AnonymousNina is misrepresenting jewish modesty. It's not only about the clothing you wear, its also about how you carry yourself and how you represent the jewish faith.
By publicly writing that you decided that hair covering is "not for you", you are basically admitting that you are a hypocrite.
Either you follow the jewish laws of modesty or you don't. You don't pick and choose what you decide you can do.
My thoughts:
As I've said repeatedly on this blog, I don't claim to represent Jewish modesty at large here. I couldn't possibly do that, with so many differing interpretations of every aspect of dress and comportment. I merely represent myself and my personal interaction with the modesty restrictions-- some of which I follow to a T, some of which I don't. Judaism, as with any belief system manifesting itself in practical behavior, is not a monolith: you will find Jewish communities where hair-covering, to take the example pointed at above, is enacted through routine shaving of the head, covering with a short synthetic wig and then a hat. You will also find plenty of communities where hair is not covered-- and that doesn't make the adherents any less Jewish. You see, in this post-modern age without a unified religious leadership and a multiplicity of interpretations of ancient texts and more recent law codes, "picking and choosing" is part of the game. You can choose to adhere to a strict, Satmar Hasidic interpretation of Jewish law, which in some sense takes away personal agency and replaces it with surety of practice, or to interpret most laws metaphorically/historically, keeping the message without the actual ritual. Both are Jewish, and nobody-- not me, not a rabbi, not the anonymous commenter above-- has the right to take that away from you.
The legality of not covering my hair notwithstanding (if you are interested in some source analysis that suggests it might not be required, click over here), I adamantly object to the commenter above claiming that one particular interpretation of Jewish law is singularly true. This type of self-righteousness is divisive, non-productive and completely ignorant of the many historical forces that have led to today's normative practice, some of which would utterly shock many of the more traditionally observant who often retroject their current practice onto the past. Varying levels of practice may align the individual with different communities, but the claim of misrepresenting "the Jewish faith" is grossly offensive.
So to my anonymous interlocutor: I will continue to use this space to explore modesty in its various iterations: usually, through my personal style posts, though sometimes branching out into other faith communities and traditions. I will continue to "pick and choose," as will you, and as we all do. And I will continue to assert that I am no less Jewish than the Hasid or member of the Reform community doing the very same.
