Hot answers tagged social-convention
13
You are to be commended for taking on a socially-challenging mitzvah. It's not always easy to be Jewish and be seen as different, whether it's through dress, food, or how you spend your Friday nights and Saturdays.
With any observance that sets you apart from others, take care in how you talk about it. It's about you, not about them, especially for your ...
7
Tznuit does not have to be "funny" looking clothes. When I was a teenager, I went through a modest dressing phase and actually eventually discovered a personally quirky style in it! While I'm not currently observing complete tznuit in dress...
1) Check out styles that might easily be modified for modesty. If you're more of an artsy, flowy type, you could ...
6
The Shulchan Aruch Harav writes (597:1) (based on Rishonim and Tur/Shulchan Aruch):
ומצוה לאכול ולשתות ולשמוח בראש השנה כמ"ש בסי' תקפ"א אמנם לא יאכלו כל
שבעם למען לא יקילו ראשם ותהיה יראת ה' על פניהם
My translation:
It is a mitzvah to eat and drink and rejoice on Rosh Hashana, as is explained in Siman 581. However one should not eat to full ...
5
If we discuss tznius as a trait, as opposed to a minimum standard which must be met to avoid violating an issur, then I think your asking a good question to be successful. Part of the trait of tznius is trying not to make oneself conspicuous. Of course this isn't an absolute and cannot always be achieved, (head/hair coverings, traditional styles, hot days, ...
4
Not a contemporary source, and not discussing social pressure, but in Ketubot 86A-86B it discusses pressuring someone to fulfill a positive commandment:
א"ל תנינא במה דברים אמורים במצות לא תעשה אבל במצות עשה כגון שאומרין לו עשה סוכה ואינו עושה לולב ואינו עושה מכין אותו עד שתצא נפשו
(R' Pappa) said to (R' Kahana), "We learned that discussion was only ...
4
First, about Yom Kippur: A seder, and Passover, have nothing practical to do with Yom Kippur. Now to your question:
There's nothing wrong with a gentile's attending a seder. Obviously, it would be tactless to bring up Jesus's last supper, or any comparison with Easter. (Moreover, it would go directly against one of the main purposes of the seder, which is ...
4
Although the Beit Yosef (OC 597) quotes the Kol Bo that some have the custom of fasting on Rosh HaShanah, most rishonim hold that fasting is inappropriate and that one should eat, drink, and rejoice on Rosh HaShanah, and the Shulchan Aruch paskens accordingly (with the caveat that the rejoicing should be tempered by reverence for the day). This accords with ...
3
This Wikipedia article gives the background on the development of Jewish surnames.
The range of sources for such names includes:
the place from which the family came
translation of the Hebrew patronymic
the Austrian emperor Joseph the second issued a decree called Das
Patent über die Judennamen which compelled the Jews to adopt German
surnames.
Napoleon ...
3
The footnote to Mishnah Brurah 2:12 says that in a place where the law is to go (he says go, not sit) bareheaded in front of officers, you must follow it.
When sitting inside, there is room to be lenient in a time of need (Beer Heitev 2:6). I heard in the name of the Bach that wearing a kipah is a midas chasidus but not required, and if so, there is a lot ...
1
The Shulchan Aruch (i will try to find the exact place) says that on a shabbos thats also tisha b'av you should mour n for the bais hamikdash b'tzinah (privately) verbally not saying good shabbos/shabbat shalom is not exactly private and he was doing it because the day was tisha b'av. Although he might have a special minhag (custom) to not say good ...
1
I have a few general rules I follow. The first is that I try to lean towards the conservative side in terms of dress (dark or neutral colors, indisputably appropriate hemlines, opaque tights in a dark color) and jewelry (plain silver or gold, or a single strand of pearls, that kind of thing). I think of it a lot like "going to a job interview" in terms of ...
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