120 Mark Washofsky

in particular, to the concepts of modesty(tzniyut) and of human dignity(k’vod hab'riyot). It is to these principles we must appeal in the name of safeguarding our personal privacy in the current technological environment.

Let’s begin with zniyut, which as we have seen is cited as the basis for several of those existing“privacy” provisions of Jewish law. The concept, to be sure, can be a problematic one for liberal Jews . Today, we tend to associate the word tzniyut with the set of rules. social mores, and customary practices that comprise the particularly Orthodox definition of“modesty” in the relationship between the sexes. That definition diverges sharply from progressive values, based as it is upon assumptions of specific gender roles that we do not share.” Yet tzniyut extends far beyond the realm of sexual conduct. The term speaks as much of “restraint” as of modesty, expressing the value of moderation and humility in all spheres of personal behavior. Its linguistic root appears in the famous injunction of the prophet Micah(6:8) to “walk humbly(hatzne’a lekhet) with your God .” The humility of which that verse speaks, according to its Talmudic interpretation (B. Sukah 49b), concerns neither gender norms nor sexual modesty but the conduct expected of us when we bury the dead, escort the bride to the hupah, and(by extension) when we give tzedakah to the poor. The commentators understand this as an exhortation to personal restraint: one should perform these and, indeed, all other mitzvot humbly and with moderation, so that one does not draw unnecessary attention to oneself." This theme of restraint— the word“stringency” might also fit'*- applies precisely to our subject. Tzniyut is the Jewish value that teaches us to practice restraint in self-expression, to behave mindfully and moderately when online, to think carefully before we share our lives with the denizens of the virtual universe, to consider the potential outcome of our actions before we post, upload, blog, text, or tweet. There is nothing essentially illiberal or non-progressive in this message; i fact, there is much we can and ought to learn from it. Accordingly, it is essential that we liberal Jews recover this value and make it our own, that we develop a specifically liberal Jewish discourse