8/14/2019 Jewish Clothing Commentary by Dr. Gerhard Falk

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Jewish Clothing

Commentary by Dr. Gerhard Falk

Jewish Dress

There are among us some Jews who dress in a manner that reflects a Torah-truelife.

This means that it is possible to exhibit in public articles of clothing and amanner of wearing a beard which depict that the wearer seeks to follow thecommands of the Torah respecting hair style and religious symbolism.

Let us begin with Leviticus 19:27. There is if course no book in the Torah calledLeviticus. The true name of the third book of Moses is Vayikro, which means andhe called. These are the three words with which the book begins. Chapter 19:27 ofthat book may be translated: Do not round the corner of your head, neither shallyou destroy the corners of your beard. There are other prohibitions concerningthe shaving of hair so that an orthodox (straight belief) or Torah true Jew wears

long sideburns known as Payot Harosh or, in Yiddish, Payes.

Shaving or trimming the beard is not permitted on Holy Days, particularly onShabbat, which is the Holiest Day in Judaism. The use of a straight razor is alsoprohibited, so that in the past Jewish men used depilatory (pilus is the Latinword for hair) powder (Nair) while now electric razors may be used.

Some pious (Chassidic) Jews wear long sidelocks because they interpret the law tomean that one may not shave the temple at all.

In addition to the influence of Torah on appearance, there are those Jews who weara beard and sideburns because they want to appear Jewish.

This means that those Jews who display Jewish hairstyles and clothes attainexistential validation in the same fashion as those who wear a uniform or thosewho display a symbol such as a Mogen David or a cross on their lapel. Existentialvalidation is sought by all of us as we seek to present ourselves to others ineveryday life. The presentation which we promote leads to the looking glassself, as Cooley called it. What we wear, what we say, how we confront others isreflected in the manner which others exhibit toward us. Hence the looking glassself. Therefore, the Jew who wears a distinctively Jewish form of attire seeks tobe treated as a Jew.

We Jews are of course not the only ones to wear beards and ear locks and blackclothes. Some fundamentalist Christians do this also. So the story is told of theJewish woman who meets a man on a train. The man wears a black hat and black suit.

A secular Jew, she berates the man and says: You orthodox Jews embarrass usall. Your clothes and beard cause anti-Jewish hatred. I am not Jewish, saysthe man. I am Amish and we wear black clothes and beards. It is our tradition.Of course, says the Jewish secularist. You have every right to wear suchclothes and you are to be commended for carrying on your cultural tradition.

So why do some Jews wear black clothes? In part this came about because themedieval church and state demanded that Jews wear black at all times. The Europeancountries generally decreed so-called sumptuary laws (The Latin word sumererefers to spending or consuming). These laws required each social class in thefeudal system to wear clothes appropriate to their rank. Hence, the upper class

8/14/2019 Jewish Clothing Commentary by Dr. Gerhard Falk

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wore gaudy clothes of many colors and ornamented profusely. By law, Jews were non-persons and had to wear black clothes so they could be identified at once. TheJews also had to wear a yellow armband or star or other mark. This was abandonedin the eighteenth century but re-instituted by the European killers during theyears 1933-1945.

Black clothes are also known to Jews as a symbolic expression divrai yirahshomayim, which means fearing heaven. To some Jews life is very serious and the

Jew is always conscious of his relationship to Gd. Therefore black is worn so asto avoid frivolity and also place distance between the wearer and everyone else.

Orthodox Jews also wear a prayer belt called a g*rtel in German or Yiddish. Thisbelt is to indicate that the wearer separates his upper body from his lower bodyas the head is the location of all that is inspired while our bottom serves lesserpurposes.

Many orthodox Jewish men also wear a black hat and some wear a streimel , i.e. afur lined hat. The hat style may vary according to the European origin of aChassidic sect. Therefore, Lithuanians may wear a different head covering thanGalicians, although all will wear a skull cap all day.

The wearing of the skull cap, also known as a kippa or yarmulka, shows respect forGd, who is thought to live in heaven above us. Hence we separate ourselves fromthe divine presence by wearing a hat or cap at all times.

Jewish clothing has entered the non-Jewish world. This is particularly true of thegarb worn by Christian priests. Our Tallit, or prayer shawl, is called a stola byR.C. priests, using the Latin word. The entire Christian priestly garb is derivedfrom the description of the clothes worn by the Jewish priests at the time theTemple stood in Yerushalayim.

In short, even our clothing is being used by others to celebrate their religion.

Muslims are entirely indebted to us for their religious clothes and in fact their

scriptures and their food laws and everything else they have. This doesnt preventthem from preaching hate and throwing bombs. Nevertheless, we believe that despitetheir delusions peace will yet come to all of us. May it be soon and in our day.Bimhayro vyomaynoo.

Shalom uvracha.