The name of a person personifies his main qualities. Hence, since the Imahos were named Levona, we see that the trait of tznius was highlighted in them above all their other qualities. This induced the Maharal of Prague to write the following ³ הרי שנשתבחו האמהות בפרט בצניעות, כי עיקר שבח האשה ומדריגתה העליונה היא הצניעות – “We see that the Imahos were praised band credited primarily for their tznius because the ultimate distinction of a woman and her supreme greatness is her perfection in tznius.” Such a statement, by as great an authority as the Maharal, is a remarkable statement indeed!

Women in particular, who do not have the mitzvah of learning Torah, were given the special mitzvah of covering their hair in public — a mitzvah which symbolizes the tznius of the Jewish woman. This constant religous mode of dress, and the tznius it represents, becomes a power-pack which gives women a firm attachment to kedusha and emes (sanctity and truth) — which in turn enables them to unmask and expel the yetzer horah before he has chance to do harm.

Like everyone else, a woman may at times desire to do thngs that the Torah has forbidden. For example, she might want to relate an incident which involves lashon horah. She may be sorely tempted to eat something which does not have a reliable kashrus hechsher. She might not be bothered to perform a time-consuming mitzva correctly, such as inspecting vegetables properly for insects. Similarly, she might find it hard to say the words of a brocha properly and with clear pronunciation, especially when it comes to the after-brocha “Al Hamichyah” and Bircas Hamazon. In addition, a woman, whose primary responsibility is to establish and manage a home and family, does not have Torah learning to counteract her yetzer horah. If so, from where should she draw the strength to withstand such natural desires and overcome such weakness?

The answer to this is that women have their own form of “inoculation” against tests which is the equivalent of Torah learning. This is the wonderful trait of tznius, which when kept properly, is all encompassing. It gives so much kedusha (sanctity) and strength to the woman that she is capable of outwitting the yetzer horah and withstanding its relentless pressure.

When the Vilna Gaon set out on a journey (that he hoped would take him to Eretz Yisroel), he sent a letter of chizuk (strength) to his family, known as the Igeres HaGra. In it he warned them about the need to avoid anger, arguments, jealousy and similar bad midos. In particular, he stressed the gravity of the sin of lashon horah and other speech-related aveiros. Towards the end of the letter, he addresses his mother with the following words: אהובתי אמי, ידעתי שאינך צריכה למוסר שלי כי ידעתי כי צנועה את – “My dear mother, I know that you do not require my mussar, for I am aware that you are a tznua (very modest person).” Although the mussar (ethical and moral guidance) given in the letter concerned all types of negative traits, he was nevertheless convinced that his mother, who was an outstanding tznua, was above all negative traits and did not require guidance from him to overcome anger, lashon horah, and the like. He was convinced, that just as being steeped in Torah enables a man to combat his “lower self,” so too, being steeped in tznius enables a woman to be victorious in the same way. He therefore knew that his mother, who was an exceptional tznua, would surely overcome whatever test she would encounter.

Jews took great precautions to prevent forms of intrusion:
Bilam the wicked, who certainly had no desire to see good in the Jewish people, was overwhelmed when he saw the way Jewish tents were erected. The entrance of one tent did not face the entrance of the neighboring one, so that people could not see inside one another’s tents. They knew that it is a human weakness to be inquisitive and even intrusive. They therefore took the necessary precautions and set up their tents in a way that neither family could in a moment of weakness pry on the other, or even see the others private doings by mistake. In response to this beautiful act of tznius, Bilam proclaimed מה טובו אוהליך יעקב משכנותיך ישראל – “how exemplary are your tents, Yaakov; your abodes, Yisroel.” ¹

It is understood that we too are to set up our homes on these lines. If necessary, one should ensure that the curtains are drawn or the blinds let down in the evening, so that people living across the street or in apartments that overlook one’s own, cannot watch all that goes on in one’s house.

With such a chinuch, a girl will know that there are things, such as physical changes when growing up, that a mother explains to her daughter which must not be discussed at all — not even with her closest friends.

Children educated to keep secrets do not become secretive
It should be noted that educating children not to reveal secrets does not mean the children are being brought up to secretive and not talk freely about things that are not secret. In fact Esther, who is pointed out by our Sages as being a tznua (modest) and a person who kept secrets, is the very person about who our Sages say, כל האומר דבר בשם אומרו מביא גאולה לעולם — “Whoever attributes words of wisdom to the one who actually said them — rather than take the credit themselves — brings redemption to the world.” ¹ This is learned from the fact that Esther disclosed to Achashveirosh the plot of Bigson and Seresh in Mordechai’s name, and did not suppress the true source of the information. ² This in turn brought about the salvation of the Jewish people. From here we see that Esther spoke freely when it was right to speak. She even revealed things that others might not have revealed. However, when something was not to be revealed, she was a master of self-control in speech and did not reveal it.