I do not dress up as the modest haredi woman on the picture below !
But I rather look like
Meaning: I do wear pants. Not all the time but most of it. And as I once said HERE, I do believe that Orthodox women can wear pants and still be Orthodox and religious. Some of you may say that this doesn't go together but I do have my own opinion.
I was thinking about moving to Zfat (Safed) for quite some time but preferred Tiberias in the end. Both towns are located in northern Israel and not too far from each other. However, Zfat seems to be more religious. Especially haredi. Nevertheless, there are plenty of secular Jews living in the new city whereas the old city is mainly occupied by frum Jews of all directions.
Last week I met an obviously American woman who complained that the weather in Tel Aviv would be too hot and that she is soon moving to Zfat. Not because of the weather but due to spiritual reasons.
I met her in Zfat and told her that I do prefer Tiberias, as I simply need more "civilization".
The woman, rather big and in her 50ies, looked at me and said:
"Well, you are in jeans and thus wouldn't fit into Zfat anyway".
My response was:
"What ? There are plenty of secular Jews living in town and it doesn't only belong to haredi society. Furthermore, you cannot judge a Jew only according to his clothes. Many times you may be mistaken. There are Haredim (according to their clothes) who don't behave haredi at all and there are secular Jews who are religious despite their no too modest way of dressing".
"Well, a woman in pants cannot be haredi", the woman said. Real Haredim don't do this".
Furthermore the woman pointed out that only Haredim are the real religious Jews and I told her that it is not the case.
The woman claimed to be close to Chabad but despite Chabad's huge outreach to any Jew, this woman definitely succeeds in keeping away secular Jews from religious Judaism. I would even call it a "Chilul HaShem - Desecration of G - d's name" by talking to other Jews in such a manner.
I didn't take her too seriously but still thought about the negative impact she may have on other people.
Photos:
I agree with you! You have no idea how many women I see with everything covered and they behave in a very bad way. Many women wear pants under a knee-length skirt--that's supposed to make a difference? Seriously, I believe we all have to concentrate on our own behavior before we start putting others down.
ReplyDeleteModesty is about not showing off, not the clothing you wear.
ReplyDeleteB"H
ReplyDeleteI think that the term "modesty" includes many attributes:
For instance, I do not wear shirts without sleeves but always shirts with sleeves covering my elbows. My pants are not too tight.
I hope that I don't show off.:-))))
I do understand that there are modesty rules and do accept them. However, one should not judge a person only by his clothes because he may be in for a big surprise.