
Last night, a special asifa was held in the city of Beitar Illit for the city’s rabbonim and maggidei shiur of the Shovavim shiurim in the city.
Rav Chaim Weiss, a rov in Beitar, spoke out strongly about breaches in tznius that he said must be corrected. “These are things that must be talked about, and if we don’t talk about it, iy certainly will not be corrected.”
He then said that women should not drive cars for tznius reasons, quoting Rav Shmuel Halevi Wosner, the Shevet Halevi, who he said would always say that a woman should not drive a car for tznius reasons.
He then spoke of another issue: “Some women grow their nails long, with or without nail polish, and this is something that didn’t exist in our machaneh. It’s chiloni, secular.”
“We need to raise the level of our city,” he said.
In addition, Rav Weiss urged that mehadrin (separate) seating on buses be enforced.
{Matzav.com Israel}
No bigger issues?
Yes there are:
Is a single Bais Yaakov girl just home from Seminary allowed to join her parents’ Shabbos table for a Seudah which will also be attended by teenage sons of friends or neighbors?
Dunny: What are the issues with the situation you describe?
Is it better for a woman to go in a taxi driven by a man?
And what about those pritzusdika lace top shaitels?
How am I going to earn a living then? I can’t do anything else.
Stay home and bake potato kugel for your family.
I am not a “feminist” by any means but I am wondering how it is that a group of men get together and decide what the ladies should not be doing without so much as talking to them about it?
You’re not a feminist, but your question is feminist.
I dont live in Beitar so I cant comment
But I do live in a place with many yungerliet and magidei shiur and almost without exception all of their wives drive cars so should I look at them askance?
In the sefer mishneh torah written by the rambam it says that a man should see to it that his wife does not go outside more than twice a month
Not sure why this is newsworthy. This is nothing new. Many chassidishe communities hold like this even in the US.
And yes in a place where it’s not accepted for women to drive if a woman does drive it is a breach in the tznius level of that place. In EY where driving is much more rare and women driving is practically unheard of someone doing so is breakingan acceoted level of tznius.
I think deep down everyone understands that driving takes a certain aggressiveness which has in it a certain touch of lack of tznius. Whether that overrides the many other considerations caused when a wife doesn’t drive is a shaila for rabbanim to decide. No one has a right to criticize a chashuva rav who has an opinion on the matter. Especially a gadol of the caliber of Rav Sh Wosner. If you don’t like it follow your Rav. period. there’s no reason to start discussing whether you agree with another Rav’s opinion.
Regarding Yossi’s comment.
Since when do rabbanim need to discuss what they hold with the women or men for that matter? Does a Rav need to talk to his constituents before issuing a psak whether certain wine is considered mevushal?
Halacha is not a democracy.
Completely ridiculous!
We have a serious problem when the nashim get all dressed up and ungeputzt when they go shopping or go out with friends for a lunch/shmooze, but yet when their husband comes home from a long hard stressful day at work, she is dressed in shmatas from LandsEnd & LL Bean, and a worn out discolored snood, etc… “Oh, my husband doesn’t mind”. “He’s a Ben Torah”. Priorities are skewered. Then the nashim tzidkanios wonder, why is my husband on his cellphone? What is he looking at that is so interesting? Hmmm. At least the nashim went to good seminary’s and know all daled chilkeiy shulchan aruch. Everything opposites.
I can understand that by the chassidisher communities the attidute is to be machmir on women not driving.When my mother o”h,who lived in Gateshead,a very litvisher run kehilla, was failing one driving test after another,she phoned the Rov Rav Rakow zt”l for a brocha that she should pass the next one.He asked her why she so much wanted to drive ? She answered that she would then be able to do the mitsva of bringing ladies to hospitals who need to visit family,or to bring food to patients who otherwise would not have kosher food…..He agreed that this was a good reason to want to drive,gave her a brocha that she should pass the next test which she did ! For many years she did just that,useing her car as a mobile mitsva machine.
lets bring back horses and buggies.
Next week the women are meeting to approve limiting biah to once a week. Of course in the name of tznius.
I think most American men would agree that women oughtn’t drive.
I agree. The scariest thing out on the road is a female driver. Scarier if it’s a Frum woman, in an SUV, with a (filtered) smartphone.
Mind you, the Frum MEN in their SUVs with or without a (filtered) smartphone, are no less scary….