Address to Women

Now I will address the women: I want to ask you a question: Does anyone really think that the way the women are dressed here - and it's not only here; I wish it were only here - is the way Sarah, Rivkah, Rachel, and Leah looked? Does anyone really think so? Is this how a Jewish woman should look? I want to tell you that it is nearly impossible to find in the stores a garment that is appropriate for a Jewish woman. Usually, the length is wrong, and even if the length is fine, the style is wrong.

Who is willing to stand in Judgment for all these sheitels (wigs) of falsehood that you all wear? Don't say, "We never heard about this. They didn't say." Remember that a Jew stood here and said that you will be burned in Gehinnom for this! Yes! This is the truth! Does it cause the men to think about the women, or not? Can anyone say that the way these women dress does not tempt him to have improper thoughts? Is there anyone that is willing to accept the burden of these sins on his head?

How can an entire generation go around this way, and hardly anyone opens his mouth about it?

Can a woman come to shul on Rosh HaShanah with such a long sheitel and daven? This is like coming to shul on Yom Kippur with some pork, saying, "Avinu," eating a piece, and continuing with "Malkenu." Exactly so!

You cannot live a life of falsehood and try to continue with the coming year. If you want a good year, if you want Moshiach to come, you must decide what the truth is. If you want to live with truth, you must become a different person. "But that is how my neighbor looks!" you will object. One of our wise men said, "Gehinnom is large, and they're always renovating and expanding." They need more space, because every day, more people come to move in.

Go home and make a self-accounting. Some will tell their friends, "A crazy man came here from Eretz Yisrael. It's very nice that the Rabbi didn't throw him out." In America, they are very careful about treating people with dignity. I'm very thankful. I was thrown out of one place.

If someone seeks the truth, he knows that Sarah didn't appear this way and Rivkah didn't appear this way. He knows that it bothers him to see other women dressed this way, and that it bothers other men to see this wife this way. He knows that it is alluring, and that it is against the halachah and against Hashem's will. He knows all this.

"So what should I do?" you say. "Get divorced?" No, don't divorce your wife. Sit with her and decide if you want the truth. Believe me, many women want the truth. If you strongly want it, you can change.

(Note: The Rav gave a similar speech in another location. We are including here an additional point that he mentioned there.)

Now I will address the women: I want to ask you a question: Does anyone really think that the way the women are dressed here - and it's not only here; I wish it were only here - is the way Sarah, Rivkah, Rachel, and Leah looked? Does anyone really think so? Is this how a Jewish woman should look? I want to tell you that it is nearly impossible to find in the stores a garment that is appropriate for a Jewish woman. Usually, the length is wrong, and even if the length is fine, the style is wrong.

Who is willing to stand in Judgment for all these sheitels (wigs) of falsehood that you all wear? Don't say, "We never heard about this. They didn't say." Remember that a Jew stood here and said that you will be burned in Gehinnom for this! Yes! This is the truth! Does it cause the men to think about the women, or not? Can anyone say that the way these women dress does not tempt him to have improper thoughts? Is there anyone that is willing to accept the burden of these sins on his head?

How can an entire generation go around this way, and hardly anyone opens his mouth about it?

Can a woman come to shul on Rosh HaShanah with such a long sheitel and daven? This is like coming to shul on Yom Kippur with some pork, saying, "Avinu," eating a piece, and continuing with "Malkenu." Exactly so!

You cannot live a life of falsehood and try to continue with the coming year. If you want a good year, if you want Moshiach to come, you must decide what the truth is. If you want to live with truth, you must become a different person. "But that is how my neighbor looks!" you will object. One of our wise men said, "Gehinnom is large, and they're always renovating and expanding." They need more space, because every day, more people come to move in.

Go home and make a self-accounting. Some will tell their friends, "A crazy man came here from Eretz Yisrael. It's very nice that the Rabbi didn't throw him out." In America, they are very careful about treating people with dignity. I'm very thankful. I was thrown out of one place.

If someone seeks the truth, he knows that Sarah didn't appear this way and Rivkah didn't appear this way. He knows that it bothers him to see other women dressed this way, and that it bothers other men to see this wife this way. He knows that it is alluring, and that it is against the halachah and against Hashem's will. He knows all this.

"So what should I do?" you say. "Get divorced?" No, don't divorce your wife. Sit with her and decide if you want the truth. Believe me, many women want the truth. If you strongly want it, you can change.