“Because this is such a sensitive and complex challenge,” Rachel said, “I knew I had to come up with something special in order for it to work.” She drew on a particular experience in her life upon which to build the framework of the program.
“We were living in an extremely religious neighborhood in Yerushalayim, and I thought I was just fine,” she says with a warm smile. “I was Jewish, frum, married and raising a family in Eretz Yisrael.” And then she adds with simple sincerity: “I was basically tzanua, but the truth is, I kind of looked down on the extremely religious women of our neighborhood who were unstylish in their dress.
“One day I saw a woman I knew. She looked so cute – like someone who just
jumped out of my favorite fashion magazine. And then it suddenly hit me! I realized that despite all the sacrifices I had made, I was still trying to look ‘normal’ – which for me meant ‘not Jewish’! I realized that though I had done so much to become Jewish . . . I wasn’t proud of looking Jewish!
“That experience forced me to ask myself: ‘Do I want to look like a Jew or a non-Jew? How do I want to represent myself?’ It took a lot of self-searching and honesty that wasn’t easy, but Baruch Hashem I came to a new awareness of myself and how I wanted to live my life. And I changed.” And then Rachel adds: “The shift was not only to wanting to look like a Jew. The shift was also in my sense of self-worth.”
“Through this personal experience” says Rachel, “I came to realize that the girls with tznius challenges are good girls who are being victimized and exploited by the advertising agencies so that the manufacturers can get rich.
“Fine Jewish girls have been so inundated with messages from the media and fashion industry that they don’t think to step back and contemplate what’s going on, what’s right and what’s wrong. Many excellent girls find it hard to resist the modern dress trends, and what is presented to them by advertisers as being ‘in,’ popular, and good looking.”
And then she added, thinking of her own background: “But just as secular performing and even fame can’t give true meaning or satisfaction to a Jewish neshama, neither can secular fashion. I once saw a quote by Rav Dessler in which he said something to the effect that all the gashmius in the world will never fill a spiritual void.”
Thus The Butterfly Project was born, designed to help Jewish girls and women achieve greater self-awareness. They become more attuned to what they truly believe, and how special their Judaism is. And they also get in touch with what it is that causes them to sometimes act contrary to their values and beliefs.
“With that new awareness,” says Rachel, “they will be able to make intelligent, correct choices that are in sync with the Torah, their minds and their neshomos – with their true inner essence.”
There are several aspects of the project. Initially, Rachel portrays her own story through speech and performance. After one such performance, Mrs. Sarit Rubenstein, the director of GALtime, a teen program of Ohr Naava Women’s Torah Center in Brooklyn, said: “No one present that evening walked away the same. The energy in the room was palpable, leaving teens and adults alike with a real sense of purpose. The women and girls describe the experience as life-changing. As they shared their challenges, they learned to tap into their bina yeseira, and discover the elusive answers they had been searching for.”
