[Avodah] Das Moshe or Das Yehudis

[Micha Berger]

On Sun, Jun 19, 2011 at 03:42:45PM -0400, Yitz . wrote:
: If a community starts keeping a "chumra" in tznius because of a mistaken
: belief that it is absolutely required, does that become 'das yehudis' or is
: it only something that is accepted as minhag or chumra that becomes das
: yehudis?

I think that if women wear it because it's fashionable it could still
become das yehudis (DY).

DY comes from the mishnah Kesuvos 7:6 (a/k/a 7:4), found on 72a.

Rashi (72a): shenahagu benos Yisrael ve'af al gav delo kesiva.


The Rambam appears to start by giving a generic answer, much like Rashis,
but then concludes with the specific list from the mishnah. Quoting
Ishus 24:11:
    Ve'eizo hi das yehudis?
    Hu minhag hatzeni'us shanahgu benos Yisrael.
    Ve'eilu hein hadevarim...

But it would seem to me the idiom itself refers to dressing less tzanu'ah
than everyone (of your gender) around you. Regardless of why they dress
that way.

E.g. to the Rambam this means wearing a veil (redid) not just a tichl
(mitpachas). But it obviously wasn't how we held where the norm was
otherwise. But the Rambam's redid was what the local Moslem women were
wearing, it has little to do with formal enactments or minhagim.

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
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