Halachic Question-Girls in mens section, boys wearing shorts

[gyf]

I have a couple of questions now that my kids are getting older:

At what age should my daughter stop sitting with me in the men's section in shul?

Is it okay for boys to wear shorts after age three? If so 'till what age?

I not seen clear examples in my community of these issues. Thanks for any feedback.

[WanderingJew]

this is just my humble opinion ;), but i think the shorts issue with boys is totally one of sensitivity, not an issue of tznius.

some kids stop at a certain age-7,8,9 whatever-and some will wear them all their lives. if you want them to stop wearing them, you can silently stop buying them.

[Bittul]

Mostly it depends on the age of Chinuch, which is considered to be 6, but behavior in a Shul depends on what the Shul will tolerate.

[CybeRabbi]

Men wearing shorts is not accepted, since its considerd as lacking in Tznous, however there is a big distinction between Tznous for men and Tznous for woman. Tznous for a woman is based on the fact that a womans body is considerd an Erveh, But Tznous for men is rooted in the concept of being embarrased when being in the presence of G-D not dressed appropriately, and since "Me'lo Kol Haaretz Kvodo" so we are always in the presence of G-D, therefore we always have to be dressed.

Therefore, by men we find that tznous is connected to the region you live in, if people (and I assume we are talking about religous people, other wise.... Or maybe it has to do how you the goyim dressed in front of royalty) wear in a certain area shorts and are going like this in front of respectable people, then there is no tznous regarding those exposed parts. However, if in a certain region people dont go with shorts all the time when its hot, then dressing in shorts is not tznousdik.

(The Alter Rebbe goes so far, and writes that even your socks you cant take off only under cover, since people dont go without socks in our area (versus the Middle East for example)

According that, concerning childern it has to do in each area, when kids are considerd mature enough that it is acceptable for them, in that area, that when he goes in front of respected people he will wear a full suit, not shorts, then it becomes an issue of Tznoious.

[rebayzl]

So Here in America do men have to wear socks? And in Israel?

[masbir]

Do people go in the western culture to official events without socks? In Muslem cultures socks is a disrespect.

[Jude]

interesting - kohanim served barefoot