Sunday, June 10, 2012

It's not in the Torah, but it trumps everything...

I'm speaking, of course, about tzniut.
There was a story years ago, about a young girl who was offered a choice--convert or die.  She chose death, and was sentenced to be dragged through the streets of town by a horse-drawn cart.  She had only one request--that she could pin her skirt to her knees so that it wouldn't ride up.  As the sentence began, onlookers could hear the girl crying out.  The carriage stopped, and the girl asked if she could replace some of the pins that were coming loose!
And then, there was the story of Revital Avraham, a young girl of nineteen who died of brain cancer because she was too pretty!  (Of course, this was AFTER her beautiful red hair had been burned off her head.)
And now we have...this.  For some things, there are no words.
Yes, there are.
We have a mother torturing her daughter for all eternity for the sake of...tznius.  Not honestly, not fair dealings, not kindness to her fellow man and to G-d's creatures, but for not covering up enough of her body.  Forget the the Top Ten on the stones written by the Hand of Hashem, this one doesn't even make the 613!  The only references in the Torah to women and dress, are "Don't wear men's clothing" (whatever that means), and an oblique reference to covering hair.  Nothing about what needs to be covered, nothing about stocking thickness or seams.  True, we are supposed to "walk modestly with G-d", but that could mean a hundred things, including a ban on JAP behavior and conspicuous consumption.  Or not taking on a thousand chumras to outfrum your neighbor and drive a wedge between yourself and other Jews. 
If this is what we are teaching our kids, then I'm not sure I want any part of it.

4 comments:

  1. Yeah, I read the story. Morons.
    Look, there is an importance to tznius but tznius isn't just about how you dress. Your average "hot Chani" might technically have everything covered but she ain't tznius.
    But this is a simple psychological defect many people suffer from. They can't handle the big problems so they focus on the little ones.
    Are pedophiles running amok in a yeshiva system that turns out parasites incapable of speaking even one language properly? Let's focus on dress lenght! Easier than overhauling the whole system!

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  2. You are not alone in your thoughts on this topic. Please read this post from Avivah Werner - veteran Jewish homeschooler. http://oceansofjoy.wordpress.com/2012/06/12/the-typical-school-approach-modesty-is-it-working/

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  3. The story is called "Dray matones" [three gifts]. The author is Y. L. Peretz (1852-1915)

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