[Avodah] Tzeni'us and gender roles

[Micha Berger]

On Mon, Jul 20, 2009 at 04:39:06PM -0400, Meir Shinnar wrote:
: I am quite confused and puzzled (and reminded of Humpty Dumpty Linguistics -
: a word means what I want it to mean...)).  The word zniut  translates to
: privacy. However, it has been used for millenia, and no understood the word
: zniut to mean a denigration and a problem with assuming public roles...

    `But "glory" doesn't mean "a nice knock-down argument",' Alice
    objected.

    `When I use a word,' Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone,
    `it means just what I choose it to mean -- neither more nor less.'

    `The question is,' said Alice, `whether you can make words mean so
    many different things.'

    `The question is,' said Humpty Dumpty, `which is to be master --
    that's all.' 
			    - Alice in Wonderland, ch. 6

Saying a word means how it is translated to mean isn't the same thing.
However, I did along the way give contrary sources to your "no [one]
understood", and will list 5 as this post proceeds.

: There is another definition of zniut and hatznea lechet - which was actually
: cited by RMB - namely, RYBS;s discusion of it, as cited by RHS in Nefesh
: Harav...

He doesn't discuss it there, he mentions an application. You're deducing
that his one case is the only case. Obviously, RHS wrote wrote the
citation in question didn't think he meant it such a limited way, since
he used the quote as though it bolstered his point.

That's a very thin reed upon which to latzeis miqra miydei peshuto.

Also, RYBS writes about retreat and the imitation of tzimtzum frequently
enough. (He has a beautiful vort on it, the seneh, and the link between
Mosheh's anavah and his nevu'ah. I used it in a speech at my son's bar
mitzvah, blogged at
<http://www.aishdas.org/asp/2005/01/fire-within-bush.shtml>.)

As for the history of the word "tzeni'us"... I already mentioned my
namesake's famous pasuq "vehatzneiah lekhes im E-lokekha" as well as
the Shunamit's "besoch ami". (Although the latter proves the main point,
that the value exists, without the minor issue of whether it's what we
call "tzeni'us".)

See also the Yalqut Balaq 771, which defines tzeni'us as acting in
privacy. To the Rambam (Deiso 1:4), it's dressing as neither a bum nor
in ostentacious clothes.

So, I would reiterate my conclusion that tzeni'us is a shared value
across both genders. Where we differ, such that ko kevudah bas melekh
(or is that bas Melekh?) penimah is only said of women is in the relative
rarity of conflicting goals that force the sacrifice of tzenius.

The refinement of that subset of the Gra's teachings into the theory
of the Mussar movement was largely developed by R' Zundel Salanter.
But he went into hiding in the woods, and had no interest in letting
others know he was trying to be a tzadiq and a chassid (lower case ches).

It was only when Rav Yisrael saw that Litta needed a spiritual movement
that he took his further development of R' Zundel's work and actively
prosletized for a new movement.

And R' Zundel wasn't the only tzadiq nistar. It's an entire genre of
Chassidic story, and discussed more than once in the Besh"t's letters.
I also mentioned the reoccuring theme of anonymously written sefarim,
and while that got sidetracked by mention of a newly appearing article,
that too shows a tendency to avoid getting attention. Even at the expense
of opportunities to teach.

There is a real conflict involved in being a teacher, even Moshe
Rabbeinu. That's not to say that no one should teach; obviously HQBH
foisted that choice on Moshe. Nor does it mean that only men should
teach. But it does mean that teaching, like the amud, shouldn't just be
leaped into.

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             A pious Jew is not one who worries about his fellow
micha at aishdas.org        man's soul and his own stomach; a pious Jew worries
http://www.aishdas.org   about his own soul and his fellow man's stomach.
Fax: (270) 514-1507                       - Rav Yisrael Salanter