a $$ ns nnd ie Published by the Rabbinical Committee : to uphold the Honor of Jewish Sanetity. Under the leadership of — Rabbi Shmuel Halevi Wosner, Shlita ePeccccccccccccccccccccccccceceeoneceeceeeeoceceeeeeeeoeeoeoooeoeeoooeeooeooeoeooeoooooeeee:mphlet and other publicationsE: 1B: 03-574-3006 lyn: 718-209-2912. We are living in times of increased immodesty, Impure non-Jewish infhuenges have been threatening the sanctity of Jewish women and girls, and of ‘our ent o 2 ‘ i 1 ‘The Jewish principle of Modesty, that fundamental cornerstone of the! Jewish Peo) ee hace ae in danger. Divine Providence and: ‘our negd for G-d's protection against out enemies are’ dependent upon our) g the laws of oe ‘When Modesty is weakened, the Holy: Shechinah disappears from Istael and, Heaven forbid, we will be condemned as’ it seys: FINN BW) IT MY TA MCP Nor, ind G-d will not see a shameful thing among you, and tur away from behind you". sak Hee) It is of supreme importance for us to b iene meticulous and tiljous. regarding the observance of this Mitzvah. %t isa. minimall it to vigorously pay attention to its details, lest one violates a) aspect of these most serious of laws for which a woman, in but a rief mpment, may Sin and thus may cause many others to commit thousand of sins, so} destroying many generations. + ience has proven that it is imy sible fo avoid eving in these mater, yutine study of the details and bases of the Laws of Modesty in Dress, and Behavior. ‘This is especially true in our generation, within which the impurity of the street is eating away at the fabric of modesty. As such, study o} these laws is even more imperative than ever. As itis well known, itis: eat whire the evil inclination causes people stumble. a ughters of Israel, and ask that each one o! is ‘yourselves a Set time’ Senn one Reem neti jor, As itis natural that our desires and inclinations lead us astray, itis Fou Of these laws that we will have the necessary: 0 , and properly observe the Mitavah, and in ace cs ‘tis most important that these laws betaught to schoolgirls. |} Al ones bse es ei aan ob are ne tei aH P 5 and healthy children, life, food and an abundance o: other blessings and benefits. G-d will protect i they will be successful in body and soul, inthis world |? i : the Worldto Come. [tis inthe merit of these righteous women which wi bring thetitureRedemption (Ruth Rabbah34), a tifying our camp — a Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef i Rabbi Shmuel Auerbach’ The Alexander Rebbe The Sadiguer Rebbe Rabbi Pinchas Scheinberg,“To.ciur great dismay and sonow, W the observance of the Laws of Modesty feariny)} ‘By their laxity’ in those. observande amongst other Jews 25 w le avticul Alll thoge who-¢s thorit ofotediting the: a Written and signed fortheg nowadays is considerably different: than that of earli No. eee Jewish women wear quiet, simple and modest dres: (non-Jewish) fashions ‘which surely did not originate in "study of halls of have become the accepted vogue. These styles have: one underlying | i motive, to attract the eyeby emphasizing the form and shape of the body. This is in ae asition of what the Torah wants! influences: and habit have confused the concept of modesty, even. cae most modest and righteous women. Fashion designers attempt to “pulify ithe: i impure" by adding pseudo-kosher elements to their designs in an” atte: cause Jewish susie! forget their calling as the Holy Daughters of Israel. : Slowly, but surely, the Mitzvah of modesty? is being rubbed off as would "the dust t froraa dalla I's feet." ne who gives doit {o these matters and researches the Talmud and th Halochie sources cannot help but conclude that the Laws of Modesty in Dress and ir are, by no means, stringencies and extremes. Rather, these are | 5 with detailed rules and regulations. Moreover, these. basis for the entire concept of the Sanctity ofthe Jewish projer observance of these laws.’ je obligation to beexceedingly heed and | n about ther. From the earl est days, a ihe Creation afte waeld, Vas G-d declared thatthe | iniportant and most jonorable Mitzvah for women and girls is the Mitzvah of i i. Thisis the only one for which G-d made the Woman sweat upon her ‘and ofthe creation of each of her limbs, He said twice, "You are to be a \ ee that the! woman's essence and existence tests upon her! EM nee wodesty, sh eto venty of beinga | nae of whoin much: Sas by the : } le atones | forher household and) goodness and a oeNo jrosute ib armabd ty jew Chazal have'tenpht, "Dt me ons became Kohen Godols" AN self in modesty morits bearing: Vasea ). YA Daughter’ of Tstael ho sdest'is Rely Godal iad ts ‘have Konnin ss nH Bart ita ‘nena wornan behaves. wim he ie {the sno of whom will sleet Ww] (Bansibarabpak PO, Temata However, ifa Jewish woman ig imimodest in dest ‘not only: does she’ commit serious offenses every minute, shi sh a others and causes nigrates!| : all who see herto sin! She! herself | very gtave for she causes the mony t0 si Come, Heaven forbid?) Ithas boon snid that tere girl could commit brief moe thousands of sins try obesin. eat 6] Hel Foner fa, ey will we See a shamotit (evotiin 23:15). a woes, and pov ino i heace’ “g508! W i ¢ y He HEREThe Halochoh is that a woman's and girl's entire body. must be properly an modestly covered4 The following pages will explain and illustrate those ie the body and those limbs which must be covered in accordance with the Halochoh, ‘and those which may be exposed. The proper and modest manner of dress will b | discussed. More than fifteen negative and positive commandments and curses are enumerate in the Torah wh ‘observed each and eyery minute when one is modestly dressed (totaling hundreds ‘and thousands of Mitsvahs a day!!). | Alternatively, those fvho transgress by dressing and acting immodestly accumulate thousands of __ serious offenses daily. 'As the author of this book wrote: The Torah has warned i 1g doing anything which tesults in the exposing of those parts of the bod: 1ust be covered of causes others to have improper thoughts. Modesty is the barrier against. impropriety and licentiousness!' Immodest clothing arouse: tive thoughts and results in violations in the laws of sexual morality. : Ont years immodest clothing: transgtesses the prohibitions of: "and your camy shall be holy", “protect yourself against all evil”, "dishevel the woman's hair", "y "shall be holy", "you shall make yourselyes holy and you shall be holy", “and ‘Lord your G-d shall you fear, "and to it [the Torah] shall you cleave", "you m ndtplace a stumbling block before the blind’, "you must not expose the nakedness’ "you must not follow in their (non-Jewish) ways", "no nakedness shall be seer | arnong you", "you must not desecrate my Holy Name",”"You must not follow th iys of the many", "a woman must not wear a mén's garb", "You shall not add ‘s 1a Kadosh (by Rabbi Yaacov Didofsky, Jerusalem 5691 yur shall not murder’, "cursed is he who, does not uphold the words of this. and perform them", "cursed is he who causes the blind to err in his ways “you shall not desecrate your daughter by prostituting her" (by allowing one's wife ot daughter to become accustomed to promiscuity atid failing to supervise them). Dp This # Torah prod mn for aman to gaze ata woman ora girl. Anyone who ‘ceuises.a man to gaze'at her is sevetely punished! The Ranibam has ruled (Laws ‘Repentance 3:6) "These are they who have no part in the World to Come. Rat they are cut off and lost forever and ever...those who cause others to sin." And seid our sages (Shabbos 149b), "Anyone whose causes his neighbor to be punish ‘because of his actions, shall not enter within the domain of the Holy One, blessed b He." ! The Gaon, Rabbi Y. M. Lifkowitz, Shlita adds, in accordance with explained in the Gemoroh (Taanis 24a), "It is bettet to etum to the dust rather tha ceuse others to'sin” - since the entire reason for her existence as a Daughter of Israel is to be modest! Should’ she be an obstacle and cause others to sin, and be inimadest, hér whole existence is not worthwhile." :dress es sal even from the young age of three, while o ave careful with this Mitzvah fromtheageoffiveorsix, ‘€ OBLIGATION T0 COVER THE AREA AROUND THE NECK H jough the neck itself may be exposed, the entire area around the neck must :| be covered. It is forbidden to Lae even a small Perot of this area, : []. accidentally ormomentarily. : The di iculty regarding covering the neck: arises with: | 1.Clpthing without collars ing made from elastic or stretchable fabrics ena handbag or shoulder-bag is hung on the shoulder and the strap pulls wh in the material pulling it away from the body and widening the collar. Inall these cases, one1 must be extra careful, ‘ i ‘The itionial widespread custom i in Jewish Communities is to cover the: ‘entirely. Praiseworthy is the woman or girl who. nee her neck’; at least partially (with aslightly high collar or similar). - . Many Women wear blouses with closed or iideneddoun ‘collats because i ofinadvertent it exposure i in the area around the neck is lessened, “Covered: It is, therefe ‘obligatory that theUPPERMOST BONE IN SPIN!arms must be covered. There is a difference of spinion almongst the Poskim | ‘(Halochic decisors) regarding the Halochic ition as a ou sath of ale ite must ie covered. “Many Poskin rule that the “arm - extends to the. point where the forearm. || THE SLEEVE, COVERS THE ARM IN ALL, POSITIONS. ends and meets the hand, that is, the’ ownist. According to a you _thust cover your arms until this point. Many. communi ities have accepted this opinion andare careful lest any part | Of the forearm is exposed, « even when “the hand is faised. ‘Families who for generations have ~ conduct themsélves in accordance with. | this opinion ot ate stringent with other | laws or customs of dressing modestly ‘should not change their custom a8 it says, “PON MAIN WIA YEN", "Do not forsake the teaching of your mother", (Mishle 1:8/6:20), Mere len ovina tea rele at ede u covered ftom the shoulder until the area below: the elbow: Regardless, all opinions agree that the elbow itself must be completely covered at: all tinies and that itis forbidden to expose the i ‘elbow, even accidentally, | Ttis, therefore, even according tothe lenient i ‘opinicns, flecessary to cover the forearm well below the:elbow (about half way between the: elbow and the wrist) so that the elbow remains covered even if you raise your atm straight up and the sleeve shortens. This requires a sleeve which so ofthe arm, Since sleeves with wide openings will fall back when the arm is raised, it is imperative to harrow the sleeves at the end with buttons, -cuff-links ¢ or with an clastic,‘THE KNEE IS EXPOSEDand le; when you alight a ibginandoutofacar All that we Te ‘explained here comes in | ‘addition to the prohibition of causingthe form of the body ‘toby fed through one's. garmaents, as’ would be ‘the case with straight-cut clotiiing, as we will see on’ thenextpage. _. All opinions agree that even the smallest area of flesh of the leg must never be exposed even for a short moment. Therefore, knee- high stockings (those that cover the leg up to, but not over, the knee) should not be "worn since the skirt: may fise up a expose the area) between the kne and the’ top of the: stocking, as would be the case whe, running, sitting, when a wind blows, bending over, etc.ee ta, alee: is or limbs even ee : and Skirts: which are not sufficiently wide, such as those which ar: narrow: ot straight ‘conceal neither the’ ere when walking. ‘When lifting: bite or sitting, these f skirts becom e aie ve which aa : thighs until below she aes : becomes: oo when’ niore oes aR ‘not cling and the form of your body is “not discernable. Check that your skirt ‘doesnot rise above your knee.CLOSED WITHOUT ANY OPENINGS improper to wear a skirt which is not completely and properly closed fie length. A skirt which is closed ON RHEE ‘down its entire forbidden since spaces may occasionally be created between the sitig the body beneath. Sometimes the buttons themselves open forget fo close one of them and, as we have seen, it is forbidden to ‘body for even 4 short time or accidentally, is also tee i eee regard M to blouses. You must chedk them occasionally fo: be sure that the buttons have not opened,