{{short description|Yiddish word for a devout Jew}} {{About|the term for Jewish piety|the surname|Frum (surname)}} [[File:Jewish_Orthodox_dress_code10.jpg|thumb|''Frum'' Breslov boys from Mea Shearim, Jerusalem, 2011]] '''Frum''' ({{langx|yi|פֿרום||religious', 'pious}}) is a word that describes Jewish religious devotion.
The term connotes the observance of Jewish religious law in a way that often exceeds its bare requirements. This not only includes the careful study of Torah, daily prayers, observing Shabbat, kashrut, and the rules of tzniut, and performing deeds of loving-kindness, but also many more customs and ''khumrot'' (prohibitions or obligations in Jewish life that exceed the requirements of Halakha).<ref name=Shyne.NYT/><ref name=BBCfrum.NYT>{{cite news |newspaper=The New York Times <!--- |quote=the Yiddish word for the very pious --> |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/13/arts/television/orthodox-jewish-comedian-ashley-blaker.html |title=What's So Funny About Orthodox Judaism? This Comic Has One Answer |date= June 13, 2018 | first =Jason | last = Zinoman}}</ref>
The term ''frum'' contrasts with ''frei'' ({{langx|yi|פֿרײַ|fray|free}}), which describes Jews who do not practice Orthodox observance.<ref>{{cite news |newspaper= Los Angeles Times |date=July 25, 1997 |title=Freier |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-jul-25-mn-16208-story.html | first =Marjorie | last = Miller}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | first =L. | last = Roniger |date=1992 |title=From pioneer to freier: the changing models |journal = European Journal of Sociology |volume = 33 |issue = 2|pages = 280–307|jstor = 23997799 |doi = 10.1017/S0003975600006470}}</ref>
==Meaning== ''Frum'' can be used in a negative sense for 'hypocritically pious', 'holier-than-thou', 'sanctimonious'; or in a positive sense for 'pious', 'devout', 'God-fearing', and 'upright'. The phrase ''frum and ehrlich'' captures the positive connotations of these words, to mean roughly 'upright' or 'righteous' (see ''tzadik'').{{citation needed|date=June 2019}}
The question "is s/he ''frum''?" asks whether the person is religious.<ref name=Shyne.NYT>{{cite news |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/11/arts/music/11shyne.html?_r=1 |title=Rapper Finds Order in Orthodox Judaism in Israel |author=Dina Kraft |date=November 10, 2010}}</ref>
==Derived terms== In Yinglish, ''frummer'' is used both as a noun for 'one who is frum'<ref name="SinclairJC">{{cite news |url=https://www.thejc.com/judaism/jewish-words/frum-1.5971 |author=Rabbi Julian Sinclair |date=November 5, 2008 |title=Frum |work=The Jewish Chronicle}}</ref> and as a comparative adjective, i.e. 'more frum'.<ref>{{cite web |last=Fried|first=Heshy |title=Words and statements that make you sound frummer [sic] than you are |url=http://www.frumsatire.net/2011/06/22/orthodox-jewish-terminology-and-words |website=Frum Satire |accessdate=29 March 2017 |date=22 June 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author=JewishPress.com Staff |title=Frummer [sic] Than You |url=http://www.jewishpress.com/multimedia/photos/frummer-than-you/2017/03/26 |accessdate=29 March 2017 |work=The Jewish Press |date=26 March 2017}}</ref> The prescribed Yiddish comparative form of the adjective is, in fact, {{transliteration|yi|frimer}}.<ref>{{cite book|editor1-last=Kahn|editor1-first=Lily|editor2-last=Rubin|editor2-first=Aaron D.|title=Handbook of Jewish Languages|date=2016|publisher=Koninklijke Brill NV|location=Leiden, Netherlands|isbn=9789004297357|page=676|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sG3sCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA676|accessdate=29 March 2017|quote=ו (u) becomes י (i), e. g., פֿרום frum 'Jewishly observant' > פֿרימער frimer 'more Jewishly observant'}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Stutchkoff|first1=Nahum|editor1-last=Weinreich|editor1-first=Max|title=דער אוצר פון דער יידישער שפראך (Der oytser fun der Yidisher shprakh)|url=https://archive.org/details/nybc201134|date=1950|publisher=Yidisher Ṿisenshafṭlekher Insṭiṭuṭ|location=New York|language=Yiddish|quote=די קאַץ איז שוין פֿרימער פֿאַר אים. ('Di kats iz shoyn frimer far im.' — 'A cat is more pious than he is.')}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=פֿרום (Adjective)|url=https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%D7%A4%D6%BF%D7%A8%D7%95%D7%9D#Yiddish|website=Wiktionary|accessdate=29 March 2017}}</ref> ''Frumkeit'' describes the lifestyle of those who are frum.<ref name="SinclairJC"/>
''Frummer'' can also have a negative connotation, similar to ''chasid shoteh'' ('pious idiot'), which is how the Talmud (Sotah 21B) describes a man who sees a woman drowning but refuses to save her, saying: "It is not proper to look at her, and rescue her." A ''frummer'' in that sense is a person displaying a disproportionate emphasis on technical aspects of religion of one's daily life in a manner which actually violates the ''halakha'' in a specific case. (See Pikuach nefesh.) Another term with this meaning is ''frummie''.<ref name="SinclairJC"/>
A person who is ''frum from birth'' (FFB) was born into a frum household and has remained observant.<ref name="Frum613">{{cite book |author=Sarah Bunin Benor |title=Becoming Frum: How Newcomers Learn the Language and Culture |date=2012 |publisher=Rutgers University Press |isbn=978-0-8135-53894 |chapter=Becoming Frum |jstor=j.ctt5hj7wn}}</ref><ref name=FFB-BT.NYT>{{cite news |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/09/20/nyregion/in-person-seeing-the-light.html |quote=born in an observant Orthodox family |title=Seeing the Light |author=Susan Jo Keller |date=September 20, 1998}}</ref><ref name=Measures.Tab>{{cite web |url=https://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-life-and-religion/151283/no-more-sheitel |title=When I got married, my sheitel was a symbol of my vows and my Orthodoxy |author=Tova Ross |date=December 10, 2013}}</ref> This contrasts with a ''baal teshuva'' (BT), which literally means 'master of return' and refers to a Jew who has become frum after a period or lifetime of following a non-Orthodox lifestyle.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/137090/jewish/Tzaddik-The-Baal-Teshuvah.htm |title=Tzaddik — The Baal Teshuvah |author=Rabbi Aaron L. Raskin |website=Chabad.org}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.sefaria.org/Mishneh_Torah%2C_Repentance.7?lang=bi |title=Laws of Repentance 7:4, citing Berakot, 34b. C. G. |work=Mishneh Torah |quote=their degree is above .. did not sin, because it is more difficult for them ..}}</ref> Someone who leaves the frum lifestyle would be referred to as ''off the derech'' (OTD), which literally means 'off the path.'
The ''Frumba'' exercise program originated in Chicago as a derivation of the dance-based fitness program Zumba.<ref>{{Cite web |title=JUF News : Tziporah Gelman -- 2013 |url=https://www.c-j-c.org/news/local.aspx?id=451539 |access-date=2022-11-20 |website=JUF News |language=en}}</ref> Frumba classes are offered exclusively to women who observe frum forms of tzniut modesty laws, featuring music with less explicit lyrics.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Blomquist |first=Mala|title=Scottsdale joins international celebration of Shabbat |url=https://www.jewishaz.com/community/scottsdale-joins-international-celebration-of-shabbat/article_facc7fc6-6444-11ed-8fdd-9b12654540e8.html |access-date=2022-11-20 |website=www.jewishaz.com |date=14 November 2022 |language=en}}</ref>
==Mode of dress== [[File:Old city of Jerusalem (4674654146).jpg|thumb|right|upright|Three men with customary head coverings praying at the kotel, one in the middle wearing an additional spodik hat]]
{{See also|Tzniut#Dress|Jewish religious clothing}}
Frum Jews are expected to dress in gender-specific modest clothing adherent to standards outlined by Jewish religious law. Women dress in loose skirts and dresses that cover their arms and legs.<ref name=HidN.NYT>{{cite web |website=The New York Times |date=November 2, 2017 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/02/t-magazine/modest-fashion-clothes.html |title=Modest Dressing, as a Virtue |quote=ankle-lengthed, high-necked and voluminous-sleeved .. long-sleeved, high-collared |author=Naomi Fry}}</ref> When married, they cover their heads with scarves and wigs. Jewish men wear fringed undershirts known as tallitot katan, and head coverings often in the style of kippot.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/kippah/|title=What Is A Kippah?}}</ref> Although applicable to both sexes, particular emphasis is often placed upon the dressing guidelines of women.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.deracheha.org/tzeniut/|title=What is Tzeniut?|quote=As a corollary to the concern that every Jew act with sexual propriety, there often seems to be a great focus specifically on women and tzeniut.|author=Laurie Novick|date=12 September 2019 }}</ref>
In addition to the tzniut style of dress, many frum Jews are identifiable by their traditional clothing. Rekels, shtreimels, and other distinct Ashkenazi Jewish garb have become mainstream religious clothing across ethnic divisions.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.jewishideas.org/blog/sephardic-rabbis-ashkenazic-garb|title=Sephardic Rabbis in Ashkenazic Garb!!!}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
Category:Orthodox Judaism Category:Yiddish words and phrases