[Avodah] Kol kevudah: a woman's place is in the home

[Rich, Joel]

It seems to me that a similar thing is going on here.  The issue for the Rambam was that modest women of his time and place (amongst the Muslim in Spain and Egypt) did not go out (in fact one of the striking things we saw when we visited Malta last year was the enclosed balconies, which were built under Muslim influence so that their women could sit outside and see but not be seen).  But it would not have been appropriate to ban something just because the Muslim women did it, if there was no asmachta to rely on from our sources, but if it could be considered something with some roots in our sources, then it is acceptable to expect Jewish women to act similarly and not breach the boundries.



Regards

Chana

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So you are saying that if the entire outside world decided  that a woman's  pinkie finger  were considered the ultimate female ervah, that Jewish women would not have to cover their pinkies?
KT&ST
Joel Rich
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