Tablet Magazine is an online magazine geared toward modern Jews that runs the gamut from news and politics, to art and culture, observance, and overall Judaism. Recently, the article Tights Squeeze: How Much Modesty Will Ever Be Enough for Orthodox Girls from author Avital Chizhik made its way into the observance section of the daily magazine, and it is a positively stellar read. Written with sincerity and unabashed candor, Chizhik was unafraid at parlaying the highly internal and devastatingly external conflicts that exist in today's Modern Orthodox world, especially for that of a young Modern Orthodox girl.
There is this "Keeping Up With The Joneses" mentality the young Yeshiva girls have adopted, where one "mitzvah" leads to another until you are suddenly Charedi, and subject to the whim of every Talmud scholar who you will maybe date and then support for the rest of your life. Not that this is a wrong way of living by any means, but the pressure to top your fellow Jewess in her mitzvah count is becoming ridiculous, and quite honestly, the idea of a mitzvah has been taken completely out of context; if wearing tights is a mitzvah, I'm a perpetual sinner once that mercury hits 70 degrees.
Chizhik's article bares an honesty many are not willing to expose at the risk of being deemed too modern for this highly "schticky" world-- because let's face it, this is all schtick at the end of the day, something this blog is ardently opposed to. Yes, I wear only skirts and wear longer sleeves, but that's a personal choice. I have said it before, and I'll say it again: Modesty is a guideline by which to live your life, not a mandate. If you choose to cover your elbows, cover your knees, and heck, wear tights, then power to ya sister. But if you don't, that's fine too. Honestly.
Follow me on Twitter @AronHakodeshJWG
Read Avital Chizhik's article here:
There is this "Keeping Up With The Joneses" mentality the young Yeshiva girls have adopted, where one "mitzvah" leads to another until you are suddenly Charedi, and subject to the whim of every Talmud scholar who you will maybe date and then support for the rest of your life. Not that this is a wrong way of living by any means, but the pressure to top your fellow Jewess in her mitzvah count is becoming ridiculous, and quite honestly, the idea of a mitzvah has been taken completely out of context; if wearing tights is a mitzvah, I'm a perpetual sinner once that mercury hits 70 degrees.
Chizhik's article bares an honesty many are not willing to expose at the risk of being deemed too modern for this highly "schticky" world-- because let's face it, this is all schtick at the end of the day, something this blog is ardently opposed to. Yes, I wear only skirts and wear longer sleeves, but that's a personal choice. I have said it before, and I'll say it again: Modesty is a guideline by which to live your life, not a mandate. If you choose to cover your elbows, cover your knees, and heck, wear tights, then power to ya sister. But if you don't, that's fine too. Honestly.
Follow me on Twitter @AronHakodeshJWG
Read Avital Chizhik's article here:
Follow me on Twitter @AronHakodeshJWG
