A Cover Up of Jewish Women

Beit Shemesh is an ultra-orthodox Jewish area just west of Jerusalem.

Sheera Frenkel, writing for the TimesOnLine, tells how some of the women in this community are covering themselves head-to-toe, not unlike the Muslim women we wrote about a couple of days ago.

This new style is part of what Frenkel calls "a budding movement of about 100 women ... who have begun covering their bodies. Some cover just their hair and neck; others wrap their entire face, save their eyes, with the loose cloth."

It's a religious thing. As one woman explained, "The full body, or full face covering that people think is only part of the Arab world actually startred with Jewish women. Muslim women are imitating Jews to try to gain God's favor with modesty. The truth is that the women of Israel are lessening in God's eyes because the Arabs are more modest in dress. If the Jews want to conquer the Arabs in this land they must enhance their modesty."

It is curious to me that people get so concerned about clothing. I know in Christian circles folks used to fight about what was proper to wear when attending church. A few years back most Christian women wore some kind of head covering. Men, on the other hand, would never think of covering their heads inside a religious structure.

Even Christians priests and pastors and their flocks got into it over the type and style of vestments most appropriate to gain the approval of their deity. I've known churches that split over these issues!

But why? Why would any god care about such trifles? Furthermore, if you read the Bible literally, then it's obvious god created the first people with no clothes whatsoever. And they seemed to do just fine. Well, 'til that sneaky serpent came along...

Maybe what would be most pleasing to god would be to go around naked! (God, wouldn't that be awful?)