14
votes
How Do Modern Orthodox Women Typically Dress?
There is a wide variety out there. I'd recommend Googling some synagogues that you might visit post-pandemic, and often there are photos there of its members. That should give you some sense. If you ...
- 131k
10
votes
Is it against halacha for a woman to play a musical instrument in front of a man?
The Aruch Hashulchan (75:8) discusses the prohibition of a man hearing a woman singing, which is based on the statement of Shmuel in the Talmud (Berachot 24a)1:
קול באשה ערוה שנא' (שיר השירים ב, יד) ...
- 47.8k
10
votes
Accepted
Help with a quote from the Talmud regarding the good old days
You may be thinking of this similar passage in Talmud Bavli (BB 91b) with Sefaria trans.:
ואמר רבי יוחנן נהירנא כד הוו מטיילין טליא וטלייתא בשוקא כבר שית עשרה וכבר שב עשרה ולא הוו חטאן
And Rabbi ...
- 11.9k
10
votes
Accepted
Wearing special clothes in public while in niddah- isn't this a lack of tznius?
R. Moshe Feinstein has a responsum (Igrot Moshe Y.D. 2:77) with the following question from R. Avraham Chaim Levin:
הנה במקום שיש אחרים רואין אם יש דיני הרחקות באשתו נדה שמסתפק כתר"ה דאולי יש ...
- 49.1k
9
votes
What's with Rus sleeping over with Boaz?
Ok so here are some answers some from me and many based on Rav Yosef Deutsch's Let me join your nation (Feldheim)...
The reason Rus went at night specifically was because it was a given that Boaz ...
- 30k
8
votes
What is the source that forbids indecent dress by women?
I still feel the question of "sources for indecent dress by women" deserves a better treatment than we (including me) provided up to now. So let me try again.
In summary
the key Torah verse ...
- 47.7k
8
votes
Accepted
Aren't wigs counterproductive?
Other answers have done well to reference the letter and the spirit of the law. A wig, even a beautiful one, covers both bases.
The gemara in Kesubos 72a-b lays out the obligation of a married ...
- 20.4k
8
votes
Talmud passage relevant to #metoo
The reference is to Sanhedrin 19a where it is recorded that R Yosi enacted in Tzippori that women speak to each other aloud when in the outhouses so men would hear them and know not to come in (which ...
- 97.2k
8
votes
Mekoros book for עוז והדר לבושה
Based on some Internet research, it appears that the Sefer you are looking for is Levushah Shel Torah, available on Otzar Hachochma here. It is by the same author, and described as "sources and ...
- 20.9k
7
votes
May a man become a gynecologist?
R Abraham Abraham (Nishmat Avraham, vol. 2, p. 134) writes that "Rav (Shlomo Zalman) Auerbach told me that a man may learn a medical or paramedical profession, since they involve pikuach nefesh". He ...
- 47.7k
7
votes
Married couples never sleeping in the same bed
I found this "Halacha" in the Kaf HaChaim, Orach Chaim 240:63
ישכב תמיד במטה מיוחדת בפני עצמו. ואם צריך לשמש לשם מצות פו׳׳ר אחר גמר .השימוש כמו חצי שעה יקום וישוב למטה היוחד לו. אור הצדיקים סי׳ כז׳ ...
- 3,262
7
votes
Accepted
Tznius in the modern world
R. Moshe Feinstein in Iggerot Moshe Even HaEzer I 56 rules that one may walk outside, even though he will see inappropriate sights, if he’s doing so for his livelihood or other needs. He even extends ...
- 41.7k
6
votes
Why do Jewish women wear so much black?
Well, for starters black matches with everything so its the easiest color to wear.
- 113
6
votes
Accepted
The practice of (not) printing pictures of women in magazines and newspapers under religious auspices
The Nitei Gavriel wrote a letter to the Lubavitcher Rebbe about publishing the pictures of the Rebbetzin, and the Lubavitcher Rebbe's response (in bold):
ב"ה, י"א אדר [תשמ"ח] לכבוד כ"ק אדמו"ר הגה"ק ...
- 40.3k
6
votes
Walking between women
First of all, it's not so obvious that this is prohibited in the first place. Pesachim 111a says that a person is not allowed to walk between two woman or have a woman walk between you (a man) and a ...
- 21.8k
6
votes
Accepted
How was it permissible to send the daughters out to dance?
R. Yitzchak Abadi has a responsum (Ohr Yitzchak Vol. 2 Inyanim Shonim #10) in which he writes as follows:
וזכורני שישבתי לפני זמן רב בחתונה עם הרב שמעון שוואב ז"ל ולא היה שם מחיצה וכשהתחילו ...
- 49.1k
6
votes
What was the size of the כָּתְנוֹת עוֹר?
The Bartenura on that verse says that the כָּתְנוֹת עוֹר covered their entire body - I guess like a long robe.
He explains that this is the reason the fig leaves needed to be replaced, because they ...
- 42.8k
6
votes
Accepted
When did knee-high skirts become the standard of Haredi women?
In terms of when, we can point at least to the 1940's era. Here is an image from the 1940s of Beis Yaakov girls. The article discussing it details how, in later printings, using Photoshop, sleeves ...
- 20.4k
6
votes
Tznius concerns by a Sota
Points 1 and 2 are addressed by the Mishnah and the Babylonian Talmud; Point 3 is addressed by the Jerusalem Talmud.
Mishnah Sotah 1:5
וכהן אוחז בבגדיה אם נקרעו נקרעו אם נפרמו נפרמו עד שהוא מגלה ...
- 49.1k
6
votes
Taking pictures for one’s husband
Rav Berachos (Ben Ish Chai) – והנה ודאי כי האשה הלוקחת צורתה על ידי המאכינה כנז״ל ועושים ולוקחים צורתה על כמה ניירות ומחלקים אותם לכמה בני אדם הנה הם מכשילים הרבים כי הצורה הזאת הולכת ממקום למקום ...
- 13.8k
6
votes
Looking for sources that support needing a mechitzah in shul for activities other than davening
Rav Moshe Feinstein writes that for gatherings that are non-obligatory, such as weddings, he is in doubt as to the need for a mechitzah. He proceeds to bring a number of proofs that there is no ...
- 91
5
votes
Are high heels immodest?
As alluded to in the comments, when it comes to matters of tzniut there are often varying community standards. That said, there is an interesting source that seems to be discussing high heels (or at ...
- 49.1k
5
votes
How to tactfully circumvent opposite-gender handshake
Why hasn't anybody, here, consulted a non-Jewish friend - or a Jewish person with a different belief system, at least - about how he or she would like to have their handshake declined? I would prefer ...
- 57
5
votes
Mixed Gender Gyms
If we are talking about somebody who suspects that he may fall to temptation and have inappropriate thoughts about the immodestly attired women there, it is forbidden. There are numerous issurim ...
- 7,851
5
votes
According to Jewish law, may a women wear men's clothing?
There is an explicit Torah commandment forbidding men to wear women's clothing and visa versa. I quote Deuteronomy 22:5:
לֹא יִהְיֶה כְלִי גֶבֶר עַל אִשָּׁה וְלֹא יִלְבַּשׁ גֶּבֶר שִׂמְלַת אִשָּׁה ...
- 5,310
5
votes
Are women allowed to see another woman's private area?
Concur with mbloch's answer -- if one is viewing them licentiously that's a different discussion -- just wanted to bring a stronger proof. Basically, it used to be everyone of the same gender went to ...
- 131k
5
votes
Rambam's rules of modesty
In Hil. Ishut (24:9), Rambam lists hair covering in public as dat Moshe.
In halakhot 11-12, he lists the requirements of dat Yehudit the behaviour that was customary for Jewish women:
ואיזו היא דת ...
- 35.4k
5
votes
Accepted
Re-use of items used in service of another deity upon conversion
The OP asks if it is proper to continue to adhere to a lifestyle of modest custom (women's dress code; specifically: covering the hair) even though she once did so as a duty to a false god. (...
- 10.7k
5
votes
Can pants ever be considered modest?
Most authorities frown on women wearing pants, as listed in this answer.
However, some would support wearing pants, like those described in OP's generous description, if the alternative to wearing ...
- 11.9k
5
votes
Can a man walk by a womans Mikvah
It is definitely true! However, there is no direct source (i.e., one that specifically says, "A man should not walk by a women's Mikvah.") This is just a derivation of modesty and privacy. A woman ...
- 70k
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