Tzniut - Jewish Modesty: then and now, A video

I found this to be really insightful. It shows how the concept of modesty as it was kept in Judaism was very similar to what we see preserved in Islam. It was only in the last century that the Jews' traditional dress was changed to more closely resemble that of the Europeans. The author of the material also discusses some of the reasons for modesty and the true meaning of the Hebrew word Tzniut. It translated more accurately as subduedness, which is why modesty should be part of our submission to our creator.

Enjoy!

Yesterday's Finds!

As you may know, my mom and brother are in town. We have been busy all around the city, checking out shops, taking walks, and just generally enjoying ourselves. The weather got a really nice too. Its much cooler and overcast, so we won't get overheated while walking.

Yesterday we went to Powell's books, checked out downtown for a bit, then went over to the Hawthorne Dist. I picked up these things:


The Quran translation is Al Quran, A Contemporary Translation by Ahmed Ali.

I looked at it in the store and was pretty impressed. It includes the Arabic text (in very small print), has useful footnotes, and seems to be contemporary without going against traditional interpretation. I was actually looking for the Asad translation, but maybe this was meant to be.
The English is very readable, but seems to be truer to the original.

I picked up the scarf at a place that sold clothes from Tibet and nepal. It is a rougher cotton that seems to stay put and also breathes well.

Just look at how cute Layla is wearing it:


The other book is a children's story in English and Somali. I probably bought it more for myself than for Layla. She seems to get annoyed when I read it to her in Somali.

My mom and brother both really like it here. Now I just need to convince them to move when my dad retires.

Pseudo-Hijab

Here is my own take on the Spanish-hijab (aka tie-hijab with no neck coverage) style.

The steps are basically as follows.

1. Place an oblong shayla scarf basically centered on your head.

2. Tie at the back in a single knot.

3. Take one of the sides and cross it back over your head.

4. Tie that end to the other longer one that is at your opposite shoulder.

For this style it is all tied and not pinned anywhere. I wore it downtown for a couple hours and it did get loose after awhile so I had to untie the second knot and tighten the first. You could probably avoid that by using a pin to secure the first knot.