Q&A: Standards of Modesty
Standards of Modesty
Question
Does Jewish law require women to have sleeves that go past the elbow and a skirt or shorts that go past the knee? And stockings in general? And if so, only dark colors for tights? In Haredi high schools like Beit Yaakov, I think they always said there’s a concept called Jewish practice or something like that. As I understand it, that’s a kind of unwritten tradition passed from mother to daughter. Do you know about this, or are these Haredi inventions? As for a red shirt, I understood that that is halakhic?
Answer
There is such a thing as Jewish practice, and it’s not a Haredi invention. But we’re talking about accepted norms of modesty, not the absurd dictates of Yated Ne’eman or of some frightened and ignorant principal of a Beit Yaakov school. This also varies from place to place.
The pull, thanks to which that unqualified Beit Yaakov principal got her job, removes her from the category of “ignorant.”