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I noticed the clothes of the members of Neturei Karta were different than other haredi groups. The shoes are different, but also socks, pants, shirt and vest.

I also noticed they wear two kinds of clothes: the regular black type and also the grey part.

You can find the black type in these pictures:

http://online.wsj.com/media/0210pod18.jpg

You can find the grey type in these pictures:

http://www.inminds.com/img/genocide-day-2365.jpg http://i-cias.com/e.o/slides/neturei_karta01.jpg

What are theses clothes (shoes, socks, pants, shirt and coat) ? I am looking for the name of these clothes or maybe a brand. Also, what is the religious reason behind this different dress code ?

Ps: As you may have understood with my other questions, I am very interested in haredi dress codes. So please, no debate about the opinions of Neturei Karta, I am only asking about the clothes.

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  • Sorry for my poor english. English is not my native language.
    – maaaan
    Jul 28, 2014 at 21:35

2 Answers 2

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There is no Neturei Karta dress code:
Each member dresses according to his custom or preference. That being said, many are very religious and seek a old fashioned outwards appearance. Therefore, many will e.g. opt for a flat shtreimel without "crown".

Your pictures:
The graybearded man is a Hirsch1. He is anti-chassidic litvish, and wears the traditional clothes of the Vilna Gaon's fervent followers. Their breeches are not tied (or velcroed) tight around the knee highs like chassidim's are, they have regular laced shoes, as opposed to chassidic "ballet flats", and regular dress shirts, as opposed to chassidic ones.
R' Moshe Ber Beck wears white knitted pom-pom skullcap with kaftan and vest that is blue with white stripes on weekdays, and gold with blue stripes on Shabbos. All in accordance with the dress code of Toldos Aharon. Noticeably, he does not wear pants, only the traditional knee-long chassidic underwear.2
 I don't know these two men, but they seem to wear the traditional dress of Toldos Avrohom Yitzchok, black with white stripes.

The background:
The most noticeable "members of Neturei Karta" are followers of R' Beck, who was a Wiznitzer chassid. R' Beck was upset by the Zionist tendencies of the future Wiznitzer Rebbe, R' Menachem Mendel Hager3, and created a splinter group. Some families from the traditionally quietly anti-Zionist, non-chassidic old yishuv, notably the Hirsch family, joined forces with R' Beck and brought their customary Old-Yishuv title, Neturei Karta, "Guardians of the City", with them.
 The Beck-Hirsch Neturei Karta is not a coherent group, and the only requirement of its members is anti-Zionism. Many people from all kinds of groups and backgrounds, consider themselves affiliated, which does not preclude their membership in other groups. In their synagogues and at demonstrations, one will therefore see many types of clothing.

Source:
I know many of these people, and have been to their homes, synagogues, and demonstrations. I discussed clothing with several.


1. I was in his home in Meah Shearim once, but I cannot recall his first name right now. Will edit if I remember.
2. Similar to Mormon underwear, without special symbols.
3. At the time, it was not conceivable that the anti-Zionist R' Yisroel would become Rebbe.

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  • I believe Hirsch was named Moshe Hirsch. Dec 15, 2014 at 16:25
  • @NoachmiFrankfurt Yes, but the man in the picture is his son.
    – Adám
    Dec 15, 2014 at 20:05
  • R' Meir? (15 characters) Dec 18, 2014 at 15:32
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The black clothes and flat hats correspond to mainstream Satmar Hasidim, whose headquarters are in New York. (Note: just because many Neturei Karta demonstrators dress like mainstream Satmar does not mean that every mainstream Satmar Jew supports Neturei Karta.) The grey, or black-and-white stripe, are worn by some Hassidic sects in and around Jerusalem, such as Toldos Aharon if I recall correctly. (Rumor has it this design may have been influenced by an old Ottoman fashion.) Again, a subset of whom are vocally anti-Zionist. So I suspect that the ones with Jerusalem roots (including those closer to the original Neturei Karta, whose name means "guardians of the city") are in the grey or stripes; sartorially-mainstream Satmar has become the larger contingent of anti-Zionism at this point, so you'll see anti-Zionist Satmars wearing the traditional Satmar black garb.

(The earliest Neturei Karta folks were actually non-Hassidic, but have become a very small minority compared to the anti-Zionist Hassidic folks.)

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  • At the time of the founding of Neturei Karta, Satmar wasn't chasidic either but now we're muddying the waters about what exactly a chosid is.
    – Yitzchak
    Jul 29, 2014 at 14:46
  • Thanks a lot for this awesome post. Do you know more about the name/brand of the clothes ?
    – maaaan
    Jul 29, 2014 at 22:53
  • @maaaan Yeah man, you can pick them up at Joseph A. Bank. :P
    – rosenjcb
    Jul 30, 2014 at 20:47
  • lol, more seriously, I am sure there is a peculiar brand for these clothes
    – maaaan
    Aug 3, 2014 at 15:20

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