בס"ד
No, I can’t … Yes, I can … Be Hashem’s princess:
As the hot summer days are approaching, so are the greater ordeals for our treasured women. In a society which degrades and despises all morality and modesty, it is extremely difficult for a righteous Jewish woman not to imitate non-Jews. In recent years, with the advent of the Internet, the new generation has totally lost any shame that is inherent in a normal person, and the dress of women has become similar to that of animals (as it is known, animals walk naked!)
In this world of chaos, it is
very hard for the Jewish woman. Fortunately even today there are many of women
who are proud to pass this difficult test. Among the crowds of shamelessness
they proudly walk, as is appropriate for a daughter of
One of fundamental laws of the Torah is the requirement for a woman to dress modestly. The one who does not dress appropriately transgresses a number of Torah's prohibitions. She is "putting a stumbling block before the blind" by causing the men to have improper thoughts. In the case of a married woman, indecent dress is also a violation of family loyalty and destroys the covenant that was made at the time of her marriage.
2. Let us now list the minimal requirements for modest clothing.
- The skirt or dress should cover the knees, even when the woman sits down, gets out of a car, walks up the stairs, etc.
- The legs must be covered with nontransparent stockings or tights. Certainly, if she wears a long skirt down to her shoes, there is no obligation to wear stockings underneath.
- The dress or blouse should have a collar so that at least the area below the neck is always covered both in the front and in the back. No button on her clothing should be open.
- The elbows should be covered at all times even when raising hands.
- It is forbidden to wear tight clothes that emphasize the woman's body. It is also prohibited to wear clothes of red and similar colors.
- Married women, and also those who have been married (either divorced or widowed), have to cover their hair.
3. All of the above is the minimal requirement of modesty. The righteous women have always gone beyond that and dressed even more modestly than is required, while our sages promise a blessing on the household where the woman is modest. When our doctors tell us to avoid certain foods or to stop certain habits because they are harmful to our health, we listen. How much more so should we heed our sages who say that immodest clothing causes various problems, including poverty, and also has a bad influence on children. There are also a number of direct positive effects of modest clothing that can be easily recognized. Some cases of skin cancer are closely connected to the sun's rays falling directly on unprotected body parts. Some cases of abuse may be caused by the criminal’s attraction to the indecently dressed victim. Last but not least, religious women overcome their mid-life crisis much more easily than their non-religious counterparts of the same age. It is known that the majority of Western women begin to face the stress of aging when they are approximately 45 or 50, because, at this age, they feel anguish from the loss of their attractive youthful bodies. Some of these women even do plastic surgery in order to stop the aging process at all costs. Many go through hard psychological traumas, fights with their husbands who sometimes become unfaithful and at times even end up being divorced. For a religious woman, her beauty and youthfulness is a much smaller part of her life. She gets her respect from her husband because she is his wife and the mother of his children. Her children in their turn respect her for being their mother. Many religious women at the age of 50 or 55 still have teenaged children and are busy raising them, just as their younger friends are doing. Thus, they feel young till very late. In addition, her children will likely marry young and make her a relatively young grandmother. She will then be actively involved in taking care of her grandchildren. Moreover, for a woman who modestly covers her hair and body, aging is not so noticeable. The only aged part that is visible is her face, but with good makeup she can still look quite young. On the other hand, a non-religious woman, by the age of 50, loses her beauty noticeably. One can tell her age from her hair and her wrinkled arms. In fact, sometimes an older woman actually changes her clothing style to a more modest one, in order to look more attractive.
Please, listen to the words that come from the heart, let them enter your heart! These words are only meant for your good!