Making Chumros the Minimum Standard

B’Hadrei Haredim, altered a photo of the new government so that the faces of the female ministers were either pixellated or removed entirely.

Rebbetzin Dr. Adina Bar-Shalom, daughter of late Shas spiritual adviser Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, expressed horror: “I fear that if this continues, we will have to veil our faces.” She recounted how her father reacted with shock and anger upon seeing a published family photo with the faces of his wife and mother blurred out.

(A)n increasing number of women (are) wearing “shawls” – a poncho-like piece of fabric worn over clothing so as to conceal any suggestion of the female form.

 (In) hassidic communities in New York and London, women are expected to refrain from driving – an unofficial ban. Even world tragedies are blamed on women’s supposed lack of modesty: It is not uncommon to see signs correlating a house fire, a natural disaster or the number of ambulance calls (this in Lakewood) with wigs that are too long, skirts that are too short, or nonexistent socks. As rockets rained down on Israel last summer, a New York camp for young girls ran a modesty contest for its participants, claiming that covering their bodies would protect Israel. 

Jewish sources that discuss the idea of shmirat einayim (guarding one’s eyes) make several points explicitly. The obligation to guard one’s eyes is incumbent on men…