Orthodox School Expels Girl For Winning Beauty Contest

An Orthodox school's principal in central Israel has expelled a student for taking part in a local beauty pageant and winning the contest.

 

Religious school expels beauty queen
Outstanding student from central Israel pays heavy price for taking part in local beauty pageant. 'All the dresses I wore were modest,' she tells Ynet. Education Ministry: Student chose to ignore school's instructions
Tomer Velmer • Ynet

A religious school principal in central Israel has expelled a student for taking part in a local beauty pageant and winning the contest.

Maayan Mader, an outstanding student and a representative of the school's student council, decided to sign up for a beauty pageant in the city of Gedera about two months ago, after ensuring that the contest did not include swimsuits or provocative clothing.

"At the end of the event, when I was declared the winner, I felt like the happiest person on earth. I never believed I would win," she recounted in a conversation with Ynet. "We’re a small community and everyone supported and applauded me, and there was no doubt that this was the greatest experience in my life."

Mader's euphoria was interrupted two days later, when she was summoned to the principal's office and expelled from school for taking part in the beauty pageant. According to the principal, the contest's participants wore sleeveless dresses – violating the school's rules, which require modest clothing.
 
'School cannot intervene in private life'

"I was in shock and didn't know what to say," Mader told Ynet. "Even in my worst nightmares I never thought that a beauty pageant would cause such a mess, especially as I was strict about wearing modest and unrevealing dresses.

"I have a lot of respect for the school's rules and procedures, but the principal cannot intervene in my private life and tell me what to do. This is my last year in school and I want to graduate in the best way possible. I feel helpless, but I believe everything will be okay," she added.

Mader's furious parents turned to the local council head, who promised to help.
 
"It hurts me to see my daughter like this," her mother said. "She went to the pageant for fun, and when she was announced the winner I felt very proud and happy. We must not forget that she is about to take her matriculation exams and the school must not destroy her future like this."

The Education Ministry said in response, "When the school learned of the student's participation in the beauty pageant, her parents were summoned and informed that such a contest contradicts the values of religious education.

"The student chose to ignore the instructions, and the case is currently being looked into by the department for state religious education."
 
Religious residents protest decision

Many of Gedera's religious residents slammed the decision to expel Mader.

"I am a religious woman, but with all due respect, this is not Iran," said a woman named Ester. "The contest was very respectable and the girls were charming. It's a shame that the Education Ministry has decided to spoil this experience for them."

Meir, another resident, added that "it was a beautiful event which brought Gedera's religious and secular residents closer. Unfortunately, instead of using this event to initiate joint activities between the sectors, the Education Ministry is sparking feelings of polarization and alienation."

The event's producer, Guy Harari, said he had reached an agreement with the council head that the pageant would not include swimsuits and revealing clothes due to Gedera's large religious community.

"I come from a traditional home, and I'm aware of the sensitivity among the religious community, so I made sure to make this promise to council head Yoel Gamliel, who is a religious man himself.          

"We must remember that these are not haredi girls, but observant girls whose bodies were not revealed during the event," Harari added.

"It's a shame that instead of supporting the community, the education system is doing the exact opposite. Instead of appreciating the contest's huge contribution to the community and to the girls, they are only looking at the negative aspects."

[Hat Tip: Michelle.]

Comments

[ZZB]

Come on, any frum girl should not be dressed in public like she is in the picture.
If she thought it would be fine, she wasn't thinking.

[Alter Kocker]

She wasn't Haredi, just observant. The school has no business in the girl's private life. A visit to the school with a lawyer in tow might change the principal's mind, especially if his ruling may backfire on his status.

[Althelion]

Ms. Mader is better off living without the oppression of the draconian rabbi overlords. If she is an outstanding student, she should pursue her dreams, whatever they are, and not be sentenced to a life of breeding and housework.

[effie]

Yep. The expulsion is an opportunity. Take it and run. She looks great, by the way.

[Dave]

If that's really the picture of Ms. Mader, well she is not less modestly dressed than women in the days of the Temple (1st or 2nd Temples). But hey, we're more frum than Miriam Hanaviah or Moshe Rabbenu, aren't we?(sarcasm!)

[tooclose2detroit]

beautiful?-she has a nose the size of NJ-I would slap myself in the morning.

[A E ANDERSON]

This is a good opportunity for the Israeli Education Ministry to take a stand limiting educational institutions to acting on instructional rather than extraneous social, political or religious matters. Separation of synagogue and state has to begin somewhere.

[state of disgust]

What's next?
Do they want to check her virginity?
Where does this stop!
What she does outside the classroom is her business. Any interference in matters outside of school should result in a lawsuit. IF Bibi can sue for libel, she can sue for damages to her reputation.

[Garnel Ironheart]

It's the school's loss. And if she goes OTD, they'll have to answer for it in shamayim.
But who are you kidding? She didn't think there was a problem with the dress in the photo?

[Althelion]

tooclose2-

Ms. Mader is a beautiful young women. The size of her nose!?! Are you serious!?!

I bet you're a real catch yourself.

Dude, why would you insult a teenage girl's appearance?

[BronxJew]

I guess the principal would have had a fit back in the olden days, when Jewish girls would go out to the vineyards dressed in white, dancing and singing in order to win a suitor. There is a Baraita that says that the pretty girls would emphasize their beauty while singing to the boys, saying, "Tenu Eyneychem LeYofi, She'Eyn Ha'Isha Ela Le'Yofi" (idiomatic translation: "Consider beauty, for that is the essence of womanly virtue").
For the psychosexual health of our People, I think we need to return to our ancient, more open attitude toward physical beauty and love.

[BronxJew]

By the way, that courtship ceremony took place on the fifteenth of Av, which along with Yom Kippur was considered the best (i.e. happiest) day on the calendar.

[maven]

It took place both on Yom Kippur and the Fifteenth of Av.

[tooclose2detroit]

Dude, why would you insult a teenage girl's appearance?
Althelion

I am ugly as sin, but I didnt run and win in any beauty contests-although, with the judges that judged this one, I think I couldve done pretty well.-this chick could run advertisements on the side of her nose, and she may get carpal tunnel syndrome from applying the 12 pounds of lipstick on her lips-cmon dude, liten up.

[Loshon Hora]

If she is so beautiful, at least it won't affect her shidduch.
I guess many will chase her, & she will take the exams at home privatly, or in the non-religious school.
I guess she made a mistake, will correct it & they should forgive her.
Had she not won it would be a non-issue.
If we are accepted by G-d with tshuvah so should she be.

[tooclose2detroit]

I guess she made a mistake, will correct it & they should forgive her.
Had she not won it would be a non-issue.
If we are accepted by G-d with tshuvah so should she be.

Posted by: Loshon Hora | April 13, 2011 at 10:46 AM

LH-a "mistake" is if you buy skim milk when you meant to buy regular milk,not a deliberate thought out action--and in any case, from what I can see, SHE doesnt think she did anything wrong, so doesnt look like she is going to be asking the Big Guy in da Sky to forgive her anytime soon.-If she wants to be a beauty queen, then be a beauty queen.

[ah-pee-chorus]

i wonder if the hundreds of whores king david had in his stable would have been rebuked for entering a beauty contest.
maybe we can look to the fine amora in the gemara who was said to have slept with every single hooker in the world and would make a point to have sex with any new ones he became aware of.
the current rabbinical stance of sexual repression has no basis in jewish history.

[Wondering]

Is that her hair or a shaitel

[BronxJew]

If you delete everything from ah-pee-chorus except the vulgar usages, he comes across as a Tourette's sufferer.

[RiverdaleApikorus]

Hey BronxJew- you still live in our fair boro?

[RiverdaleApikorus]

I think we all need some Yalili...

..http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fXIMUyrw7s

[BronxJew]

Libi BaBronx Va'Ani BeSof Long Island.

[jay]

Aifoh b'bronx nolad'tah?

[ah-pee-chorus]

BronxJew -

which words did you find vulgar? 'whore', 'hooker', 'sex', or 'david'?

[BronxJew]

You know the South Bronx? "Shu'alim Ketanim Mechablim Keramim"...

[ah-pee-chorus]

tooclose- i agree with earlier posters that there is no need to insult this girls looks. aside from the fact that she looks beautiful, what relevance does it have to the issue? and would you like it if your 17 year old daughters appearance was fodder for a bunch of internet posters from around the world to pass judgement on?

[unProfessor]

And not a single person here is bothered that these "beauty contests" serve to objectify women, and are actually demeaning; not much different than a dog contest or slave sale?!

[jay]

@BronxJew-
garti b'pelham pkwy

[BronxJew]

Sham Hayiti Gam Ken.
I don't often communicate in Leshon HaKodesh in English characters. It's sort of like playing the piano with oven mitts on your hands.

[tooclose2detroit]

and would you like it if your 17 year old daughters appearance was fodder for a bunch of internet posters from around the world to pass judgement on?
apc

i think that a difference here would be that if my 17 yr old daughter entered a beauty contest, then she would open it up for comment-i will give you an analogy-if i am singing alone in the shower, and I suck, then someone would be off if they criticized my singing-if i go on the street and start singing publicly, and I suck, then I would think that I should expect to be criticized-so, if my daughter is walking down the street and someone says she is ugly, that is nice-but if she is ugly, and walks around with a sign saying "look at how beautiful I am", then people are right to say she is ugly, if they think so-I think this girl is far from what I would consider a beauty pageant winner, and seeing it is in Israel, then I wouldnt be surprised if there was corruption involved in her winning anyhow, unfortunately.

[tooclose2detroit]

And not a single person here is bothered that these "beauty contests" serve to objectify women, and are actually demeaning; not much different than a dog contest or slave sale?!

Posted by: unProfessor

I am not sure, but I didnt see anything about someone putting a gun to any of their heads, or to the heads of the hundreds of thousand of women worldwide that enter these shows-perhaps women arent as bothered by these things as the politically correct would like them to be.

[dave]

she is hot!

[Jon]

Posted by: tooclose2detroit | April 13, 2011 at 01:43 PM

Beauty is in the eye of beholder and you sound jealous of the girl. why?

[tooclose2detroit]

why would be jealous of a girl?-i am a male-ya think i wanna look like a girl? I think she has much too much lipstick on, and anyone that needs that much "red, hot" lipstick is not very pretty-and if I say so, then it is so. and thats that.-and if you disagree with me, then I will pray that your nose get as large as hers.

[jay]

@bronxjew- farvos nisht? ;-)

[ah-pee-chorus]

tooclose- yes, she entered a pageant and must accept the methods of judging which she knew would be involved. i'm guessing the scoring is done on paper and is tallied to find the winner. if instead the judges were known to verbalize such comments as "boy is she ugly" or "what a huge nose you have", then many contestants would probably not enter the pageant.
there is a large difference between finding out you got an 8.3 , and hearing directly insulting comments. and when you add the fact that she is probably a minor, theres no need to act as though you have been called on to judge her appearance.
thats where i'm coming from.

[tooclose2detroit]

yeah, yer right-I am havin a crappy day.---but she has on WAY too much lipstick, and I always thought that much lipstick made a woman look like a streetwalker.

[ah-pee-chorus]

you're incorrigible. LOL

[jay]

@tooclose2detroit. Funny, too much lipstick always reminds me of older Jewish women from Lawng Island who also have on too much makeup, hairspray and have 3 inch nails.

[tooclose2detroit]

thats it!-the times my parents dragged me to The Concord,(ahh yess, the Concord-)and women would dress up like this-never understood why women do that to themselves-this is what i think of in the morning when i say sha lo asannee eesha---no makeup, no need for a new outfit-just the same stupid white shirt and black pants-

[Mohaa]

well thats it. She will become on of those that will be taken only for her beauty! this girl will not study in the future. She has something else in her mind!

[nobody]

How can I get my rabbis in contact with her shadchan?

[Leah]

Headline is deceiving since I think she would have been expelled even if she did not win the pageant. It was her entry into the pageant that got her expelled not her winning.

[A E ANDERSON]

I never could figure out how women wore those clothes at the Concord. When I was there, I was so stuffed with their magnificent food that I could hardly do up my trousers, and had to waddle back to my room until the next feed. They used to have like 15 different types of herring at breakfast -- and you could order them all! It was probably owned by cardiologists or funeral directors. And they would thoughtfully issue me with a bag of sandwiches to nosh on the long drive back to the city. At the Concord, to be Jewish was to eat and to eat was to be Jewish. No harediisms, no bull.

[A E ANDERSON]

Completely off topic and utterly non-kosher (halakhically, not spiritually) is Sammy's Roumanian Steakhouse, 157 Chrystie St (between Delancey & Rivington). There are pitchers of schmaltz on the tables to pour over your food. Which is already laced with shmaltz and gribenes as if they were truffles. The huge Roumanian tenderloin (skirt) steaks overwhelm your plate, the chopped liver is to die-for, the serving shiksas are hot, the vodka is frozen, the music is tacky and the live bar mitzva music gets everybody dancing.

It is not true that NYC health inspectors don't visit the place. When I dined there last, they asked that I put out my cigarette until the two uniformed health inspectors dining at a nearby table finished their dinners.

If you ever want to bribe a politician, this is the place to bring him 'cause the place is so greasy and period that you won't feel out of place or guilty handing over that rumpled paper bag.

[tooclose2detroit]

I went with my father to the Concord way, way after its heydey, and he cried-I said, why are you crying, dad?-and he said "tooclose2detroit", this was my favorite place on earth, and now its dead-so, i asked,, why the hell did you name me that anyhow?-nah, i didnt ask him that.

[flailed]

Are we serious here? In Bnei Brak as far back as the early 80's a girl could get expelled from school for wearing her briefcase over her shoulder or not putting her hair into a pony tail. What was this girl thinking? Making this into a shocking story takes away from the truly outrageous things we are witnessing in Orthodox schools.

[Dr. Dave]

So orthodoxy is upset over the exploitation and objectification of women?

Anyone else find that a little hypocritical?

BTW "...it's a scholarship competition not a beauty pageant" - Miss Congeniality

[tooclose2detroit]

what is the scholarship for?-"makeup application academy"?

[Michael Gaiman]

She should be made to join that Haredi Chador-wearing cult, the shonda :)

[Western Jew]

Too provokative. That said, kicking her out of a school is unorthodox and not a very Torah preserving behavior. She should have been permitted to make her own choice, but that said, one may not have wished to be her acquaintance any longer. I would have asked her to leave the school for a 2 week period and let her continue. That way she gets to stay in the place of education ultimately and she will clearly be seen as someone who has indeed violated our Orthodox Values. To cut her entirely is completely inappropriate and stinks of the trust destroying manners that is so prevalent in many Orthodox Communities. No wonder why children go off the derech and find ways to live besides Torah. This is indeed a very horrible story and it only brings Torah to the bottom of the cabinet of Jewish life. Sad story guys. But she still was in bad form.

[Yoel Mechanic]

Expulsion was a vast over-reaction. These extreme measures ultimately do more harm than good.