back towards the earth. The listener now hears them as louder than they were during the day. It’s physics! (Though it should be noted that some physicists dispute this explanation.)

It’s not just sound waves

Why radio waves travel further at night. From here.

Here’s a fact that Rabbi Levi did not know. It’s not just sound that is heard better at night. Radio waves are heard better at night too, though for an entirely different reason. To be precise, this does not happen with all radio waves, but just those on the AM and short wave frequencies. Because radio waves only travel in straight lines, they do not follow the curvature of the earth’s surface, and so have a natural range of only 30-40 miles. But they can be transmitted up to the ionosphere, where they bounce off of it and down, back to earth. At night, that ionosphere is protected from the electromagnetic radiation that streams from the sun and tends to distort it. And so the radio waves are reflected back down with less interference, which means they travel further and are easier to detect. As a result, some distant AM radio stations (remember those?) can only be heard at night, though the whole thing becomes rather a moot point since nearly everything broadcast can now be found on the internet, for which the ionosphere is not needed.

Noise pollution

We have demonstrated that sound travels further at night, using our knowledge of the properties of sound waves and the phenomenon of refraction. Rabbi Levi knew none of this, but he had something that very few of us today have: a quiet natural environment. What many of us never experience thanks to noise pollution, he experienced each and every night. He, together with the other sages of the Talmud lived in a world that had no noise other than the sound of human voices around a crackling fire and the background music of the natural world. It was an utterly different experience. Our modern world has given us many things to be grateful for, but noise is not one of them.