Tell Me Why

Modest Approach

What does Jewish law say
about what to wear, how to act?

Elizabeth and Phillip Applebaum
Special to the Jewish News

10: I have always wondered

popular among gentile
it was really during talmudic times
girls).
that precisely how one should dress - I
why there is a law for
Before the resur-
became so important. Jews were
I women and girls to wear
gence
of Ortho-
instructed not only what to wear, but
I dresses and skirts below the
dox Judaism in
I knees. In the 1950s and '60s, the order in which they were to put
the late 1960s, it
on the clothes. Scholars could be
you could see pictures of girls
could very well
identified by the particular clothing
I in mini-skirts at my Orthodox
have been the case
they wore, while married Jewish
day school. I don't think the
women were expected to cover their I in certain communities
Torah mentions that clothes
that some Orthodox
hair for modesty.
I have to be below the knees,
Later, the Jewish community became 1 girls felt the need to
I does it? Also, my high school
blend in with sur-
more distinctive in clothing so as to
doesn't have a prom. What
differentiate Jew from gentile. Some- I rounding society and
I would be the problem with
may have worn their shirts short like
times, this was a result of gentile leg-
I having girls and boys Banc-
everybody else. Today, within the
islation (until the French Revolution, for
' ing together? And if they did
growing and influential American
example, Christian authorities in
I kiss or hug, what's wrong
many countries ordered Jews to wear I Orthodox community, these youth feel
:with that?
a yellow hat — so they could never I confident dressing as their faith man-
I — From reader H., Chicago .
dates. Part of this may, in fact, be
I A: No, the Torah does not specifi- be mistaken for Christians, while in
attributable to the attitudinal change
Spain, Jews were ordered to wear a
cally discuss the proper length of a .
in America that began in the 1960s,
long black gown with a cape).
I girl's skirt. But neither does it specifi-
when
it became socially acceptable
But sometimes, it was the rabbis
cally mention that one can't eat a
to "do your own thing."
themselves who directed Jews to
I corned beef sandwich with cheese,
The discussion of appropriate
dress differently. It was not only to
I either. This is where rabbinic inter-
!
behavior between boys and girls is a
maintain standards of modesty but to
pretation comes in.
separate
issue. Orthodox rabbis do
keep Jews separate from gentiles.
The Torah does direct a Jew to
not permit unmarried persons to
This continues to this day.
I behave modestly, and that includes
engage
in acts of physical affection,
There is simply no definitive stan-
I the way he or she dresses. Through-
such as hugging and kissing, which
as to what constitutes "modest"
I out history, what has constituted prop- I
are reserved for after the wedding.
er Jewish attire has changed greatly, I dress among Jews, even observant
I ones, though clearly some factors are I Likewise, Orthodox rabbis regard
often influenced by popular culture.
public mixed dancing as an unseem-
obvious. No halachic authority would
• In pre-Holocaust Poland, it was
ly display of sexual license, which,
standard for many religious Jewish I say it is proper for a Jew to walk
owing
to the Jewish laws of modesty,
I around half-naked. But rabbis do
men to wear ankle-length black
is best done in private and between
I offer different views as to how long
coats and round hats with a very
married persons only. Traditionally in
one's sleeves should be, or the best
I short visor.
I Judaism, dancing is regarded as an
I length for a girl's skirt.
Probably no one dresses like that
I expression of joy, which should not
Sometimes this is a question of
today. Instead, many Orthodox men
be distorted by the element of sex
I defining modesty, and sometimes it
I wear ordinary business suits (albeit,
that
mixed dancing introduces.
I returns to the issue of "dressing like a
still black) and fedora hats, which
gentile." (Certain more right-wing
I were popular for all men (Jewish or
Q: Wasn't it enough that my
I members of the Jewish community are
not) from the 1920s to the 1950s.
parents forced me to sit
I now debating whether girls should
Though the Talmud does discuss
through
hours and hours of
proper dress (and indeed, it says that I wear floor-length skirts, because
"The Waltons"? Good grief,
1 while these are certainly modest
clothing is necessary not just for
the,
show is so gosh-darn
warmth, but for reasons of modesty), I enough, they also are becoming

I

I

I

8R8

2000

70

,

sweet I needed
extensive dental
work after every
program. Now I
hear there's
something called
"The Walton-
steins." What is
this, a rehash of
the old TV show,
but with Moshe-
Boy instead of
John-Boy?
A: The Waltonsteins is

actually the name of a
play, performed in Van-
couver, Canada, which
does indeed take its name
from The Waltons TV show. But
don't worry — the connection essen-
tially ends there. The Waltonsteins
focuses on a Jewish family that sur-
vives the Holocaust, then settles in
Canada.
Incidentally, you'll be happy to
know that among the play's fans is
Judy Norton, who played Mary-Ellen
on The Waltons. In a recent inter-
view with the Vancouver Province,
Norton said she was "very moved"
by the drama.

I Q: Did I hear correctly that
I Rabbi Leo Baeck had the
1 chance to leave Nazi Ger-
i many, but did not. Why?
I What was his fate there?
A: Rabbi Baeck (1873-1956),

Reform Jewry's most prominent —
I and much-loved — figure in pre-
1 Nazi Germany, did indeed have the
I chance to leave when Adolf Hitler
came to power. No doubt because
I Rabbi Baeck had an international
reputation, the Nazis in 1938 told
him he could leave. But Rabbi Baeck
refused to abandon his congrega-
tion, and was consequently sent to
Theresienstadt in Czechoslovakia,

where he was held prisoner for five
years. He survived, and settled in
England after The war. 111