Crown Heights School Warns Moms To Ditch Leggings And ‘Loud’ Nail Polish
Image by YouTube
By Sam Kestenbaum June 5, 2017
A Hasidic girls school in Brooklyn is demanding mothers of students appear more “modest” next school year.
Some of the things the administration is forbidding? Leggings, denim and “loud” nail polish.
In a letter to parents from Crown Heights Girls’ School Bnos Menachem, director Motty Gurary explained the rationale for the changes: to “create a ripple effect in the community at large.” The local website Crownheights.info posted a copy of the letter.
The new rules require women to “completely cover” their elbows feet and neckline and refrain from wearing leggings, tight clothing or denim. “Nail polish should be conservative/soft colors,” the letter reads.
“As a group, we can make a significant difference if we try. We should not throw our hands up in despair, but rather, should unite to show our children that there is a better way,” Gurary wrote.
Going forward, applications to the school will have to be accompanied by a signed agreement — from both fathers and mothers — to abide by the new rules, though the rules appear to only apply to women.
“It should not be hard to meet these requirements, as our students need to keep similar rules,” the letter reads, “and it is imperative that the home and the school follow the same standards.”
Email Sam Kestenbaum at kestenbaum@forward.com 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
