Examples such as the US President's attempted handshake with Yuval Dayan or the amount of money that Hanan Ben Ari makes for performances, have sparked a heated debate about physical or financial modesty. But they overshadow a more important discussion—what is modesty?
Modesty means recognizing that the main thing is inner world, and not the outer one. Extraversion can be physical or possessive, and may also be an exaggerated attitude towards publicity at the expense of the truth.
Singers are people with a beautiful voice (and in exceptional cases, if they are also the writer, then they have lyrical talent) - and nothing more. They are not halakhic decisors, nor experts about security or relationships, nor a standard of moral behavior or the quality of the air conditioner we bought.
Today’s culture advocates that if someone is famous, then we should seriously consider their opinions in every field. I wish the singers and all the other celebs in the world all the best, but please forgive me, they are not the standard setters regarding the issues noted above; I suggest that we all leave them alone.
The reason we mourn the destruction of the Temple during this time is not because of the destruction of a magnificent building that was in Jerusalem, but because people thought that external splendor could cover internal decay; that is why our Sages describe what the Divine Voice said to the destroyer of the Temple: "you burned a Sanctuary that was already burned, you ground flour that was already ground" - burning the physical Temple was meaningless since it had already been destroyed in the hearts of the Jewish people.
A newly religious woman approached me a while ago and said that she had gone to pray at the grave of Rabbi Nachman of Breslov. While praying at the tomb, a famous model entered the compound, and then - she said - everyone present left the grave site and went to ask for a 'selfie' with the celebrity. The same woman was unable to accurately articulate her mixed feelings about the incident, and hesitantly asked: "Is it acceptable from a religious point of view that I did not go to ask for a selfie?"
I replied, "You've made it".