Happy Hanukkah — Cut the Chit Chat With Cousin Gertrude!
By Sam Kestenbaum December 28, 2016
It’s Hanukkah time, but don’t get carried away with the holiday spirit.
Fliers posted in ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods of New York City warn: amidst your Hanukkah parties, dreidel spinning and menorah lighting — don’t let the men and women mix. There should be no engaging in “unnecessary chatting,” “frivolous laughter,” or “playing games together.” This even includes socializing between brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law and cousins.
“The separation between men and women,” the posters read, “must be completely enforced.”
The concept of modesty, tzniut in Hebrew, is used, mostly in Orthodox circles, to describe the character trait of modesty and a group of Jewish laws relating to conduct, especially between the sexes. Some of the most visible observances of these customs are the hair covering and long skirts worn by Orthodox women and the separation of sexes during prayer.
This poster, found in Boro Park was also published in 2015 in The Weekly Link, a premier Orthodox magazine.
Email Sam Kestenbaum at [email protected] and follow him on Twitter at @skestenbaum
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30
