You Cannot Ignore A Woman Dressed Non-Tznius
“The lesson to be learned from the story is, that when we see a Jewish woman who is going in clothing which are not Tznius, the immediate reaction is to stand up against it” – The Rebbe, explaining how a person must behave when faced with a woman who does not dress in a Tznius fashion ● Full Story
On Shabbos Shuva, Parshas Ha’azinu 5730, the Rebbe discussed Rav Adda bar Ahava, one of the sages of the Talmud, telling a story about him, and teaching the lesson to be learned from it (Free Translation):
In Tractate Berachos (20a) the Gemara relates: “There was the case of Rav Adda bar Ahava who saw a woman [he thought she was Jewish] wearing a red head-dress [which is Non-Tznius] in the street, and thinking that she was a Jewish woman, he immediately went over and tore it from her.”
The immediate lesson to be learned from the story is, that when we see a Jewish woman who is going in clothing which are not Tznius, the immediate reaction is to stand up against it -not like the people who claim that Tznius is only a Hiddur which doesn’t apply in certain places or certain generations- like we see from Rav Adda bar Ahava who immediately stood up against it; despite him being in exile during a time when Jews were fearful of the Non-Jews – he did not care about that, and took a stand.
The Gemara continues, that afterwards “It turned out that she was a Non-Jewish woman, and they fined him four hundred zuz. He said to her: What is your name. She replied: Mathun. Mathun, he said to her: that makes four hundred zuz.” The word “Mathun” in Hebrew means ‘deliberate,’ had he been less rash he would have saved himself 400 zuz, but we see that he was quick and didn’t wait a moment before doing what needed to be done.
Sichos Kodesh 5730 Vol. 1 page 59
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It would be a good idea if they would hang up such signs in crown heights like they have in Meah Shearim. The problem with that is it will scare away people that we want to be mekariv to yidishkeit
The Rebbe’s Kavona is that we must take a stand against it (as the gemoroh says that if you see aveiros being done – if you don’t protest – you will be caught by the same iniquity). However, the Chabad approach would be as they say “kill him with love”.
I’m not sure if that kind of approach to tznius is A) Good B) will work. Sounds too violent for a chasid. Plus, The lady will not accept that kind of rebuke.
dear observation,
are you indicating that perhaps the rebbe has made a mistake chas-v’sholom in what he said??????
we must give ourselves over to what the rebbe says. period. whether we understand/feel or not.