Assessing just one person's character traits and personality is a challenging task. Evaluating a whole nation is undoubtedly extremely difficult, perhaps even an impossibility. How can one judge and assess millions of people as a group? What values should we look for?
Bil'am, a non-Jewish prophet, in his famous phrase gave us a clear answer to these questions: "Ma Tobu Ohalekha Ya'aqob", "How good are your tents, Oh Jacob, your dwelling places, Oh Israel." His observation of the way the twelve tribes encamped brought him to praise the Jewish nation.
Our Rabbis of blessed memory expounded on this phrase with a variety of explanations. One of them states that the openings of the tents of the Jewish people were not facing each other, thereby ensuring the privacy of each family unit. Nobody was concerned with "how green their neighbor's grass was."
This is one aspect of Seni'ooth (modesty). We often forget that modesty is not only, (and I am not belittling the importance of), the length of our skirts and sleeves, or the height of our neckline. Keeping our family matters, our relationship with our husband and so on, private, and not meddling in other people's affairs, is an important, yet sometimes forgotten facet of modesty.
Bil'am was able to grasp it. We, a holy nation, especially us women who are the carriers of the holy flag of modesty, should take this to heart and work to improve in this area. As a result, blessing will rest on our homes and will have a major effect on the entire Jewish nation. The holiness our Seni'ooth generates, impacts every single Jewish person and serves as a means of protection and blessing.
