Burkas vs. Mitpachats
"My understanding of the Muslim mode of dress, such as the niqab, is diametrically opposed to all the above. When you force someone to cover their face, you are making a statement that there is no deeper essence to be shown. This person is completely a non-person, totally subservient to men. I was recently dumbstruck when I saw an interview with a leading sheikh expounding, unabashedly, on the virtues of the Muslim practice of beating wives. He explained how this is a husband’s religious obligation when his wife is acting out of line. (He did say that the stick used shouldn’t be too big and heavy.) With a straight face, even with a smile, he went on to explain that one should not beat his wife for just any transgression; it is reserved mainly for when a wife is unwilling to submit to intimate relations. This, together with laws forbidding women from driving, voting, working, etc, show how Muslim woman are viewed as non-entities or lower-caste than the men in control; hence covering her face."
- Rabbi Yerachmiel Fried (Aish.com)
A person’s face, however, is one area which should always be revealed. The Hebrew word for face, "panim," shares the same root as the word "p'nim," which refers to one's "inside" or deepest essence, the soul. This teaches that while the physical body masks one’s essential soul, the face reveals the soul, as it says: "The wisdom of a person illuminates his face" (Ecclesiastes 8:1). A woman covers her body so that the beholder can focus on her true royalty, the regal soul which shines from her countenance, her face. Revealing the rest of the body causes others to focus on her physicality and deflects attention from her true essence. In many cases, this causes the spiritual essence to retreat deeper within herself, taking a back seat to the physicality which she attempts to expose as her real self… when in fact her real self is hidden.
- Rabbi Yerachmiel Fried (Aish.com)
In my anthropology class, one of the articles I was required to read was “Do Muslim women really need saving?” by Janet Abu Lughod. Within the article, Americans are described as interfering and prejudging the position of Afghan women in their culture. The author believes that Americans do not understand the cultural differences of Afghan women. As proof of her opinion, Abu Lughod describes Laura Bush’s speech to Afghan women where she reaches out to help save and empower women. Sharing the same beliefs as Laura Bush, I was very surprised when my classmates and professor agreed with the author. My professor used the topic of women wearing a Burka as an example of why Americans think Muslim women are not free. To back up the professor’s opinion, a classmate whose family originates from Iran said that people outside the religion believe that Muslim women do not have power because they wear burkas, but in actuality the women wear the burkas to represent their freedom. As an example she said that her grandmother wears different color burkas to represent her individuality.
What I found fascinated within the article and class discussion is that the concept of Chassidic women wearing hair covering was only mentioned once in the article and the concept of Jewish women wearing a mitpachat was not mentioned at all. What I took away from this article and class discussion is that even though women in both religions cover their hair, the concept of covering ones hair goes beyond the personal representation. By covering ones hair, the women herself and those who view her, see covering ones hair as a symbol which reflects the religion and culture they are a part of. Because of this, Americans equate the concept of Burkas as demeaning because they make a comparison between the two cultures. (Age 21)
This article seems very interesting. Did they view Chassidic women as “unfree” as well? Mitpachats are not widely known by non-Jews but I find them very similar to Burkas and I feel almost that Muslims in my school are unsure if I am one of them or “something” different! lol
A burka also covers more than a Mitpachat...do you think that makes Muslims more tznius? does it make Jewish women “just making the cut off”? What if I told you that in the time of the Gemera certain Jewish women in different parts of the world wore burka-like coverings that covered one eye...for tznius reasons (not fashion).
Was that an acceptable practice, for the women to cover all but one eye? Or was it a fanatical extreme that did not carry on for that reason?
How do you think would those women have responded when faced with the argument by Rabbi Yerachmiel Fried, that covering the face is covering a person's soul and essential humanity?(Age 22)
In regards to your first two questions: why would you believe this mode of dress to possibly be extreme? Furthermore, do you believe the "mitpachat look" is extreme?
They might respond that the face is NOT the soul and therefore covering one's face is not covering one's soul,but on the contrary, it is allowing others to see YOU, the real you, behind all the physicality.
I believe it to be extreme because it is taking the halacha and adding on a lot of chumra. I'm also a bit confused- are we talking about a burqa or a hijab? As far as I remember from my Arabic class, a hijab would be more comparable with a mitpachat (its the head covering) whereas I believe the burqa is the entire body covering (face, head, body etc.) Correct me if I am wrong. (Age 22)
You believe the Mitpachat look is extreme? How so? Thanks for the clarification! Would the burqa be considered a more "machmir" approach? or is a hijab a more lenient approach?
- Rabbi Yerachmiel Fried (Aish.com)
A person’s face, however, is one area which should always be revealed. The Hebrew word for face, "panim," shares the same root as the word "p'nim," which refers to one's "inside" or deepest essence, the soul. This teaches that while the physical body masks one’s essential soul, the face reveals the soul, as it says: "The wisdom of a person illuminates his face" (Ecclesiastes 8:1). A woman covers her body so that the beholder can focus on her true royalty, the regal soul which shines from her countenance, her face. Revealing the rest of the body causes others to focus on her physicality and deflects attention from her true essence. In many cases, this causes the spiritual essence to retreat deeper within herself, taking a back seat to the physicality which she attempts to expose as her real self… when in fact her real self is hidden.
- Rabbi Yerachmiel Fried (Aish.com)
In my anthropology class, one of the articles I was required to read was “Do Muslim women really need saving?” by Janet Abu Lughod. Within the article, Americans are described as interfering and prejudging the position of Afghan women in their culture. The author believes that Americans do not understand the cultural differences of Afghan women. As proof of her opinion, Abu Lughod describes Laura Bush’s speech to Afghan women where she reaches out to help save and empower women. Sharing the same beliefs as Laura Bush, I was very surprised when my classmates and professor agreed with the author. My professor used the topic of women wearing a Burka as an example of why Americans think Muslim women are not free. To back up the professor’s opinion, a classmate whose family originates from Iran said that people outside the religion believe that Muslim women do not have power because they wear burkas, but in actuality the women wear the burkas to represent their freedom. As an example she said that her grandmother wears different color burkas to represent her individuality.
What I found fascinated within the article and class discussion is that the concept of Chassidic women wearing hair covering was only mentioned once in the article and the concept of Jewish women wearing a mitpachat was not mentioned at all. What I took away from this article and class discussion is that even though women in both religions cover their hair, the concept of covering ones hair goes beyond the personal representation. By covering ones hair, the women herself and those who view her, see covering ones hair as a symbol which reflects the religion and culture they are a part of. Because of this, Americans equate the concept of Burkas as demeaning because they make a comparison between the two cultures. (Age 21)
This article seems very interesting. Did they view Chassidic women as “unfree” as well? Mitpachats are not widely known by non-Jews but I find them very similar to Burkas and I feel almost that Muslims in my school are unsure if I am one of them or “something” different! lol
A burka also covers more than a Mitpachat...do you think that makes Muslims more tznius? does it make Jewish women “just making the cut off”? What if I told you that in the time of the Gemera certain Jewish women in different parts of the world wore burka-like coverings that covered one eye...for tznius reasons (not fashion).
Was that an acceptable practice, for the women to cover all but one eye? Or was it a fanatical extreme that did not carry on for that reason?
How do you think would those women have responded when faced with the argument by Rabbi Yerachmiel Fried, that covering the face is covering a person's soul and essential humanity?(Age 22)
In regards to your first two questions: why would you believe this mode of dress to possibly be extreme? Furthermore, do you believe the "mitpachat look" is extreme?
They might respond that the face is NOT the soul and therefore covering one's face is not covering one's soul,but on the contrary, it is allowing others to see YOU, the real you, behind all the physicality.
I believe it to be extreme because it is taking the halacha and adding on a lot of chumra. I'm also a bit confused- are we talking about a burqa or a hijab? As far as I remember from my Arabic class, a hijab would be more comparable with a mitpachat (its the head covering) whereas I believe the burqa is the entire body covering (face, head, body etc.) Correct me if I am wrong. (Age 22)
You believe the Mitpachat look is extreme? How so? Thanks for the clarification! Would the burqa be considered a more "machmir" approach? or is a hijab a more lenient approach?