I want to comment on a matter that needs constant
reinforcement. Although I am not a professional writer, since
I have been requested by prominent rabbonim and educators to
transmit the following message I decided to take part in this
zikui horabim. I hope I will succeed in expressing
myself properly in this article.
It is well known that many Jewish women make tremendous
sacrifices to support their husbands so they can study Torah,
and these noble women toil as hard as they can to make a
living. How fortunate are we to have been zocheh to
such mesirus nefesh for Torah! Boruch Hashem,
from the outset the schools direct the talmidos to
their goal of establishing homes of Torah, and are profoundly
concerned as to how their talmidos fulfill these
aspirations.
Lately the study of other professions apart from teaching has
become popular. The topic of choosing a profession itself
needs to be clarified, but this is not the aim of this
article. Although those talmidos who choose teaching
as their career are sure to work in suitable environments,
other professions pose a danger of unsuitable working
places.
It seems unnecessary to expound on the dangers of working at
a non-religious owned business or office. Their tremendous
obstacles to tznius and the kedushoh of am
Yisroel are obvious. Even if we fool ourselves into
believing that these places can be guaranteed to be free of
any specific halachic questions such as yichud and
others, our talmidos will, in many cases, be working
together with men and women employees who are remote from
Torah observance. Working in other rooms but at the same
location and doing the same work is no solution. It is
inconceivable to expose bnos Yisroel to such
temptations.
Bais Yaakov educators invest years of hard work in fashioning
the hearts of their students to protect the tohoroh in
their neshomos. These girls are shielded within the
chareidi society, a sort of teivas Noach, to be saved
from the rampant flood outside. When working together with
secular employees, one sentence or joke can sometimes
penetrate like poison and destroy all of their
chinuch. This is surely so when these women must work
daily in such places. When this woman returns home, what type
of new character envelopes her? What will be her attitude to
her husband's yiras Shomayim? How will she educate her
children? The answers are evident to any sensitive person.
I have been working in the field of education for many years
and people have frequently requested of me to cite what
Chazal, our kadmonim, and gedolei Torah, have
written on the danger of environmental influence on others
and especially on the purity of women and girls. Although I
have gathered much material I will only cite some points that
HaRav Elya Svei shlita made a few years ago during a
meeting of educators.
HaRav Svei explained at length that Hashem created man in the
most beneficial way to serve his goal in life: transmitting
the Torah from father to son. He writes that after we
contemplate this we will understand that this is true about
the creation of woman too. A well-known statement of Chazal
is that Chavah was created from a modest place in man and
HaKodosh Boruch Hu therefore commanded every part of
her body to be tzonu'a in all its actions. The main
essence of a woman and her goal in life is tznius.
Rochel, the daughter of Kalbo Savu'a, married R' Akiva
although when she married him he was an am ho'oretz
forty years old. Why did the daughter of a rich person who
was an extraordinary baal tzedokoh and who herself
possessed virtuous character traits (as she showed throughout
her life) decide to marry R' Akiva? Chazal write that "she
saw he was modest." She saw in him the middoh of
tznius and chose him as a partner in building their
home even though he was then an am ho'oretz.
But why did she prefer the middoh of tznius,
reckoning it as a basis for turning Akiva into a R' Akiva?
Rochel understood that tznius is a requisite for
acquiring Torah, and studying Torah with tznius is the
way to becoming great in Torah. "Your thighs are like jewels,
the work of the hands of an artist" (Shir HaShirim
7:3). "Tanna Dvei Rav Anan: Divrei Torah is compared
to a thigh to teach us that just as a thigh is hidden
divrei Torah should be hidden too" (Sukkah
49).
Now we will understand why the middoh of tznius
is ingrained within women and is a basic requisite for her
personality. The zchus of women is in their helping
their husbands and sons to study Torah. When the trait of
tznius is deeply rooted, that atmosphere dominates in
her home and she will raise her sons to Torah with
tznius, which is essential for acquiring Torah. The
entire way a woman was created, with the middoh of
tznius, was intended to help man transmit the Torah
and fulfill it.
HaRav Elya Svei shlita says about this: "I felt it
necessary to highlight this subject although it has been
discussed in the past. Due to the present difficulties of
livelihood and various other reasons, talented girls study
office work such as computers. The results are that they work
in places whose normal atmosphere is apt to damage their
middoh of tznius. The atmosphere of these
places of work and their style—in contrast to teaching
and education—damages the refinement of a Jewish girl.
Apparently all this is done with good intentions: to support
a ben Torah and help him study diligently. The truth,
however, is that a conflict between what is actually being
done and the goals we are aspiring to is evident. Women were
created with the trait of tznius so they can bequeath
it to their household, since tznius is fundamental to
the Torah's continuance and success in studying Torah, and
any flaw in tznius is liable to, chas vesholom,
be a flaw in Torah."
I will also cite how HaRav Svei concludes. What he said
should be our foundation in the education of Jewish girls:
"We therefore should be aware that a Jewish girl stands at
the crossroads. Before a woman steps out onto the paths of
life she needs to reflect about what she is doing and her
plans in life. Do they serve the main duty of a woman—
bequeathing the values of tznius to the coming
generations?"
This was said in America where the atmosphere in society and
places of work have ruined many homes. Why should we in Eretz
Yisroel not learn from their experience as Israeli society
has also become a place of hefkeirus like in
America?
HaRav Elya Svei shlita has taught us that besides the
problems created by non-kosher places of employment, they
also destroy the building of a house of Torah. Some women
think that they should continue working so their husbands can
continue studying, and although they themselves decline in
ruchniyus their husbands will grow in their Torah
studies. Besides this being "sinning to help another person
have a zchus" and "a mitzvah caused by an
aveiroh" they will not attain their goal in life. They
are contradicting themselves, as HaRav Svei explained. Anyone
who thinks about this matter will understand it clearly and
will not use these means to construct homes of Torah.
I therefore have a practical proposal that I have already
discussed with eminent educators. Wherever various
professions are being taught in Bais Yaakov seminaries a
condition should be made with the girls. It should be clearly
demanded from those who register, that talmidos will
later work either in their homes (if possible according to
the type of work) or at kosher places of work. Under no
conditions should they work in places where the atmosphere
does not help sustain homes of Torah but, on the contrary,
wrecks the foundations of the Jewish home, chas
vesholom. In the zchus of noshim
tzidkoniyos may we be zocheh to the
Geulah.
