In Esther 6:11 Mordechai was dressed in the royal clothing. Did Mordechai have to ascertain whether or not the clothes contained shatnez or was he allowed to wear them without checking?
asked Dec 6, 2017 at 16:17
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I wonder if actors have to check the costumes they wear in productions. The cases seem related.– Monica CellioDec 6, 2017 at 16:23
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1Why would this be different from any other piece of clothing?– Double AA ♦Dec 6, 2017 at 16:27
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3Also refusing to wear the royal garb may have been pikuach nefesh– sabbahillelDec 6, 2017 at 19:27
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2@ezra no, ownership doesn't matter for shaatnez– Double AA ♦Dec 7, 2017 at 1:32
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1@ezra Given what DoubleAA stated, I'm inclined to concur with sabbahillel's thinking. The phrasing in the Megilla says Vayalbesh oto - "They dressed him". It could imply a sense that they forced him to dress this way. Seems similar to the phrasing regarding when Yosef was first appointed "minister" and it also says that they dressed him in royal clothes.– DanFDec 7, 2017 at 15:36
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1 Answer
As sabbahillel suggested in comments
there was no concern regarding the prohibition of wearing shaatnez: Mordechai was permittted to do so since he would be endangering himself by not obeying the King's request (Sifsei Chachamim to Megillah 16a, quoted in R Yosef Deutsch's Let my nation live, p. 293)