Understanding Tzniut: Modern Controversies in the Jewish Community (review)

This fascinating book,¹ written largely as a response to R. Pesach Eliyahu Falk's Oz vehadar levushah: Modesty—An Adornment for Life (Jerusalem: Feldheim, 1998), opens by expressing the hope of "clarifying this much-discussed but little-understood area of Halachah." The title implies that the entire volume is about controversies regarding tzeni'ut (modesty), but this is somewhat misleading. Tzeni'ut is the focus of the first part of the volume, while the second part treats a miscellany of halakhic topics; the chapters include: "A Memorial Day for European Jewry," a halakhic discussion of Yom Hashoah; "Is a Handshake a Torah Violation?"; "Blessing Daughters," on the appropriate formula for blessing one's daughters at the Sabbath table; and "Homosexuality, Sin, and Tinok she-Nishba." The volume as a whole continues Henkin's sterling earlier contributions to current responsa literature in his Benei banim (Hebrew; 4 volumes, 1981–2004); Equality Lost: Essays in Torah Commentary, Halacha, and Jewish Thought (1999); and Responsa on Contemporary Jewish Women's Issues (2003), a translation of selected responsa from Benei banim. It concludes with a short afterword honoring Henkin's illustrious grandfather, Torah scholar R. Yosef Eliyahu Henkin, who died in 1974.

Tzeni'ut is often invoked in particular as a criterion for evaluating the attire of girls and women, but it is actually a much broader, gender-inclusive conceptual category. True modesty—unpretentiousness, a lack of self-centeredness, a curtailing of unwarranted pride or arrogance—may be understood as a vehicle for developing and making visible the dignity of each person, the image of God within us all. We read in Micah 6:8: ". . . and what does God require of you? To do justly, love mercy (ḥesed), and walk humbly (hatznea lekhet) with God." According to the Talmud (BT Makkot 24a), the expression "walk humbly" refers to mitzvot that involve "walking," such as joining a funeral or wedding procession, acts that are done for the sake of doing good, without expectation of reciprocity or reward. Similarly, the Bible commentator Ibn Ezra defines "walk humbly" as following the ways of God. Conceiving of tzeni'ut as "humbleness" or "humility" has connotations not readily apparent in the more usual rendering of this term as "modesty." Such behavior is driven by the palpable presence of an inner direction, a strong sense of self, the confidence to develop one's gifts as well as reach out to others.

Recognizing sexuality, in its appropriate place, as integral to the wholeness of a person, tzeni'ut does entail some concealment and privacy of the body, for the sake of realizing aspects of the inner self. Thus, it includes directives about dressing in ways that do not overemphasize one's sexuality, with the aim of avoiding direct and provocative manifestations. As understood in some circles, however, observance of tzeni'ut means that women must be covered up, silenced and almost shut away, so as to prevent men from accepting—and controlling—their own sexuality. This approach not only relates to women as objects, but also avoids examination of modesty and dignity in relation to male dress and to men, except as fathers and husbands in the role of supervising the attire of their daughters and wives. The claim that men can so "guide" their womenfolk bespeaks a power structure that limits—if it does not negate—the dignity of women.

Despite the complexity and breadth of the concept of tzen'iut, Falk, in his volume, concerns himself only with acceptable and appropriate female fashion; Henkin, in response, does the same. Thus, neither text deals with the concept's broad reach, although Henkin's treatment deals more with underlying notions. Falk's focus upon external female manifestations can be almost voyeuristic, dwelling as it does upon what a woman should not wear so that a man will not feel attracted to her physicality. The differences between Falk's and Henkin's respective formulations revolve around their different interpretations of the meaning of tzeni'ut in this narrower...