It has already been established that I believe in what many may consider old-fashioned values. Punctuality and proper attire on Shabbat have already been addressed. (See http://www.daat.ac.il/daat/english/ten-daat/greene-1.htm or “Casual Shabbat,” The Jewish Link, August 20, 2020.) Fashion trends are cyclical. If I had saved some of my wide ties and then some of my skinny ties, for example, I could rotate them since they always come back in style. Poodle skirts may not come back but tennis skirts, ballet shoes and other styles do rotate in and out.

My concern, perhaps nostalgic, is the increasing informality and casualness in all areas of contemporary life, which has made inroads into our shuls, day schools and camps. I’m not quite sure that it is a sign of progress.

I admit that I am a child of the ’50s. I attended P.S. 152 and J.H.S. 52 in New York. The girls all wore dresses or skirts and blouses and Mary Janes. The boys all wore shirts with collars and nice pants. No one wore jeans or sneakers or sweatshirts. Male teachers wore suits and ties, the female teachers wore dresses and some even wore heels. I’m not suggesting that we return to those practices nor to those iconic ballpark photos of men in suits, ties and hats. However, I’d like to suggest an approach based on one’s attitude to learning.

The way kids go to school today in the public school world is shameful. They dress as if they are going to the beach or to a picnic. Fortunately it hasn’t affected the day school world too much but the signs are there. In the Bais Yaakov/yeshivish schools it is not a problem. Tzniut standards determine the way girls are expected to dress, and boys generally wear white shirts and dark pants with the addition of jackets and hats for davening.

In Judaism, learning is taken seriously and how one dresses does affect one’s attitude. For this reason there are rules for how one should be dressed when davening. It should also apply to appropriate attire in school. There are dress codes in place in the day schools, but students are always pushing the envelope.

I understand that sneakers have become acceptable for even formal occasions. The influencers on stage and screen and the tabloids are often seen wearing sneakers to formal events. This has trickled down to our schools and shuls. Granted that some sneakers are quite expensive, but not the ones worn to school or shul. It speaks of an attitude of informality in my opinion.

Teachers of limudei kodesh always dress appropriately. Teachers of secular subjects, Jewish or not Jewish, are not held to any dress code. This is part of the contemporary communal malaise. Style or fashion is whatever you say it is. Considering what is proper is not even a consideration.

Let us consider an example of a current trend that I have observed, especially this year. I have attended many high school graduations in New York and New Jersey. In my old-fashioned mind, graduation is a serious and formal affair. Photos are taken, the event is videotaped, graduates march in and march out to the applause of friends and family. It is a happy event, yet there is or should be a certain seriousness and formality to the proceedings. All graduates are wearing caps and gowns as a sign of the formality of the event. Most of the boys wore jackets and ties and the girls wore dresses and many wore heels. Yet many graduates dressed very casually under their caps and gowns, and many, many wore sneakers or sandals. I find this appalling. Not only did this occur at graduation but for the formal class picture as well. Just look at all the graduating class photos published in The Link.

I know that I am “tilting at windmills” and I cannot stop the trend. The current fad among high school girls to wear pristine white sneakers extends even to Shabbat. Parents also reflect this increased informality in their manner of dress as well. Standards are hard to maintain when they are so flexible. The style or fashion of the moment becomes the dominant influence. The fact that trends change and styles come and go apparently has no impact on what has always been considered appropriate attire for certain occasions. Sic transit gloria mundi.

Dr. Wallace Greene is the incoming principal of Yeshiva Keren HaTorah of Passaic-Clifton.