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 Why did this news strike me as not a cause for celebration and awe?
By Rabbi Leiby Burnham, AISH.COM
I was getting out of my car a few weeks ago when I heard on the radio that celebrity photographer Spencer Tunick had beat a previous record. A few years ago he had captured 7,000 nudes on camera, and now he had beaten that record in Mexico City. Over 18,000 people came, took off their clothes, and stood around as he snapped away!
Why did this news strike me as not a cause for celebration and awe? After all, what is so wrong with the beauty of the human body? And why is Judaism so hung up on the idea of tzniyut (modesty) that demands we keep parts of our body covered? Didn't God give us our bodies, and if He gave us something beautiful, shouldn't we showcase it?
In the Garden
Generally, when we want to find the root of an idea, we look at the first time it is mentioned in the Torah. The first reference to clothing, or lack thereof, is in the Garden of Eden. Immediately after the creation of woman, the Torah states, "The two of them were naked, the man and his wife, and they were not ashamed" (Genesis 2:25).
The proximity of the creation of humanity and this declaration indicates a strong correlation between their essence and their nakedness.
Soon after, Adam and Eve sinned. And immediately the Torah tells us: "The eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized that they were naked. They sewed together fig leaves, and made for themselves loincloths" (Genesis 3:7-8).
Somehow, when the world went through the upheaval from a pre-sin world to a post-sin world, something changed that made them ashamed of their nakedness.
Our Sages explain that prior to sin, when the entire world was fulfilling God's wishes, the physicality of the world didn't hide God, but rather loudly proclaimed His existence. The human body didn't obscure the elevated soul inside, but was a shrine to that soul. When Adam looked at Eve, her body was like a translucent casing, showcasing the beautiful soul within. There was no reason to be ashamed of the body, and Adam and Eve felt no compunctions about being naked.
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