Why Is One Earring Piercing Okay And Two Are Not?

Hi, this is Dovid Olawsky with our question and answer series. Why is one earring piercing okay and two are not? I preface this by saying, obviously, we're talking about in a society where it is looked down upon to have more than one earring piercing. So, [snorts] uh the Gemara says the following. In a place where women wear veils, you should not go unveiled. And in a place where they don't wear veils, you should not veil your face. Which means when it comes to the laws of tzniut, of what is considered acceptable, a lot of it has to do with local custom. Of what people take upon themselves. There are some places where women do not cover the lower part of their legs, and there are places where women do. And the places where women do, women should not go without socks because that is the prevailing custom. And um let's just say that we can see throughout history that um these rules change. There was a time when no man would go out wearing trousers. Trousers were considered an undergarment. And uh and I'm I'm stressing the use of the word trousers because we in uh America call them pants, and in in England pants mean undergarments. But, that used to be the case for everybody. Uh in the Middle Ages, people wore this long shirt robe, and they wore their pants underneath. And if you see the Kohanim, the Kohanim had what called michnasayim, pants that they wore, and a long robe that came down to their feet. That was the way That was the accepted way for people to dress. And so, uh to wear regular trousers was considered not tzniua. Hasidim still feel that way. That's why they wear long coats to cover over because trousers show the form of the body, and that is considered not tzniua. Yeah. Um uh so, if you're in a society where they cover themselves, then that is considered what's acceptable. There was a time when women wore nose rings. And I'm talking about regular women like Rivka, you know? They would wear a nose ring, uh in addition to an earring. And then, at some point, women stopped wearing nose rings in certain societies. So, if you're in a society where they don't wear nose rings and they wear one earring, then that's what's considered tzniua. That's what's considered modest. And if you're in a place where they wear multiple earrings or nose rings or uh they used to wear a choker around their neck, a really tight choker, that's what's considered tzniua. Um so, to uh to say what is considered tzniua in each society, uh every society has to make that decision for themselves. Who's in charge of that? I don't know. You know, I don't know if there's a vaad tzniua that is officially put in charge of it or not, but the uh answer is, you can see what society norms are. Uh I I told the story where uh I went to Hafetz Hayyim, and Hafetz Hayyim did not dress in black and white. They They said if you look at the pictures of the yeshivas uh Mir and Slabodka in Europe, everybody wore colored shirts, everybody wore colored hats. When I came to Israel, nobody does. So, I changed my outfits more or less to fit in with the society. And when I went back to America, somebody said, "You're becoming one of them." I said, "Why?" He says, "Cuz it shouldn't matter what you wear." I said, "You're right. I practice what you preach." I don't lose any of who I am by instead of wearing a blue shirt, I wear a white shirt. Instead of wearing a gray hat, I wear a black hat. I sacrifice anything of who I am, but that's how society dresses, and why would I go out of my way to dress differently? You know? And uh um the general idea is that you try to fit in. I'll take freshman at Seabourn, and if that's the way that the Seabourn dresses, unless I have an overriding reason, I will not go against the accepted way of behaving. This is David Alawsky with our question and answer series.