Rebbetzin (rabbi's wife) Batsheva Kanievsky zikhrona tzadeket l'vrakha (may the memory ofthe righteous be a blessing) was possibly one of the most amazingly spiritual women of our generation. When she passed away a few months ago, the Jewish community was crushed. While her death was a huge blow, her legacy is far from over. I recently heard Rabbi YechielSpero, a teacher at Baltimore’sTalmudicAcademy and author of thepopular ArtScroll series Touched by a Story, share an amazing story about Rebbetzin Kanievsky that I wanted to share.
According to her children,Rebbetzin Kanievsky only got upset two times in her life. One of the timeswas when someone arranged for her to speak with a group of girls. These girlswere very modern, and they were not dressed according to the rules of tzniut(the laws of modesty in dress). She was happy to speak with them anyway, andthey met her at the synagogue where she prayed three times a day, every day,outside of her home. (It's worthwhile to note that few women bother praying three times a day, since the technical law is that they only have to pray certain parts of the liturgy twice a day.)
A man walked by and he saw thegirls. Horrified at their mode of dress, he started yelling at them, “How dareyou come into our neighborhood dressed like that! Shame on you for talking tothe rebbetzin dressed like that!”
Rebbetzin Kanievsky startedcrying, extremely upset, and shouted at the man, “How dare you talk to themlike that! You’re being mevazeh [disgracing] a bas Yisrael[Jewish woman]!” She ran upstairs to her husband, Rabbi Kanievsky, who shenever disturbed. She cried and just kept saying, “He was mevazeh a basYisrael, he was mevazeh a bas Yisrael!”
I think this story adequatelyshows that the kavod (respect) of a Jewish woman should not ever becompromised. Whether she’s wearing a burqa or bikini, if she has a Jewish soul,she deserves the same respect. If someone on the level of Rebbetzin Kanievsky hadno problem speaking to women not dressed according to tzniut, then whatright does anyone else have to shun women from their neighborhoods based ontheir dress?
