This past Sabbath we read the Torah portion about sacred clothing that would distinguish the priests, particularly the High Priest, in their sacred duties.
I was also interviewed last week by Tamar Yonah of Arutz Sheva Radio about the dubious origins and halakhic problems (according to Torah law) with the relatively late, European custom of dressing up in costume for Purim.
How fitting it is for me, then, to teach about one of the more poorly-known aspects of Torah: the importance of a distinct, Jewish dress.
Consider one of the fundamental 613 Commandments of the Torah, in Lev. 18:3:
"After the doings of the land of Egypt, where you dwelled, you shall not do; and after the doings of the land of Canaan, to where I am bringing you, you shall not do; neither shall you walk in their statutes."
The following is a summary of the Oral Torah (the actual halakhah) on this Divine Commandment from Maimonides’ (Rambam) Mishneh Torah: (Laws of Idolatry chapter 11)
One is not to walk in the statutes of the gentiles, and not to resemble them—not in their dress, and not in their hairstyle, nor in anything else of this sort, as it is written: “neither shall you walk in their statutes.” And it is written, “be careful of yourself, lest you be ensnared after them.” All this is warning about one thing: That one not resemble them; but rather, that the Israelite be distinguished from them and known in his dress and in his other ways, just as he is distinguished from them in his wisdom and his character. And thus it is written, “and I shall make you distinct from the nations.”
In the Torah Prohibition #30 in Sefer Hamitsvot (The Book of Commandments by the Rambam), we learn that the prohibition against copying the statutes of the gentiles not only pertains to their present customs, but those of their
Jews are not to dress in uniquely gentile dress — neither that of the present, nor that of the past.
ancestors as well. Now it is possible that Rambam changed his opinion from the time he wrote Sefer Hamitsvot, when he was young, deliberately leaving this detail out of Mishneh Torah.
This allowed the Hamburg-hatted, frock-coated Hassidim and Lithuanian-style Jews to claim that today they have a distinct Jewish look — certainly now that the Christian clergy have moved on to new modes of dress.
This seems a stretch. I could be mistaken, but I see no reason to fight what seems clear: Jews are not to dress in uniquely gentile dress — neither that of the present, nor that of the past. (Note: I am one who personally identifies as a Haredi Jew, living in a Haredi neighborhood with children learning in a fine Haredi institution.)
Tamar Yonah shared with me the following insight: The black garbed Polish look and black hats/streimels (and I add to that the modern, tight-fitting Western styles of non-Haredim) make us look foreign to this land, . It is hostile clothing to the climate, and we look like aliens, foreign oppressors who don’t belong here, imported from Europe. The Arabs pick up on it, as does as the rest of the world. Noting our non-native styles, they say, “See? These Jews came and stole our land. They don’t belong here – go back to Europe!”
What I believe the nations understand subconsciously, somewhere deep in their souls, is something else that pains them greatly: This is not the look (and in many cases not the behavior) of the “kingdom of priests” Israel is supposed to be for us. Barukh HaShem (thank G-d), I see numerous signs of positive change underway.
How, then, are Jews to ideally dress? Believe it or not, the traditions of our unique dress have not all disappeared. We can still learn them from the Jews of the Orient, a few of whom maintain them to this day. From my own great-great-great grandfather HaRav Yehudah Ha-Levi from Dubrovnik, Serbia, to the senior Hakhamim (scholars) of Baghdad to the Torah teachers of Yemen: formalwear for Jewish men varied little.
The Aluf Abir , an expert on ancient clothing of the Near East, once taught me in the name of his father (who is presently well over 100 years old, may HaShem preserve him in good health) that a picture of Arabs 100 years ago would be nearly identical to the way Yishmaelites looked one thousand years ago, and so on back to the times of the Tanakh (Bible). It was no different among his own clan, whose distinguished lineage hails back to the times of
I am personally unsatisfied with the universal “human dress” code; my soul yearns for more. King David. The style varied per activity, including casual styles such as a very long over-shirt over loose, short white pants — much like the breeches of modern Hassidim. Sometimes the large prayer shawl was worn as a main garment; among the Habbani warriors it could be wrapped to gird up the entire torso like a rope-belt, criss-crossing the body.
Whatever the style, from the Beth Midrash (study hall) to the battlefield, across the Middle East, we maintained our distinct dress. If we are to receive the lesson from our ancient Oral legends (midrash), this is a matter of no small importance: It was partly in the merit of our steadfast loyalty to our traditional Hebrew dress, that HaShem redeemed us from Egypt.
Now before you run for your nearest tailor and wager how quickly you are likely to lose your job, your friends, or worse; what is the practical halakhah (Jewish law)? Today, modern dress is standardized all over the world into a basic, universal “human dress”. In our day, most modes of dress that are uniquely gentile, are also outlandish enough to be a Purim costume. Besides that, although we maintained a distinct style, the truth is that Jews though the ages wore what was comfortable to them in their surroundings. My understanding is, according to my training, that for men – on a basic level – so long as one’s clothes are sufficiently modest, the kippah (skullcap) on our head and fringes at our sides give us a clearly unique and distinct look, and satisfy the basic halakhah (practical Jewish law).
However, to my humble understanding (with no disrespect intended towards those who disagree), there may be two common exceptions to this for men: the 3-piece suit and tight pants — particularly tight jeans. Unlike casual suits, the 3-piece suit is a traditional garment also known as the “Sunday’s best.” Reaching its present form in the last century, it appears to have been — in its original cultural ambient — a special garment set aside by the common gentile for weekly, Sunday idol worship. As for tight pants or jeans, unless they are way oversized so that they sag like the ‘gangbanger’ look (which itself may constitute a distinctly gentile style), this is specifically mentioned in Talmud as prohibited to Jewish men. To my reading, Rambam had no need to mention this – would it not be included in the general prohibition of imitating gentile customs?!
As for myself, I am personally unsatisfied with the universal “human dress” code; my soul yearns for more. It doesn’t sit well with me that for over 3,000 years our fathers, our great rabbis, prophets and warriors had distinct Jewish dress styles and haircuts that we can comfortably toss aside in favor of the styles of yuppie-ville and the American mall. In a modern Israel where Buddhist monks, nuns, and Ethiopic Christian priests roam freely in their traditional garbs, must I, a Jew, feel confined to styles out of GQ magazine, that are technically permitted?
If we desire to be spiritually close and similar to the greatest men of all time, Avraham our forefather, Moses, King David and so on, we should resemble them as much as possible. That is, of course, first and foremost in our deeds: how we relate to others, how we pray, how we learn and practice Torah, how we fight. But it is so difficult in a mundane world where we are so categorized, labeled and limited by those around us. Yet, we create our image – the way we are perceived – and invite those labels, to a degree, by the way we dress and cut our hair.
Any dress besides our ancestral one fits a certain negative stereotype in the eyes of the nations, to whom we are
If you are living outside of Israel, just wearing a large kippah to distinguish yourself as a Jew can be an awesome stepto be “a kingdom of priests.” Whether it is as small a step as growing one’s side-locks, or just wearing a large talith (prayer shawl) while relaxing and working at home, I highly recommend it. Should you choose to put on tephillin (phylacteries) even for a short while outside of prayer to learn some Torah, you are actually fulfilling the Torah commandment to strive to be in tephillin throughout the day. If you are living outside of Israel, just wearing a large kippah to distinguish yourself as a Jew can be an awesome step.
May the day come soon when kohen-priests will daily don their priestly garments in a rebuilt Beth Hamikdash (Holy Temple) and Yisra’el (the rest of the nation) will don ours for all the wonderful activities there are for us to do in our ancestral heritage. In the meantime, let’s increase our awareness of the G-dly type of people our traditional clothing can help us aspire to become.
