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Clothing Worn by Jews

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Question

We are 11/12 year old children from Glantaf Welsh Secondary School in Cardiff,
Wales. As part of our Religious Education studies, we are looking at the clothing
that are worn by people of different religions. We were allowed to choose
whichever religion we wanted, and we choose to try and find out what Jewish people
wear, and why. Is there a special dress associated with the Jewish religion, if
there is does each item/garment have a special significance?

We would be very grateful if you could answer our questions.

Thank you very much.

Answer

I'll try to discuss a few laws regarding clothing. The first law I'll discuss
is...

SHATNEZ

The Torah prohibits wearing clothes made out of wool and flax, as it is written,
"You shall not wear combined fibers, wool and linen together." (Deuteronomy 22:11)
In Hebrew, this forbidden mixture is called "Shatnez."

The Torah does not explain the reason for Shatnez, and it is categorized as a Chok
- a law that cannot be explained. (As opposed to a Mishpat - which is law that can
be derived from logic).

Nevertheless, different reasons have been suggested.

Rabbi Aaron Halevi of Barcelona wrote in his book "Sefer HaChinuch - The Book of
Mitzvah Education" the reason why it is forbidden to mix wool and linen together
is because it destroys the spiritual fabric of the universe. This can be explained
as follows:
Each and every thing on earth, except for man, has its own spiritual force that
influences it. When some of these earthly items are mixed together, they cause
their spiritual counterparts to become entangled. Once entangled, they cannot
perform their tasks as originally designed, thusly destroying the spiritual fabric
of the universe. However, after the explanation, the author tacked on "We still
need a Mystic to explain this." (Sefer HaChinuch - The Book of Mitzvah Education
#62)

Another explanation, from the Talmud suggests that the reason stems from the fact
that when Kain and Abel brought offerings to G-d, one of them brought flax (the
plant that linen is made from) and the other brought a sheep (where we get wool
from). For some reason, this mixture ended up being lethal and Abel lost his life.
(See Genesis 4:1-17 and the Midrash - Genesis Rabbah)

Whatever the reason, the laws of Shatnez are still applicable today, and one can
find many Shatnez laboratories that can check to see if one's clothing contains
Shatnez or not.

To learn more, read "Sefer HaChinuch - The Book of Mitzvah Education" (published
by Feldheim).

MEN'S CLOTHING AND WOMEN'S CLOTHING

Even though in the old days everyone wore robes, the robes made for men were
different than the robes made for women. Therefore, if a man were to wear a
woman's robes (or vice versa) they would be in violation of the Torah commandment
that states: "Male garb shall not be on a woman, and a man shall not wear a
feminine garment, for anyone who does so is an abomination of the Almighty."
(Deuteronomy 22:5)

The Book of Mitzvah Education, Sefer HaChinuch, explains that the purpose of this
mitzvah is to help maintain a separation between the sexes. If, however, men and
women were to wear each other's clothing, they would eventually become
intermingled with each other constantly until they would be so mixed together they
would fall into licentiousness. (The Book of Mitzvah Education, Sefer HaChinuch
#542)

KIPPAH (YARMULKE)

The Talmud relates two stories about the custom of covering one's head. In one
place it says, "Rav Huna the son of Rabbi Joshua never walked four cubits with his
head uncovered. He said 'because the Divine Presence is always over my head.'"
(Talmud, Kiddushin 32a)

In another place, the mother of Rav Nachman bar Isaac was told by a stargazer that
her son was destined to be a thief. She therefore told him to cover his head so
that the fear of heaven would never leave him, and prayed that he should never
come to this temptation but never told him why. One day, Rav Nachman was sitting
under a date palm tree learning Torah, when his scarf that covered his head fell
off. Immediately the temptation to steal seized him and he took a cluster of dates
from a tree that wasn't his.(Talmud, Shabbat 156b)

The Taz (17th century, Eastern Europe) said that in the time of the Talmud it was
an act of piety to wear a head covering, which is apparent from the admonition of
Rav Nachman's mother "the fear of heaven" should never leave him. However, as time
progressed, what was simply a display of piety became a Torah law. The reason is
because of the commandment "Don't follow any of their traditions." (Leviticus
18:3) In olden days, a tradition amongst gentiles started in which they would take
of their hats as a sign of honor. In order not to "go in their traditions," Jews
began to keep their heads covered at all times. Today, non-Jews are accustomed to
walking with their heads uncovered and so the status of Torah law does not apply
to head covering anymore. However, the eminent Torah authority, Rabbi Moshe
Feinstein wrote that being all religious Jews have accepted the custom of wearing
a Kippah, it became as an Halacha that it is forbidden to go around otherwise.
This is why the Code of Jewish Law says, "It is forbidden to walk four cubits
without a head covering."

The Marharsha, (16th century Poland) asked: after Rav Huna the son of Rabbi Joshua
stated that he covered his head is to remind him that the Divine Presence is over
his head (see top paragraph), what does the story of Rav Nachman add? The answer
is, the bigger the head covering the bigger the fear of heaven! This is why Rav
Nachman covered his head with a "scarf," which was larger than other head
coverings, in order to have extra "fear" so as not to turn into a thief! According
to the Book of Customs and Their Reasons, this is the source for wearing a hat and
a skull cap, or a two-layered skull cap, in order to have even more fear, than one
who just wears one head covering. Appropriately, it is interesting to note, that
the Yiddish word for head covering, "yarmulke" actually comes from the Aramaic,
"yirae malkah," which means "fear of the King."

Also, go to http://aish.com/issues/society/The_Kippah_Debate.asp for more

information on this topic.

TZITZIT

The purpose of the Tzitzit is to give us an anchor to the world of spirituality as

we go about our daily chores. No matter where a man is, in the work place or in an
amusement park he can always look at the Tzitzit and get in touch with G-d, Torah
and his mission as a Jew. In relation to tzitzis it says explictly in the Torah
that tzitzis are the key to reminding one of all of the mitzvos. We go out of our
way to put on tzitzis in order to remind ourselves that we are servants of the
King. Even though there may other mitzvos that we can fulfill if we bring
ourselves to the point of obligation, in example, buying fruits from Israel to
tithe them, there is no other mitzvah like tzitzis that serves as a constant
reminder to us, that we are servants of the King.

Just how do the tzitzis remind of us this?

The five double knots on each fringe remind us of the 5 Books of the Chumash. The
two fringes in front of a person have a total of 10 double knots and 16 strings
which equals 26 the numerical equivalent of the name of G-d. (The number 10 should
also remind a person of the 10 sefirot)

There are 5 double knots on each fringe making a total of 10 knots which represent
the 10 commandments. In between the four spaces that are found between the double
knots the strings are wrapped a specific number of times. 7 - 8 -11 -13 to be
exact. 7+8+11 = 26 which is the numerical equivalent of G-d's name. And 13 is the
numerical equivalent of Echad meaning One. Thus, every time we look at one corner,
we are reminded that G-d is One. (Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim 1-5) The numerical
value of the Hebrew word "tzitzit" is 600. Add to that the 5 knots and 8 strings
on each corner, and you get the number 613, which is the amount of mitzvot in the
Torah. (Rashi in Bamidbar 15:39)

Being that this is the purpose of the mitzvah of Tzitzit it is better to wear them
outside so that we can look at them often and use them as an anchor to connect to
the ideas I mentioned above.

The RAMA in Orach Chaim 9:1 says that the halacha is that four cornered garments
of all types of material are obligated in tzitzis and that this is a Torah
obligation.
If one focuses on the mitzvah of tzitzis properly, no matter where he is he
becomes aware of the obligations that are incumbent upon him.

In addition, the mitzvah of tzitzis carries with it a meta-physical "fringe"

benefit, (pun intended) in that it carries a special power that helps keep a
person away from sin, more so than other mitzvos. (Mishna Berura, Orach Chaim,
24:2 mb:5 )

MODESTY

This letter wouldn't be complete, without discussing the fact that clothes must be
modest.

When G-d created Eve, He said, 'From which part of Adam shall I create Eve? If I
form her from Adam's head she may become pompous. If I make her from his eye, she
may become a flirt! But if I create her from the rib, she will be modest! Since
that the rib is always covered, even when he stands naked, that part is still
covered!" (Bereshit Rabba 18:13)

One of the great positives of dressing modestly, is that it draws attention to

your personality - which is your greatest asset. If you are really looking for
your soul mate, you will be searching for someone who loves you for who you really
are, not for what your body looks like. Nevertheless, we see from the first love
story ever to take place that not only did the young lovers walk around with few
clothes -they actually walked around naked! Of course, I am talking about Adam and
Eve, as it is written, "they were both naked, the man and his wife, and they were
not ashamed." (Genesis 2:25)

This is because they were at a level that they could see each other as souls, not
just as physical beings. However, when they ate from the Tree of Knowledge of Good
and Evil, they fell from this high level, and began to see each other as physical
entities, as opposed to a personality, or a soul. This is why they became
embarrassed, because they realized that their sexual drive was so strong, that
they began to reduce each other as beautiful sacks of flesh, and failed to see the
holy soul that was enveloped within. (Genesis 3:7)

With blessings from Jerusalem,

Rabbi Shraga Simmons

Aish.com