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The mishna, Tamid 5:3, indicates that those kohanim who had gotten dressed for the day's work but were not needed for it would be stripped of their kohen-clothes by the Temple workers.

My kid asked: Why didn't they undress themselves?

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It seems like the Tifferes Yisroel (Yochin 14) there understands this to mean that the Temple workers were there to take the clothes back from them and return them to storage - and not that they actually physically removed the clothes from their bodies.

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At least one of the garments required assistance in dressing/undressing - the אבנט (the belt), which was 32 amos long (more than 48 feet)! Also, the winding of the head covering would probably also require assistance.

The Mishnah in Shekalim 5:2 mentions "Pinchas the Dresser", and the gemara Yerushalmi Shekalim 22b says that he dressed the Kohen Gadol.

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  • Is this your own logic (because it was long, it must have required assistance), or is there a source for it? Note that, IIRC, mishnayos Yoma make it sound like (though don't say explicitly that) the kohen gadol undressed without assistance.
    – msh210 ♦
    Feb 16, 2014 at 15:12
  • @msh210 - I think I saw it a very long time ago, but I'm not certain.
    – user4523
    Feb 16, 2014 at 15:26
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    I don't know about undoing a sash, but Sikh men wear turbans about as long as the avnet and much wider and they manage to tie and untie themselves. Source--I thought they looked cool so I learned how.
    – Yitzchak
    Feb 19, 2014 at 3:30

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