WHAT VALUE IS ALL THE TORAH ... !!!

Rav Aron Schecter Shlit"a Boycotts Flatbush Shaitel Store
[Original Letter can be viewed at www.theyeshivaworld.com]

[the letter in part reads:]
There is a store located on Coney Island Avenue – directly across from
Yeshiva Chaim Berlin - which sells Shaitels (wigs for women).
In the front window of the store, there are four, large, inappropriate,
photos of women - with the point being that it should attract
a persons attention to look.

When approached nicely by the Yungerleit to remove the photos,
the owner answered that "this is not Bnei Brak".

I don't want to further delve into this man's other excuses,
and answers which were all filled with Chutzpah,
but I am requesting that until the Pritzus photos are removed from
the store windows, no one from our community should enter this store.

Filled with shame, and embarrassment that I needed to write
this letter - but felt it was necessary due to Kavod Hatorah,
Rav Aaron M. Schecter, Rosh Yeshiva Chaim Berlin.


WHAT VALUE IS ALL THE TORAH !!!

With all due respect to the wonderful and sincere women in our community,
this issue may just be a siman of a larger issue.

While pictures of what women wear on their heads appearing in windows is pritzus,
perhaps what they wear on their heads in public could also be pritzus?
Notice the posturing so that wisps don't fall in the eyes,
while a slight wind urges the strands to fly in the air like a young girl's hair.

Not all sheitels fall into this category, but the design and quality
of the newer sheitels are created with the intent to look alluring,
seductive and oh so natural that one cannot - many times - notice
if that is real or in fact a sheitel?!

Perhaps one should examine their inner yetzer,
and relearn why women wear head coverings in the first place.

If the Holy Satmar Rebbe zt"l (Rebbe Yoel) ossered the sheitel in shul
during Yom Kippur, the holiest day of our holy calendar,
maybe we should at least remember the essence of Yom Kippur
EVERY DAY
in light of the warnings coming our way,
shouting at us from the events happening all around us.

If the Shomre Emunim Rebbe Shlit"a can yell at us
WHY ARE WE ASLEEP?
And if Rav Auerbach shlit"a can yell OUR YISHUV
IS IN DANGER!
We should not divorce ourselves from the rest of our family
in Eretz HaKodesh and think the danger is there and not here.

I am not, and one does not have to be a member of Satmar to learn
from the essence of his heartfelt words.

It was around 30 years ago when some women started wearing immodest clothing,
a large gathering was organized in "Tirat Chen" (Eretz Yisrael) social hall
and the Gaon Maran Rav Eliezer Shach, zsk'l, screamed from the depth of his heart:

"If the women of the Avrechim go out with short and tight clothing,
we need to close down all the Kolelim,
of what value is all the Torah of the husband?
If the woman wears that type of clothing,
all the Torah that the husband learned
goes to the Sitra Achra (the Evil side).

That was 30 years ago!
What has become of our clothing and sheitels since then!?