Interesting look at modesty from an Orthodox Jew

[SimplyMe]

A friend posted this on FB- I thought some of you might appreciate this woman's perspective.

http://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-life-an ... s-squeeze/

[Lady]

I like it, even though the article deals with orthodox Judaism, it can be translated to all fundamentalist sects. If all you are doing is focusing on the outer appearance, you are missing the point.

[lexiloumarie]

My cousin is MO and I could not get over some of the shit that goes on between the different groups. This article paints a great picture for those unfamiliar with all the in fighting and halacha debates between the branches.

[SisiL78]

Great article. Thanks for sharing!

I tried to become more Orthodox, but I just couldn't.

The nice thing about Judaism is that although there are some uber judgmental types that overall on a religious level there is still a great level of acceptance.

Despite staying relatively secular and egalitarian I still am welcomed into homes for Shabbos and weddings etc... Occasionally some nosy busy body will try to advise me on my life choices. But usually these are the frumpy old house fraus that insert themselves into everybody's business no matter what :-)

[ukjingernut]

Back in high school, when we girls would ask our teachers for the source of the laws of modesty, the classic answer was to turn to Micah 6:8. Yet now it dawns on me that the same text has been misread, poorly taught. When Micah enjoins Israel to “do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk modestly with thy God,†his final verb is to walk with God. Modestly is simply the adverb.

... he [G-d] is asking us to keep our piety modest. No one needs to know how many pages of Talmud you’ve learned today, what kosher certification you don’t trust, how intensely you sway during prayer—or how thick your tights are.

She sounds like Jesus. Matthew chapter 6, verses 1-7.

“Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.

“So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others...

“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you."

[Lady]

My cousin is MO and I could not get over some of the shit that goes on between the different groups. This article paints a great picture for those unfamiliar with all the in fighting and halacha debates between the branches.

MO.

[lexiloumarie]

MO.

Modern Orthodox. A lot of what's discussed is leaning more towards Haredi, at least when you get to tight thickness and phone calls about matches. You see that kind of nitpicking in Modern Orthodox and "Conversadox" congregations on occasion, but it's not nearly as important as it is to the Haredim.

[chiccy]

It looks like the author of the article is MO; she went to Stern, and mentions reading some secular authors (Joyce, Nabokov) that would probably be forbidden among the hareidim.

[PennySycamore]

I've always read that text from the sixth chapter of Micah as "to do justice, to love mercy' and to walk humbly with your God". Granted "humbly" was in a Christian version of the text, but I like it better. It's my favorite verse in the whole Bible though I'm no longer a believer.