Orthodox Jewish women are known for wearing modest clothes, but this will not be the main focus of this post. The phenomenon that has recently arisen in Israel will be....
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| Jewish women completely covered up so that they cannot see |
Certain sects of ultra-orthodox Jewish women, wear burkas, completely cover their bodies and behave in extreme ways to protect their modesty. The behaviour of these women has been condemned by the majority of ultra-orthodox sects as this type of modesty is not outlined in the Torah. This article how women are CHOOSING this type of lifestyle, with one man eventually divorcing his wife because she would not stop wearing the burka and multiple layers of clothes
As you can hear in this youtube clip the “trend” was started by Rabbanit Keren. The women go to extreme lengths to conceal their bodies and their faces, wearing many layers so no man can even see their body shape through the burka, with them often needing aides to help them walk because they are so covered up that they cannot see!!
For me, the behaviour of these women is saddening. Covering up your entire body and face is completely unnecessary in Judaism. Yes, “mainstream” Judaism does believe in modesty with many Orthodox Jewish women dressing appropriately so men do not see them as sexual objects, but the behaviour of Rabbanit Keren goes above and beyond what needs to be abided by.
Personally, I can see where Orthodox Jewish women are coming from with dressing modestly. Going around in a mini skirt and barely there tank top is hardly asking a male “come and get to know my personality” and can be provocative. However, the extremes of wearing 6 layers of clothes and completely covering the face and body are too much for me. It's upsetting that these women don’t trust the men around them that they go to these extreme lengths. Judaism is all about inner beauty and getting to know a person. Dressing in this way is insulting to me as a Jewish woman. Wearing all these layers of clothes literally turns a man into a complete sexual object. Surely men can contain themselves to some degree without women needing to go to such extreme lengths?! How is a man supposed to get to know a woman if he can’t even her eyes?
This is a very interesting topic. Where do you think the origin of this concealed dress sense lies? A similar dress-code is used by Muslims, have this group of Jewish people attained this ideal from Islam?
ReplyDeleteThe Jewish women that wear the burkas are mainly siutated in Israel, so yes the burka originates from the Middle East and the Islamic religion. However, the Jewish women that wear the burka also wear it underneath many layers of clothing (unlike the women of Islam) so they have taken the burka and made it something unique and distinct for them.
ReplyDeleteThis is really interesting, I had no idea this was occurring. I can understand your initial reaction to this especially as is not a common practice within Judaism.
ReplyDeleteI too think it is an extreme, however I've always been one to just let people get on with it. Whatever they believe, however they choose to dress or express themselves, is a choice they should be allowed to make.
It does create a really negative image and in my opinion a misconception of men. Perhaps the women who choose to dress in this way, have suffered from some sort of abuse in the past and thus they choose to dress like this. It could also just be a tradition they are continuing.
I agree with you that modesty is not merely covering up from head to toe but other factors such as how someone talks/acts also need to be taken into consideration
Yes, I agree. We must be careful not to inflict what we think is the 'correct' way of dressing onto other people. I also agree that how someone talks and acts is the most important thing when it comes to a person - the inside matters! However, the issue with these women is that it is almost impossible to hear them talk or see how they act because they are so covered up with lots of different layers. I think that once clothing starts to effect how a person is living (one of the articles stated that a woman needed guidance every day in order to walk because she was so covered up) we need to look at whether this way of expression is permissable.
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