Dear Matzav Inbox,
I am writing in response to the nauseating trend that has become all too prevalent in Jewish publications — ads for children’s clothing that display models who look absolutely nothing like Jewish children. It is beyond disturbing to see young children — some as young as five years old — being paraded in these ads with expressions and postures that reflect nothing but the toxic chic of the secular world. Where is the chein? Where is the modesty? How is this acceptable in a community that prides itself on maintaining a way of life that revolves around modesty, holiness, and living with Hashem?
These ads feature children who seem to be no more than props for the secular, materialistic ideals of the world around us. They strut across the pages with the types of expressions that belong in high-end fashion magazines, not in a publication meant for Jewish families. These children are dressed provocatively, their poses suggestive, and their faces exude an attitude that is alien to the values of Yiddishkeit. Five to ten-year-olds are now being encouraged to adopt looks that glorify the very lifestyle we should be distancing ourselves from — one that celebrates vanity, materialism, and a blatant disregard for modesty.
How did we get here? How did we allow these disturbing images to be presented in publications that are supposed to reflect our values?
The modeling of these children’s clothing lines is not just an innocent act of showcasing fashion; it is an outright betrayal of the core principles we hold dear as a community. It is an advertisement for an identity that is completely divorced from Torah values. The children in these ads look more like they belong on the covers of secular magazines than in our homes, classrooms, or shuls.
Where is the wholesomeness? Where is the innocence that should be preserved in our children?
What kind of message are we sending to our young ones, the very ones who are supposed to grow up immersed in Torah, in modesty, in chein, in the beauty of living a life of sanctity? Instead of teaching them the true beauty of Torah values, we are selling them an image of a world that is obsessed with superficiality and self-promotion. We are inadvertently telling them that looking like the secular world, adopting its values, and aspiring to the very things we are supposed to avoid, is somehow acceptable — even for children.
The next generation deserves better than this. We must insist on a standard where children’s clothing ads feature children who reflect the innocence, modesty, and beauty of our Torah values. We need to set an example for our children, not one that leads them down a path of emulating a culture that is diametrically opposed to everything we stand for.
If we continue to let this slide, we will only continue to erode the values that have kept us strong for thousands of years. This is not living with Hashem. This is alien to Yiddishkeit. It is time to put an end to this disgrace and demand that our advertisements reflect the beauty and sanctity of Torah life, not the hollow, empty standards of a secular, godless society.
Sincerely,
Disgusted in BP
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