Tzniut ( , , ; "modesty" or "privacy"; ) describes the character trait of modesty and discretion, as well as a group of Jewish laws pertaining to conduct. The concept is most important within Orthodox Judaism.
Description Tzniut includes a group of Jewish laws concerned with modesty of both dress and behavior. In the Babylonian Talmud, Rabbi Elazar Bar Tzadok interprets the injunction at Micah 6:8 to "go discreetly with your God" as referring to discretion in conducting funerals and weddings. The Talmud then extends his interpretation: "If in matters that are generally performed in public, such as funerals and weddings, the Torah instructed us to go discreetly, matters that by their very nature should be performed discreetly, such as giving charity to a poor person, how much more so must one take care to do them discreetly, without publicity and fanfare".
In the legal dimension of Orthodox Judaism, the issue of tzniut is discussed in more technical terms: how much skin may a person expose, and so on. These details underscore the concept of tzniut as a code of conduct, character, and awareness, which in practice is more noticeable among women than men.
Dress Gender-specific garb Originating from the Biblical pair of commands (Deut. 22:5) regarding "male and female garb." Aside from pants and zippers, there is also the matter of buttons on clothing. Classic clothing has the button on the left side for women and on the right side for men. Some Jews reverse that, with men buttoning right on the left as part of Tzniut. The principal guiding point of tzniut regarding dress is that a Jew should not dress in ways that attract undue attention. That does not mean dressing poorly but means neither men nor women should dress in a way that overly emphasizes their physical appearance or attracts undue attention. There are many different interpretations of tzniut and so people from different communities dress differently.
Community-specific garb Orthodox Judaism requires both men and women to substantially cover their bodies. According to many opinions, that involves covering the elbows and knees.
In Haredi communities, men wear long trousers and usually long-sleeved shirts; most will not wear short sleeves at all. Haredi Ashkenazi practice discourages sandals without socks both inside and outside the synagogue, but Haredi Sefardi communities tend to permit sandals at least outside of synagogue. Dress inside a synagogue and, according to many, in public, should be comparable to that worn by the community when it meets royalty or the government.
Haredi women wear blouses covering the elbow and collarbone and skirts covering the knees while standing and sitting. The ideal sleeve and skirt length varies by community. Some women try not to follow fashion, but others wear fashionable but modest clothing. Haredi women avoid skirts with slits but prefer kick pleats. They also avoid overly eye-catching colors, especially red, as well as tight clothing. The prohibition on wearing red is Ashkenazic, originally formulated by Joseph Colon Trabotto, Moses Isserles, and Shabtai HaKohen.SA YD 178:3 In modern interpretation, Moshe Feinstein restricts the prohibition to women, but many other authorities apply it to both genders.Igros Moshe YD 1:181; Shevet HaLevi 6:24:2, Be'er Moshe 4:147:13, Darchei Teshuva 178:16, inter alia. The dispute is connected to one over the purpose of the ban, with some decisors arguing it was only to distinguish Jewish and gentile clothing and others arguing it was because red clothing is erotic. Many will wear only closed-toe shoes and always wear stockings or tights, the thickness of which varies by community.
Modern Orthodox women also usually adhere to tzniut and dress in a modest fashion (as compared to general society), but their communal definition does not necessarily include covering their elbows, collarbones, or knees, and may allow for wearing pants although most Modern Orthodox women will, when in front of men or in public, wear skirts that cover their knees, preferably loose ones, and cover their shoulders and cleavage.
Modern Orthodox men's dress is often indistinguishable from their non-Orthodox peers, apart from them wearing a skullcap. They may wear short-sleeved shirts, and sometimes even shorts. Sandals without socks are generally not worn in a synagogue but are usually accepted in Modern Orthodox and Religious Zionist communities in Israel for daily dress for both men and women.
Conservative Judaism formally encourages modest dress. While day-to-day dress often simply reflects trends in wider society, many Conservative synagogues expect somewhat more modest dress (although not necessarily as stringent as in Orthodox Judaism) for synagogue attendance, and may have specific dress requirements to receive synagogue honors (such as being called for a Torah reading).
Reform Judaism has no religious dress requirements.
The style of dress also involves cultural considerations aside from religious requirements. Members of Conservative and Reform synagogues may abide by dress codes generally ranging from business casual to informal. There are many Orthodox synagogues (especially in Israel) in which dress, while meeting religious modesty requirements, is quite casual. Many Haredi and Hasidic communities have special customs and styles of dress that serve to identify members of their communities but regard those special dress features as more customary to their particular communities than a general religious requirement expected of all observant Jews.
Further cultural considerations include the increasing use of modest dress as an act of female empowerment and self-actualization, which are not directly related to religious observance.
Head covering
Jewish law governing tzniut requires married women to cover their hair outside the home when in the presence of men other than their husband or close family members.Shulchan Aruch, Even Ha'ezer 115, 4; Orach Chayim 75,2; Even Ha'ezer 21, 2 Such covering (known as the tichel or mitpachat) is common practice among Orthodox Jewish women.
During the time of Moses, the Bible records that it was normative for women to wear a head covering (cf. ). In Numbers 5:18, the sotah (meaning "one who goes astray") ritual, in which the head of a woman accused of adultery is uncovered (made parua), is explicated, implying that normally a woman's head is covered; the Talmud thus teaches that the Torah (Pentateuch) commands women to go out in public with their heads covered. This headcovering worn during biblical times was a veil or headscarf.
In the Old Testament's Book of Daniel, Susanna wore a headcovering and wicked men demanded that it be removed so that they might lust after her (cf. ). records that Rebecca, while traveling to meet Isaac, "did not flaunt her physical beauty" but "veiled herself, increasing her allure through an outward display of modesty." The removal of a woman's veil in the passage of is linked with nakedness and shame. The biblical book Song of Songs records "the erotic nature of hair from the verse, 'Your hair is as a flock of goats' (Song of Songs, 4:1), i.e., from a verse praising her beauty." Jewish law has stipulated that a married woman who uncovered her hair in public evidenced her infidelity.
Female singing voice Orthodox Judaism In Orthodox Judaism, unrelated men are generally not allowed to hear women sing, a prohibition called kol isha (literally "a woman's voice").Berakhot 24a The Talmud classifies that as ervah (literally "nakedness"). The majority view of halakhic authoritiesOr Zarua 1, hilkot taharat keriat shema utefilah, no. 133; Rashba; Hiddushei ha-Rashba, Berachot ibid.; Rosh Berachot 3:37, Tur-Shulkhan Arukh Even ha-Ezer 21:2 following Rambam/Maimonides, Hilhot Issurei Biah 21:2 is that the prohibition applies at all times and forbids a man from praying or studying the Torah in the presence of a woman who is singing; it is similar to other prohibitions classified as ervah. A minority viewRav Hai Gaon, Rabbenu Hananel, and Halachot Gedolot (as cited in Mordechai Berakhot chapter Mi sheMeito 247:80). This opinion is also followed by the Ra'avya and the Ritva (in his chidushim to Berachot). However, Rashba, quoting Rabbenu Hananel, says that the leniency applies only to one's own wife's voice, not to that of another woman. holds that the prohibition of praying or studying in the presence of kol isha applies only while the Shema Yisrael prayer is being recited.. JHCS 10, pp. 57–75.
There is a debate between poskim whether the prohibition applies to a recorded female voice if the singer cannot be seen, the woman is not known to the man who is listening, and he has never seen her or a picture of her. There are also opinions, following Samson Raphael Hirsch and Azriel Hildesheimer, that exclude singing in mixed groups from this prohibition, such as synagogue prayer or dinner-table zemirot, based on the idea that the female voice is not distinctly heard as separate from the group in those cases."Two voices cannot be heard simultaneously"
Yehiel Yaakov Weinberg and Rabbi David Bigman of Yeshivat Ma'ale Gilboa hold that the kol isha prohibition does not apply to women singing zemirot, songs to children, and lamentations for the dead because in those contexts, men do not derive sexual pleasure from the woman's voice. Rabbi Mosheh Lichtenstein of Yeshivat Har Etzion also rules that the kol isha prohibition does not apply to cases where the song is not sexual and the listener will not derive sexual desire.Kol Isha: A Women's Voice, Tradition Vol. 46, No. 1 (2013)
Other denominations Conservative Judaism interprets the relevant passage of the Talmud as expressing a rabbi's opinion, rather than imposing a requirement.
Reform Judaism fundamentally reconsidered the status of women within Judaism in a series of synods from 1837 onward in both Europe and the United States and formally abolished most distinctions between men and women in the observance of Jewish life, particularly concerning dress and public participation. It no longer regards that law as applicable to modern times.Nadell, Women Who Would Be Rabbis pp. 14–22
Touch
In Orthodox Judaism, men and women who are not married and not closely related are generally forbidden to touch each other sensually. A person who refrains from touching the opposite sex is said to be "shomer negiah". Any touching but especially in an affectionate manner ("b'derech chiba") is prohibited.
Opinions are divided regarding a quick handshake in a business setting: some authorities (mainly of Modern Orthodox background) permit it, but other people (nearly all Haredim, and many other Orthodox Jews) prohibit it. The question is, "What is sensual?" One may, however, touch certain relatives (parents, children, grandparents, grandchildren) to whom one is presumed not to be sexually attracted. Whether or not children adopted at a young age are included in the prohibition is a matter of dispute and varies from case to case. One may touch one's spouse outside the niddah period, but any married couples will also not publicly touch one another.
Conservative and Reform Judaism do not follow those laws.
Yichud