A young newly-wed Jewish woman who's a ba'alas teshuva (a returnee to Judaism), and aware of the Jewish law for married women to cover their hair, decided to take upon herself to cover her hair when she leaves the house. One day, she was standing on her balcony of her house and the door shut behind her and she was locked out.
As she couldn't get herself back into the house, she started pondering how in the world she would be able to do this in a modest way, since her hair was not covered. All she had with her was a cell phone, and she decided to call her husband, who was at work.
Her husband, who just arrived at work in Manhattan, asked her what she wanted from him. Well, she wanted for him to come home and unlock the door behind her so that she could get back into the house. Her husband suggested that she get herself to the front door, press the security pin codes and get herself back in that way, since that was the easiest way. But she reminded him that her hair wasn't covered and she has taken a vow for herself to not walk out of the house with uncovered hair. He replied that there's no way he's going to ruin his entire work day by getting back home to her. He suggested that she covered her head with her hand while doing it. Yeah right, silly silly.
However, after some back and forth of arguing, he did leave home and helped his wife. Unbeknownst to him, his office as well as the rest of the floor he was at was targeted on the same day by Islamic terrorists whose mission was to destroy the Twin Towers that day and it was history. His life was saved for a down-played mitzvah like covering a married woman's hair.
The moral of the story is, when you are committed to doing a mitzvah, you are not spiritually alone. You have Hashem backing you all the way. Our Rabbis teach us that when you are doing a mitzvah, you will not come under harm's way. When we do a mitzvah, we create good angels whose mission from Hashem is to protect the mitzvah doer.
9. Because you, O Lord, are my refuge. You have made the most High your habitation;
10. No evil shall befall you, nor shall any plague come near your dwelling.
11. For he shall give his angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways.
12. They shall carry you up in their hands, lest you dash your foot against a stone.
13. You shall tread on the lion and on the adder; the young lion and the crocodile shall you trample under foot.
14. Because he has set his love upon me, therefore I will save him; I will set him on high, because he knows my name.
15. He shall call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will save him, and honor him.
16. With long life I will satisfy him, and show him my salvation.
Psalm 91, composed by Moshe RabbeinuA challenging mitzvah for a married woman, such as hair covering is not taken lightly in Hashem's eyes. How much more so, the other aspects of tzniut (Jewish Modesty) that applies to Jewish men, women, and children alike. Tzniut affects the kedusha (holiness) of the camp of Israel, and without it, we kick out Hashem from our midst and invite all the evil into our camp. How can we take the mitzvah of tzniut lightly?
To hear this and other inspiring anecdotes about how we should dress to impress HaKadosh Baruch Hu, tune in to this video now.
