Well, it’s official. There is now a Beis Din in Israel that will determine what kinds of clothing woman are allowed to wear.
According to an article in the Yated, various Rabanim have been appointed to a new Beis Din. They will set guidelines to determine what kind of clothing women can wear. No more doubts. No more guessing. Just abide by the new guidelines.
What does the Shulchan Aruch tell us? It doesn’t matter. We can’t decide matters of such great import on our meager understanding of the parameters of Tznius or the Halachos of Erva. Nope. The Halachos have been abused, misinterpreted, or misunderstood long enough. From now on Tznius standards will be standardized and universal as determined by these Rabbanim. Anyone who decides for Tznius for themselves, even if it is well within Halachic limits, will be considered outside the pale.
How wonderful to carry on the traditions of the Gedolim of Yester-year… I remember well when mini-skirts were all the rage in the late sixties. The response then, as is the response now, was to set up a Beis Din. Rav Moshe, Rav Hutner, Rav Shneur Kotler, Rav Gifter, Rav Yaakov and many others… all got together and appointed a Beis din when the hemlines on women’s clothing started going up.
We of that generation were spared the difficulty of deciding how long hemlines had to be. The Beis Din made it easy for us. The times required that extraordinary measure. There was no such thing then as varying lengths of dresses or skirts. Almost all women’s clothing was above the knee in those days… way above the knee… and most of the fashionable women’s clothing was pretty tight fitting. Just about every female Beis Yaakov high school student started to wear their skirts with those hemlines. My wife tells me that it was really difficult to find any women’s clothing that didn’t violate Tznius or even Erva.
The Gedolim saw it happening and they acted immediately. It was an Eis Laasos. Then, just as now, they responded with a ‘Mishmar HaTorah Beis Din’. Rav Moshe, Rav Yaakov and other Gedolim weren’t going to allow our daughters, who were ‘uninformed or inattentive [regarding these matters] and dressed in a manner not in keeping with the ways of modesty according to halochoh’ …to continue choosing their own clothes. No way!
Back in the sixties, when my wife was in Beis Yaakov of Detroit, every single female student in her class had to get that Beis Din’s seal of approval. That’s how it was then. I’m sure all female baby-boomers can recall their own experiences with these Battei Din and can share them with us. The result was that skirt lengths were all well below the knee. If memory serves, I have the pictures to prove it. (True, I haven’t looked at those old photos in a while but I think they prove it. They must!)
What’s that? No one recalls any such Beis Din? You say your pictures prove otherwise? How can that be?! I remember clearly. I think… my memory may be playing tricks on me…it’s been about 40 years. But I’m sure I’m right. There must have been such Battei Din. How could there not be? Would a Rav Moshe not step up to the plate the same way today’s rabbinic leadership in Israel has? Of course he would have. Rav Moshe as well as the other Gedolim of that era would certainly not have shirked their duty to take these measures.
Ahhh… those Battei Din. How great they were! They took care of anything to do with Tznius. They prevented mixed seating at weddings and did not allow any woman not covering her hair to be admitted to a Simcha. No one wearing any shade of red was permitted in. Women’s clothing had to be loose fitting. Any guest showing up wearing a dress that had any kind of shape to it… no good! They were sent home. I remember one incident of a mother being very upset by that. Not only was she not wearing a tent, she demanded sitting with her husband and her son, the Chasan. What a Chutzpah! The wedding went on without her, of course. (Halacha does not require the mother’s presence at the wedding of her child.) Another mother forgot to buy stockings with visible seams in them. Poor lady. I guess both those two mothers just made do with their photo album. Better than nothing I guess.
Those Battei Din held that Tznius rules needed to be universal. The lowest common denominator was the standard. If I recall correctly the standard of dress used was decided by the Satmar Rebbe. In order to be fair no exceptions or compromises were made. How great those days of old were! And now, in Israel they’re back.
Perhaps, as a means of enforcement they will have the holy Tznius brigades that have been found in locales like Meah Shearim and Bnei Brak. For those who don’t remember, these are groups of motivated Charedi citizens who have taken it upon themselves to spray bleach the clothing of Tznius violators as they pass them in the streets. And for those store owners who dare to carry uncertified merchandize, perhaps the highly motivated ‘lighter fluid and match’ swat team will be willing to contribute their expertise to the cause. Ma Tovu Ma N’aaim. Finally! …the daughters of Israel can be protected from evil and our men will be spared from ‘looking’ at their Etzbaos Ketanos. (I’m sure the new Tznius guidelines will include covering the female pinky finger).
I can’t wait until this phenomenon comes back to America. We need that kind of guidance back in our lives now more than ever.
