Middle School Tzniut Guidelines
The Navi tells us in Sefer Micha, Chapter 6 Verse 8,"Hatzneah Lechet lm Elokecha" that we should walk modestly with our God. As God is always present in our lives, we should therefore be conducting every aspect of our life with tzniut: in our speech ,our interactions with our friends, on the ball fields and at home, we should behave ourselves in a manner that demonstrates that we recognize that God is always beside us.
The greater message of tzniut is one that we always strive to instill in our students, and we are very proud of the fine middot and the tzanuah way that our students act. At the same time, tzniut also includes clothing; dressing in a manner that again demonstrates our heightened awareness that we are walking with God.
Just as halacha, Jewish law, guides us in the way that we speak and behave, so too tzniut in clothing has specific guidelines in halacha. While there are some varying opinions in this area, after careful research we have arrived at the following guidelines:
- Skirt length- all skirts must cover the knee when sitting
- Sleeve length- sleeves must extend to within one "tefach", (width of one hand) of the elbow, which is halfway between the shoulder and the elbow.
- Neckline- while there is less clarity in halacha in this area, we are asking parents to guide their daughters in this area to use appropriate judgment and not wear low cut or low hanging shirts.
- Tightness and/or Sheer Transparency Tops-this is also an area not as clearly defined in halacha, but again we ask that appropriate judgment be used.