Could we cite as another example immodesty becoming more acceptable in a great speed, after millenia of certains basic standards upheld even by non-jews?
Asked on October 14, 2026
Answer
Yes, absolutely. The Chafetz Chaim's teaching about time speeding up before Mashiach applies directly to what we're seeing with immodesty. He taught that innovations which would have taken centuries in previous generations are now happening in years, months, or even days. Hashem is expediting everything to close the books before Mashiach arrives. Look at what happened with modesty standards. For millennia - literally thousands of years - even the non-Jews maintained basic standards of tzniut. They had separate seating for men and women in public places. When you look at pictures from just 100 years ago, even at beaches, the goyim wore more clothes than many rebbetzins walk around in today. Complete gowns, covered hair, everything covered. The first woman who publicly wore a bathing suit similar to what's worn today in the early 1900s was arrested and put in jail - and she was a non-Jew! They put her in jail right here in America. But in just one century - one century out of thousands of years of human history - we've gone from that to a complete breakdown. Today women walk around in the streets wearing what used to be underwear, and if you don't dress that way, you're looked at as strange. This whole thing of everyone being touchy-feely, hugging, kissing strangers - this immorality is only from the past century or so. It was never part of human history before that, not even among the Gentiles. This is exactly what the Chafetz Chaim was warning about. He wrote about 100 years ago that the deterioration we're seeing - the immodesty, the lack of shame - is directly connected to the times before Mashiach. He said we have with our own hands canceled Hashem's words that say "Your camp shall be holy, and Hashem will not see a shameful thing among you." And look - this was 100 years ago when women were still infinitely more modest than they are today! Rashi, 900 years ago in France, said that even the non-Jewish women were virgins before marriage. Can you imagine? Even the goyim had standards. Today, virginity has become something rare that people mock. They make fun of you for being a virgin, calling you all types of names. And this isn't just in the secular world - it's crept into our communities too. This rapid acceleration of moral decay is part of the same speeding up process the Chafetz Chaim described. Just like technology went from the Wright Brothers to the 777 in less than a century - things that should have taken 2,000 years according to past standards - so too has society's moral collapse accelerated at an unprecedented rate. We've deteriorated in 100-150 years more than we did in the previous thousand years combined. Why is this happening? Because Hashem is closing the books before Mashiach comes. Every single account must be settled. All the neshamot that need to come down, all the tikkunim that need to be done - everything is being expedited. That's why disasters happen faster, wars erupt faster, and moral standards collapse overnight. We're in the generation where the Torah told us we would reach the 50th level of tumah - where all the abominations become normal and all the good is frowned upon. The brazenness we see today is unprecedented. Private failings unfortunately always existed, but this public shamelessness, this complete lack of embarrassment about immorality - this is new. The Gemara in Masechet Sotah describes exactly what we're living through: chutzpah will increase, immorality will be everywhere, and people will have no shame whatsoever. So yes, the Chafetz Chaim's teaching about accelerated time absolutely applies to the rapid acceptance of immodesty. What was unthinkable even to non-Jews for thousands of years has become standard in just one century. This is not coincidence - this is the speed of the generation before Mashiach, where everything happens faster because Hashem is bringing history to its conclusion.
