Tiberias, Israel – Rabbi Protests Against Scantily Clad Mannequins

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    file photoTiberias, Israel – A rabbi in the Israeli city of Tiberias has called for a boycott of stores that display mannequins in bathing suits, saying they “elicit sorrow” and damage the souls of passers-by.

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    Rabbi Rafael Cohen, chief of the northern city’s kosher division, said the stores would face the wrath of the religious community and lose their kosher certification if they failed to comply.

    Cohen said the mannequins and “obscene photographs” showing models in swimsuits or underwear “elicit sorrow among the passers-by on the road.”

    He has threatened to publish a list of stores that continue such displays, saying “residents of Tiberias should not set foot in stores of that kind, and that will cause them irreversible damage.”

    “Modest” mannequins, he said, are all right. “But there are mannequins that are really revolting, mannequins in bathing suits that damage our souls.”

    One lingerie merchant in Tiberias said “a store like this has to have a mannequin, but the religious women are excellent clients and buy lots of underwear, so I don’t know what to do.”


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    29 Comments
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    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    We don’t need mannequins especially in underwear, displayed in shop windows. We especially don’t need Victoria’s Secret or SI Swimsuit type pics in larger than life prints assaulting us and our young sons. We women aren’t stupid. We know where to go for these items so the stores can put the mannequins inside so we can see the item better. The shop owner is being disingenuous because the truth is he’s trying to lure men to buy gifts for their wives or girlfriends. Such displays embarrass me and I don’t embarrass easily. Before becoming religious I had no problem taking “life” classes in Art School. It’s different now. Tiberias is one of our Four Holy Cities. The World is creeping into our kedusha.
    Even here in Jerusalem a well established lingerie store on KG that always had fairly modest windows has recently remodeled. The now feature larger windows and immodest displays. I hate walking by but it is an unavoidable spot. Definitely damages the atmosphere there.

    gitty
    gitty
    14 years ago

    I think the Rabbi and the store owner are both right. Put the mannequin in the back so people can see how it looks on and the passer-bys don’t see it.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    Rabbi Cohen! Get a real job & immoral sights won’t “reap sorrow” when you actually work you don’t tend to notice these things

    SimchaB
    SimchaB
    14 years ago

    #3, You & your ilk who have so sullied your eyes & minds, will always defend such tumah, as expected. You can’t give up your ta’avos, can you? You know there’s always unfiltered internet, where the damage will be limited to you. Don’t impose your pagan lifestyle on G-d’s people!

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    It starts with mannequins, then no pictures of women altogether unless their faces are blurred out. Let’s just blur out the faces of the mannequins as a compromise.

    Satmar Man
    Satmar Man
    14 years ago

    I lived in Alabama for a few years (about 10-15 years ago). This was a modern area, and not some backwater country area. Not far from where they built the Space Shuttle. Definately, a modern, highly educated area. In fact, Hunstsville, AL, had at that time (maybe still has) the highest number of Ph.D.s per capita…..
    But… did THEY throw away morals?

    I learned something interesting, from the Xtians there… actually a few things.

    1. The local University, UNA, cannot give complete Fine Arts degrees, for they do not allow nude model figure drawing classes, which are standard in any BA program of the sort.
    Gee, if a Jewish person or rabbi wanted to place limits like that, he would be torn apart and bashed in the anti-Jewish press…. wouldn’t he?
    But the Xtians are not ashamed to voice their opinions, that their kids in college should not have nude models sitting in front of them. They used words very similar. They did not want their souls polluted by those visions.

    2. A man and a woman, both doctors, needed to get together for a genuine business lunch. The man asks the woman if she can phone her husband, to see if he can join them, as it is improper for them to be alone for lunch.
    Gee…. they follow the concept of Yichud. It is not too old fashioned or backwards for them. It is expected that no Southern Gentleman shall ask a married woman to be alone with him, for business of otherwise. (or vice versa)

    3. The local City swimming pools, and the pools at the Y did not allow two-piece swim suits for girls or women. Also, neither men nor women were allowed to wear overly skimpy swimwear of any kind. They did not need police for it. It was the accepted norm, and was politically incorrect to attempt to violate that. If one did attempt it, he/she was politely (they are always polite) removed.

    4. I was waiting to see someone in a company, when one owner was in a conversation with his partner over a business deal. The door was open, and I overhead this story. They discussed a certain deal which I did not understand. But, they were concerned in it was correct. One stopped, and said, “I need to call my Pastor and ask his advice on this before we continue.”
    Gee, we are not the only ones to call and ask a “Shayla” …
    The other agreed, and said, “You are right. If he says no, we don’t do it.”
    How many of us call our Rov on business deals?????

    What do we do?
    We question our rabbis. We belittle them. We tear them apart.
    “Am Kishay Oirev”

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    Number 10 I saw worst in the concentration camp and came out and have erliche children and grandchildren. Worry more about heilige Yidden “teachers” who molest boys and girls and match my midos with your anytime

    izzy
    izzy
    14 years ago

    We have so many problems this is what the Rabbi is worried about?

    Sherree
    Sherree
    14 years ago

    Without being rude or crude to anyone, there is a level of modesty that should be maintained at all times after all we are Jews. Having said that, lets not take things too far. Mannequins are but mannequins and are there to display an item of clothing and not to illicit an affair of the heart with an inanimate object. So lets stop taking a microscope and looking for bugs.

    Maybe we should focus on the important issues, like stopping pedophiles, and actually telling men and boys, to keep their eyes and noses out of Lady’s lingerie stores, and to seek medical and clinical help if they have homosexual or pedohpilic tendencies. Let us not put the onus on the business owner on how to display their product or market to women who is after all their consumer. When was the last time you found a woman fall in love with a mannequin, or be jealous of their figure?

    Lets have the men take responsibility for their own taivos, and stop all this ridiculous blame on the amazing and wonderful women who have been forced out into the workplace to support their husbands in learning, while still maintaining the roles of maid, mom, cook and housekeeper. Enough already with the women bashing!!!!

    Grow Up
    Grow Up
    14 years ago

    Call me Grub, Prust, Fardarbin, or what ever other names you may wish, however, while taking offense to scantily clad models gracing larger than life billboards is understandable, and honorable, the bottom line is, if frum men find scantily clad mannequins arrousing, then something is clearly wrong with both them, and their marriges. As the old Italian folk saying goes, ‘if the cooking is good at home, than there is no need to eat out”. Vhamyvin Yavin, Vhamaskil Yaskil.

    Grow Up
    Grow Up
    14 years ago

    Milhouse, granted, I am not arguing regarding the natural human response to arousing stimuli, all that I am trying to say, is that Hashem created the human being with a tendency to lust, and in order to help the human control it’s lustful tendencies in a world full of temptations, He created the Torah. In other words, the challenge of lfe as presented to us by Hashem, is to live in a less the optimal environment, with exposure to all the tanugei olam hazeh, and nevertheless, use the Torah to combat these temptations. While one should try to expose himself to the least amount of indecent exposures as possible, if we try to alter our surroundings until they are totaly pristine, than what is the purpose of life? As Hashem explained to the malochim who wanted to keep the Torah, ‘klum yetzer hara yesh beineichem’. Therefore, instead of altering your surroundings, aspects which are out of your control, alter yourself, trying to achieve the true objective in life, self-control!!!

    BB
    BB
    14 years ago

    Puh-leeze. How do us (Americans) survive and remain observant? Not everyone is Jewish and not all Jews are frum. Dictating morality to those who don’t share our values will not change a thing other than promote resentment. The best we can do is set an example how WE live OUR lives, not put force our values on others. We are NOT the Taliban!