page_title: Gender separation in Judaism
section_title: Swimming
hierarchical_section_title: Gender separation in Judaism / By setting / Swimming
caption_attribution_description: עברית: תמונותיו של הצלם שמעון קורבמן, מגדל שלום מאיר, תל אביב English: Images by Shimon Korbman, Shalom Meir Tower, Tel Aviv עברית: חוף תל אביב, 1927, גברים מביטים על אזור רחצת הנשים, סמוך לשלט האוסר כניסת גברים לאזור זה English: Tel Aviv beach, 1927, A sign forbiding men's enterance to the women's section of the beach.
context_page_description: In Judaism, especially in Orthodox Judaism, there are a number of settings in which men and women are kept separate in order to conform with various elements of halakha and to prevent men and women from mingling. Other forms of Judaism rarely separate genders any more than secular western society.
context_section_description: Many Orthodox Jews believe that men and women should not swim together. The laws prohibiting mixed bathing are derived from the laws of tzniut. This is due to concerns that bathing suits are inherently immodest, and do not meet tzniut requirements. In particular, a woman who comes dressed in a bathing suit to a pool is appearing publicly not meeting the requirements of tzniut, and a man who comes to a pool where women are dressed in bathing suits will inevitably see women dressed in this manner. Indeed, many pools within Jewish communities have separate hours for male and female swimming to accommodate those who follow this law.
  Women following the laws of tzniut will wear a long T-shirt style dress over their bathing suit that meets tzniut requirements, considering this to be sufficient for swimming in the presence of men. Men, though, are more strict about the presence of immodestly-dressed women, due to concerns over the possibility of arousal.
  Conservative, Reform, and other forms of Judaism do not have any restrictions on mixed swimming. Some Modern Orthodox Jews will also participate in mixed swimming.
caption: A sign forbidding men entering the women's section a Tel-Aviv beach, 1927
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