Modeh Ani

[wenceslove]

jajaja... very nice !!! jag shavuot sameaj !!!

[tristiennegryfe]

i love this video :)

[skanemermaid]

BLOUSE!!!!

[1991shira]

heey- you! you must not dance in front of everybody! men can wach u as well! pay attention!!!

[SquarePeg49]

@1991shira: You can't win for losing here. I went out of my way to dress in a tzanua (modest) fashion so as not to offend my Orthodox viewers, and Winnie the Poo Bear complained that I'd committed maarat ayin ("it looks bad") by looking, but not acting, Ortho. How many times do I have to say that I'm a Conservative Jew & don't accept the restriction against a woman dancing in a man's presence? *You're* not paying attention!  Those who find this offensive don't have to watch it.

[IlzRox]

??lol??

[WinneThePooBear]

First of all, that was really good. But I do have a question. You have stated that you consider yourself as Conservative, but as an onlooker, you look pretty Orthodox. Isnt it in some way a maarat ayin for people watching this? To see a woman dressed completely tzniusly and looking Orthodox contradicting a major halacha in Orthodoxy? I dont know your view on this, and I hope you know absolutely no Lashon Hara was intended! Please let me know if anything that I have said was in any way offensive.

[Lirit331]

Maarat ayin, perhaps, but if one self-identifies as Conservative the argument could maybe be made that at least she's not dressed immodestly!

(In another comment she does state that she's not traditional enough to not dance in the presence of men so long as she's modest, so your question was already addressed a year ago, for what it's worth.)

[compared2myself]

Whenever I am sad I love to watch the dances that you make. they make me smile. I can't wait for you to make up more. This one is my favorite. Keep it up!

[h4ch1k0]

teehee!!! Its fun!!

[singitloud555]

so fun!

i love the dancing, singer and music accompaniment!

shabbat shalom

[revjillmaxi]

this is amazing. i love it. thank you! thank you!

[SquarePeg49]

You're welcome!  I'm glad you enjoyed this dance of mine.

[revjillmaxi]

please don't let the mean spirited comments of some of the commentators here keep you from expressing yourself.

[arje68]

It made me laugh and feel joyfull. Wonderfull. Keep dancing. I really think you re a pleasure to ha shem, Chava

[SquarePeg49]

Sorry it took me so long to catch your comment (YouTube is blocked at my office). Thank you so much. My approach to singing and dancing is straight from Psalm 100: "Serve HaShem with joy."

[rivkainthefall]

Love your video! I can really feel the joy in your movement and your choreography.

[SquarePeg49]

Thanks, Rivka. Sorry it took me so long to respond, but I have no access to YouTube at the office, so sometimes I miss a comment.

[SquarePeg49]

Thanks for the tip, but the standards of my community (and many other communities) do not require me to be so buttoned up. Suffice it to say that I wear my tops high enough that nothing of any interest is visible. I've been known to wear a "tzniut (modesty) pin" when the buttons on my blouses don't go high enough.

I hope you enjoyed my dance.

[SquarePeg49]

Thanks for the tip, but the standards of my community (and many other communities) do not require me to be so buttoned up. Suffice it to say that I wear my tops high enough that nothing of any interest is visible. I've been known to wear a "tzniut (modesty) pin" when the buttons on my blouses don't go high enough.

Hope you enjoyed watching the dance.

[SquarePeg49]

Thanks for the tip, but the standards of my community (and many other communities) do not require me to be so buttoned up. Suffice it to say that I wear my tops high enough that nothing of any interest is visible. I've been known to wear a "tzniut (modesty) pin" when the buttons on my blouses don't go high enough.

[skanemermaid]

You should button your blouse collar for true modesty.

[SquarePeg49]

Skanemermaid, thanks for the tip, but the standards of my community (and many other communities) do not require me to be so buttoned up. Suffice it to say that I wear my tops high enough that nothing of any interest is visible. I've been known to wear a "tzniut (modesty) pin" when the buttons on my blouses don't go high enough.

I hoped you enjoyed my dance.

[chaiyah12]

I ask this with respect but my understanding of tznius is that if it is forbidden to hear a women singing then it would certainly be forbidden to see a women dancing- unless the audience was purely femail ? how is it you are allowd to post this on utube ? also - i thought that dancing at any times other than weddings etc was not allowed in most orthodox communities ?? my questions are asked with curiosity and not meant to be insulting or anything ..

[SquarePeg49]

Knowing that tzniut (modesty) would be an issue, I've gone out of my way to choreograph and dress in a modest manner for all of my dance videos. That said . . . (continued--there's a word-count limit).

[SquarePeg49]

An Orthodox Jew (for the record, a male) once pointed out to me that halachah (Jewish religious law), even in its strictest (most machmir) interpretation, does not forbid a woman to sing in the presence of a man--rather, it forbids a man to listen to a woman sing. Consequently, the most reasonable thing for a man to do in order to obey the prohibition, he said, would be *not* to ask the woman to refrain from singing, but, rather, to leave the room.

continued again)

[SquarePeg49]

I would think that the same would be true of dancing--if you find my dancing offensive, don't watch. I refuse to give up my right to be creative simply because I'm female. For the record, that's one of a number of reasons why I'm Conservative, not Orthodox.

[Tehillavan]

Halakah is halakah. You'd become Conservative to avoid observing a halakah you don't 'approve' of? Really?

[SquarePeg49]

Sorry for the delay--I just spotted this comment.

Actually, I've *always* been a Conservative Jew, and the fact that "I refuse to give up my right to be creative simply because I'm female" is one of the main reasons why I'm *still* a Conservative Jew.

[SquarePeg49]

(continued due to stupid "character limits)

If my dancing or singing were obscene, I could understand why men might hesitate to watch or listen to me. What I, personally, find unacceptable about some Orthodox interpretations of halachah/Jewish religious law is precisely that they don't distinguish between obscene dancing and modest dancing, or between a woman singing "What's love got to do with it?" and a women singing Zevach LaShem (praises to G-d). (continued)

[SquarePeg49]

According to these interpretations, it's forbidden for a woman to dance or sing in the presence of men, period. "How" is irrelevant. All that matters is "who." That point of view holds every woman to be a michshol, a stumbling block leading to sin, no matter how she behaves. I'm not a michshol, I'm a human, and I insist on being treated as one.

[Tehillavan]

You leave my question unanswered. Do you actually believe that you can't be a Torah Jew AND creative? And if you do believe that--you chose creativity over total observance of halakah? Look, don't bother responding--we'll go around and around. I just think it's telling.

[stars1836]

Firstly, nice dance :)

Secondly, a lady can be creative and orthodox. It's just that she shouldn't in front of men sing and dance. But she can still do it in front of a female audience. I've been to female performances where the girls acted and sang and danced.

[SquarePeg49]

Thanks for the compliment!

I've danced all of the dances that I've choreographed at "Girls' Night On," which is a wonderful forum for women to perform for an all-female audience.  But I'm not traditional enough to see any reason why I shouldn't dance and/or sing in the presence of men, provided I'm modest. I'm afraid we're just going to have to agree to disagree on this.

[skanemermaid]

SquarePeg -- sorry was my comment sounded like lashon hara. English is a second language for me, and my phrases sound worse than I mean them. I enjoyed your fun!!

[skanemermaid]

Button yr blouse collar and BISMILLAHI!

[SquarePeg49]

With due respect, I see nothing immodest about the way I'm dressed in this video. My community is not so machmir as to insist that the sight of a woman's collarbone is a problem.

[6MemoryOfForever9]

well I think it's a bit too strict, but anyways, great people, great culture......rock on :D

[skanemermaid]

Yes, wonderful! So great to see people enjoying a creative spirit.

[Shema64]

to me it looks like Joyful praise!! you look Happy.:)

[SquarePeg49]

Hiddekel, wow, sorry I'm so late in responding to your compliment. Thanks! Glad you enjoyed.

Yoshiboy, I'm not quite as late responding to your comment, but I'm sorry anyway. "Funny" isn't exactly what I had in mind, but I guess a reaction is always in the eye of the beholder.

FastMotionForMe, thanks! All compliments cheerfully accepted.

[fastmotionforme]

nice moves!!

[yoshiboy700]

Funny!

[SquarePeg49]

I actually made a change in the choreography after the first time I saw this dance on video because I thought one of my moves wasn't modest enough. Even so, it seems that this dance didn't turn out to be as modest as I intended it to be.

Thanks for your good wishes.

[AdamAus85]

Okay the dancing makes me blush, lol, but good on you for your efforts.

[SquarePeg49]

Ken, baruj (baruch) HaShem she-yesh yehudim ba-olam l'hallel l'shem kodsho "b'tof u-machol!"

[moshiko78]

baruj hashem shes yeudim va olam !

[hiddekel]

i lovet it!!!!