Tzniut
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.
[1] 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.
The prohibition on wearing red is Ashkenazic, originally formulated by Joseph Colon Trabotto, Moses Isserles, and Shabtai HaKohen.
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.
Members of Conservative and Reform synagogues may abide by dress codes generally ranging from business casual to informal.
[13] 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.
[18] Jewish law governing tzniut requires married women to cover their hair in the presence of men other than their husband or close family members.
[25] 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.
[22] Genesis 24:64–65 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.
[28] In Orthodox Judaism, men are generally not allowed to hear women sing, a prohibition called kol isha (literally "a woman's voice").
[31] A minority view[32] holds that the prohibition of praying or studying in the presence of kol isha applies only while the Shema Yisrael prayer is being recited.
[31][33] 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.
[35][36] Yehiel Yaakov Weinberg[34] 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.
In Orthodox Judaism, men and women who are not married to each other and are not immediate blood relatives are forbidden to enter into a secluded situation (yichud) in a room or area that is locked and private.
The laws concerning yichud are complicated and detailed, and especially so for women in modern contexts,[40] promoting the suggestion to reread them as a nonspecific mandate for personal space at a time that society can generally acknowledge the darkest aspects of the human sexual psyche in today's social interactions.
The idea comes from the old Jewish practice when the Temple in Jerusalem stood: there was a women's balcony in the Ezrat Nashim to separate male and female spectators at the special Sukkot celebrations.
Today, the Conservative movement puts a strong emphasis on egalitarianism so that men and women have equal roles in prayer services.
[citation needed] Orthodox Jews following the laws on negiah do not participate in mixed dancing, as it entails sensual touch and may also be considered immodest even if there is no physical contact.
In 2013, the Rabbinical Court of the Ashkenazi Community in the Haredi city of Beitar Illit ruled against Zumba (a type of dance fitness) classes although they were held with a female instructor and all-female participants.
