Welcome to Gaia! ::

*grin* Must be a lot easier to get dressed in the morning for you, then!

Actually, I believe I did mention the Orthodox Jewish requirements for men's modesty. I focused more on women's requirements solely because those are the requirements I follow myself, so I know more about them.

In the Middle East, where both Islam and Judaism were born, one could tell the status of a person by how much they wore. Slaves were undressed much of the time. It enabled their masters to save money or labor on providing clothing for them, as well as making them obviously available for "use" by anyone (with the master's permission). Furthermore, it left them without protection, should they choose to flee their master's home -- clothing keeps moisture within the body so one doesn't get dehydrated, and it also protects from cold, sunburn, and the abrasions of sandstorms. Furthermore, loose clothing allows air to circulate beneath it, cooling the body in hotter climates.

By contrast, the higher one's status, the more clothing one could wear. This was because one could show that one could afford more clothing, and also to indicate that the highborn person was not to be oggled and objectified. Clothing which conceals skin and disguises one's exact shape is a sign of nobility. I wear modest clothing for this reason, which is common to Judaism and Islam. If I wear a tight shirt or a mini-skirt, people think either, "I'd like to sleep with her," or "I'd never sleep with her." They are drawn to me, or reject me, based solely on the way I look. But if I wear modest attire, people automatically think, "I wonder what she believes, that causes her to dress this way." It subtly forces people to deal with my thoughts, values, and beliefs rather than with my appearance. It is empowering and liberating, allowing me to view myself as a person of nobility and others to view me as a person of thought and emotion rather than just a body they might want to touch.

I believe the modesty laws had to intertwine with their laws of morality and behavior. Such as... say adultery. or promiscuous behavior, it is frowned upon, to help people from not committing any of those acts... laws of modesty are developed to cut the imagination short of anything... inappropriate...

Public sexual rites were performed to encourage fertility, not only of men and women, but of the land, and were/are NOTHING to be ashamed about. They were also religious rites in reverence of one of the many similar goddesses in the area who claimed dominion over fertility, among other things.

I understand that your faith decrees the worship/reverence of other deities as heretical/idolatrous, especially when such rites include symbolic referrence (i.e. an idol); however, in this context, you should note that an idol is used in worship, not that an idol is worshipped.

Furthermore, although I am not Wiccan, I admire the Initiatory Wiccan tradition of conducting ritual skyclad (i.e. in the nude) as a declaration of one's freedom.
It is my personal understanding that one is modest through one's actions and not by the content of their attire.

I've never claimed that public fertility rites were shameful in any way, only that they're not permitted to Jews. I'm aware that idols are not the objects of worship, as well; they simply act as a reminder of the object of worship.

For anyone who thinks, "Why forbid something to Jews and not to non-Jews," I'll point to other things which are good for some people and bad for some people. Shellfish. Peanuts. Limes. Milk. Penicillin. Fish. Wheat. Those are all healthy, nutritious foods -- for most people. For some people, they can be problematic. For some, they can be deadly. Therefore, if you've got an allergy to one of those foods, that food is effectively forbidden to you. Well, according to Jewish law which is outlined in the Torah, Jews have a soul-allergy to certain foods and to certain behaviors. No, they don't kill us, but they do have negative effects upon us, and not on other people.

People who have allergies to peanuts don't necessarily want to stop others from eating them, but rather, they don't want to eat peanuts for themselves, and the more severe allergies can be deadly even if there's simply peanut-breath in the air (which is why if you have a deadly allergy, you should call up an airline and make sure they're not serving anything of that type of food on your flight -- the air is recycled, but not cleaned, so you could die just because other people have eaten what will harm you).

Finally, Jewish modesty laws do concern attire. But they also concern a person's behaviors, words, the way they look at other people, the tone of voice. Most of the time when people discuss modesty, they're focusing on the outwardly visible sign of it (attire), however, rather than the deeper issue of mindset, which is much harder to identify and judge. It takes time to learn someone's mindset, while it takes no time and all to look and decide, "Yeah, that person's dressing to present themselves as available to the world."