Question: Does the Torah tell Jewish women to wear dresses and not pants?
Dear Rabbi Enkin,
Does Deuteronomy 22:5 say that Jewish woman should wear dresses or skirts and not pants, slacks, jeans?
Thank you, RLB
Answer: The verse you refer to: "A man's item shall not be upon a woman, and a man shall not wear a woman's garment" is indeed the source which prohibits wearing clothes specifically intended for the opposite sex.
What is unique about this prohibition, a rarity in the Torah, is that the application of this prohibition is affected by the social norms in any given place at any given time.
For example, in days gone by where a woman wearing pants was virtually unheard of, it would indeed have been prohibited for a woman to wear such clothing. In our day and age, in the Western world at least, pants are not reserved merely for men. It is quite normal for a woman to wear pants. As such, a woman who does so would not violate this prohibition.
We must be careful however to distinguish between the Biblical prohibition of cross dressing and other issues of modesty and propriety. Even when a garment does not violate the prohibition of cross dressing, it does not mean that it is encouraged or even permissible due to other peripheral considerations.
Although most rabbis would agree that a woman who wears pants does not violate a Biblical prohibition, nevertheless doing so would be strongly discouraged as it would be considered improper from the orthodox Jewish perspective of modesty.
Wishing you well,
Rabbi Ari Enkin
Ramat Beit Shemesh, Israel
