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#1 miamigirl

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Posted 09 November 2011 - 06:05 PM

Is there a problem with drinking straight from water bottles?

#2 Rabbi Shapiro

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Posted 09 November 2011 - 07:23 PM

Problem? What kind of problem do you mean?

#3 miamigirl

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Posted 10 November 2011 - 03:10 PM

A few days ago my teacher said it isn't tznius or refined to drink from a water bottle since it makes you look like a drunkard, drinking straight from the bottle.

#4 Rabbi Shapiro

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Posted 20 November 2011 - 10:10 AM

Oh. You mean drinking water straight out a water bottle while walking in the street, right?

I don't know about looking like a drunk, but the appearance that women are supposed to portray on the street is perhaps breached by doing so.

The rule of כל כבודה בת מלך פנימה means that ideally, Jewish women, like queens and princesses,do not belong on the streets. A practical example: The Chasam Sofer says the reason women do not light Chanukah candles (in those families where they do not) is because we all used to light right outside of the front door (like they do today in Israel) and it was not protocol for women to be outside the home.

This is an honor for our women, who we are supposed to treat like royalty. Their presence in the random clamor of activity in the streets is below the dignity of the Bas Yisroel. Unfortunately, due to the deterioration of the generations and the effects and circumstances of our centuries in Golus, we are in general unable to maintain such a high standard. Even though the Queen of England would not be seen pushing a cart in a public Shop-Rite, we unfortunately have no choice.

But we try. At the very least, when women are in the street they try to maintain a semblance of כל כבודה בת מלך by acknowledging to themselves - and to onlookers - that they are there only reluctantly. Think of when you see a woman dressed in business attire pacing down the street in the middle of the day carrying a manila file folder. Her demeanor bespeaks a near discomfort with having to be on the street because she has somewhere more important to be right now. That's the kind of demeanor a Bas Melech tries to have when she leaves her palace to go to the shoe store. You want to look like you keep the street at arm's length. You want to look like you belong indoors - kind of like the executive with the folder. A bit unrelaxed is the way you want to look on the street.

Also, in the interest of Tznius you want to be low-key on the street. Low-key and out of place is the look you want to attain.

The appearance of a girl on the street drinking from a bottle of water protruding upwards from her mouth is something of an infringement of the above. Besides the low-key factor, one who feels out of place on the street would probably wait until they get back to their office and use the water cooler rather than walk around with a water bottle protruding upward from their mouth. It's just a bit too relaxed for the desired demeanor. Think of the Queen of England doing it.

That having been said, we need to pick our battles. you need to walk before you can run, and I don't know who you are and whether this is what you need to focus on right now. This is not something I would even bother discussing with let's say a recent Baalas Teshuva or someone who is currently battling more lethal Taavos.

So I would definitely tell you to put this on your to-do list. I just don't know whether to tell you to put it on the top. For that, you will have to consult someone who knows you personally (including, perhaps, yourself).

#5 SilverShoes

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Posted 20 November 2011 - 10:27 PM

I heard that girls aren't even allowed to eat on the street-- is that true?

#6 Rabbi Shapiro

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Posted 21 November 2011 - 10:09 PM

It is considered vulgar even for a man to eat on the street - האוכל בשוק דומה לכלב. But being vulgar on the street is worse for a woman does it, because of Tznius concerns.