Burkini? Big Deal! You Don't Have to Be Muslim!!

I couldn't find a head to toe picture of me in my bathing suit, but as you can probably guess from this selfie here, it's more burkini than any classic tank, blouson, skirted, one or two-piece held up by skinny straps. Actually I do wear a two piece bathingsuit, but the top has a high neck, and the sleeves go past my elbow. Most of the time I wear it with a swim-skirt past my knees, that has sewn in shorts. The running joke is that I'm dressed up for a fancy outing. It really doesn't look like a bathing suit. And I guess you may be surprised that I wear it to female only swimming time in our local pool.

No, I'm not some sort of overmodest repressed nut-case. And I'm not Muslim.

• I'm a religious Jew who adheres to the Jews Laws of Modesty, and wearing this sort of bathing suit, swimsuit as some call them now, means that I can walk around in public, from house to pool without a robe or having to change my clothes/cover up.
• Another reason is health. I'm high risk for skin cancer, and besides slathering sunscreen on my neck, face etc, the shirt covers me well.
• When I swim in our outdoor pool at night, I wear my swimming shorts and a top like this. At night the covering protects me from the cool breezes which used to make night swimming just too uncomfortable. At night I wear a heavy robe to go to and from my house and pool to both cover up and keep warm.
• The "modest swimsuit" also makes it possible to swim when there's a male lifeguard and the rare occasion when I am at a "mixed swim." The special swimsuit fabrics provide more modest cover up and better protection from the sun, than a wet T-shirt.

Honestly, I don't see how wearing modest swimwear could be considered a security, moral or cultural problem. On this I'm with the Muslims!! The French are nuts!!

Salad Meal on a Budget in The Center of Jerusalem

Yesterday, my friend and I decided that we wanted a simple, low calorie meal. We had just found her the perfect tzni'usdik, modest bathing suit, ok a bit more expensive than the same one would have been in Yafiz, Sha'ar Binyamin, but close enough to the price, so it wasn't worth traveling there. Yes, the store where I work does have great prices, not only the best over-age saleswoman!!! 

As only good friends could do, we both pointed to the nearby Cafe Ne'eman, on the iconic corner building on Jaffa and King Gorge, where you can get your choice of ready-made salads plus a fresh roll for all of NS24.90. I chose the Tuna and she took one of the White Cheese ones. And we both took the rolls home to freeze for some other occasion, or our husbands...

Even though Downtown Jerusalem was loaded with people, tourists, locals, families etc, the lovely tables for budget diners were empty, and we had our choice as to where to sit.  We could watch all the action on Jaffa Street, while we had a nice, leisurely lunch and chat.

They also have a nice selection of sandwiches, pastries and great coffee. "Fast food" does not always mean greasy and fattening.

Shopping, School Supplies to Wear, Don't Wait

The other day at work, Yafiz, Sha'ar Binyamin, we redid the store.  Our big sale is over and we're getting ready for school.

We also got in gorgeous clothes for the "chaggim," Jewish Holidays- Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Succot and Simchat Torah.  But I didn't take pictures yesterday, because I was certain that I had photographed them on Sunday.  Sorry, that just means that I'll have to post an additional blog about the store.

There are still lots of bathing suits for sale at very reasonable prices, including the tzniusdik, "modest" ones.  I saw similar styles in Jerusalem for almost double the price.  As soon as the first delivery of the two-piece short sleeved top and shorts for girls arrived I called my daughter to get approval to buy for the older granddaughters.  When the season opened the manufacturer only made them in women's sizes, but we and no doubt others requested smaller sizes.  So now we have them to sell and they are popular.  Last year many girls bought boys bathing trunks and wore them with tee shirts.

For the past few years in Israel there has been a law requiring school uniforms.  No, these aren't the type my eldest wore when we were in London. It's much simpler, less uniform here.  Depending on the school there are requirements for whatever skirts or slacks/shorts to be worn with plain tee shirts of various colors and sleeve lengths that have the school's logo ironed onto it. 

We have one of those heavy industrial irons and a wide variety of iron-on logos for schools in the area.  If you buy a shirt from us, the logo is free, but if you bring in a shirt from home or another store, you pay for the logo and the service of ironing it onto the shirt.

Since school let out, we've had a special sale on "school shirts," so many families have already stocked up and aren't waiting until the last minute.