EXOD64 When the concept of Jewish modesty is mentioned, most people immediately assume that this is a reference to some sort of dress. They believe that Jewish modesty entails skirts that are usually much longer than the current styles dictate, and the image usually comes to mind of a woman who is dressed with most of her body totally covered. This modern stereotype of Jewish modesty is certainly not what true Jewish modesty stands for, and the reference to clothing depicts only a very small portion of the spectrum of the general concept of modesty in Judaism. The proof that the idea of Jewish modesty cannot possibly be merely a function of clothing is derived from the Talmud (Eruvin 100b), which says that had the Torah not taught the Jewish people modesty, this Jewish concept would have been learned from the cat. Nearly all cats in the world walk around at all times stark naked, devoid of any clothing whatsoever! Therefore, the true meaning of modesty in Judaism could not possibly be related to dress. In addition, there are only two references in the entire Bible to the Hebrew word for modesty, tzinut. One reference (Proverbs 11:1-2) speaks of modesty as a form of wisdom and intelligence, the other, more famous verse, (Micah 6:8), speaks of the way a person should walk with God-modestly. Neither biblical reference has anything remotely to do with clothing. Clearly, then, Jewish modesty is a general concept that affects all parts of a person's life and is not exclusively clothing– related. What, then, it is the Jewish concept of modesty? How can we identify a modest person-in the Jewish sense? And which other concept in Judaism is modesty related to? If we assume that the Hebrew term tzniut and the general idea of modesty are, in some way, connected to the idea of covering up and hiddenness, then the Torah connects the concept of modesty to the concept of holiness. When Moses, as a shepherd, first encounters God by the Burning Bush on Mount Sinai, God informs Moses that the place he is standing upon is holy ground. Moses' first reaction to this statement is that he hides his face. Thus, hiddenness and privacy seems to be the reaction to holiness. This relationship seems to be consistent with many references to Jewish holiness.