20
votes
Accepted
What do I do if I do not have nice clothes to wear when visiting an Orthodox synagogue?
You are a very responsible and respectful person for inquiring about whether wearing your current clothes would be disrespectful or not to the synagogue. I really have to hand it to you, not everyone ...
- 18.5k
18
votes
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Is a Keffiyeh chayav tzitzit?
Shulkhan Arukh, OC 10:10 explicitly rules that a turban is exempt from tzitzit, even if it covers the majority of the wearer's body.
מִצְנֶפֶת פְּטוּרָה, אֲפִלּוּ שֶׁל אַרְצוֹת הַמַּעֲרָב שֶׁב' ...
- 24.7k
14
votes
Accepted
What is the black pin called that mourners wear?
There is a Jewish practice to tear one's clothes when in mourning. In recent times, it has become common for non-Orthodox Jews to tear a black ribbon pinned to their clothes rather than the clothes ...
- 24.7k
13
votes
Did each Kohen Gadol wear his predecessor's garments?
Rambam, Hilchot Klei HaMikdash 8:5:
כָּל בֶּגֶד מִבִּגְדֵי כְּהֻנָּה שֶׁנַּעֲשׂוּ צוֹאִין אֵין מְלַבְּנִין אוֹתָן וְאֵין מְכַבְּסִין אוֹתָן אֶלָּא מַנִּיחָן לִפְתִילוֹת וְלוֹבֵשׁ חֲדָשִׁים. ...
- 41.8k
11
votes
Accepted
Where can I buy a Yeshivish fedora online?
I've never used them, but friends of mine have ordered from https://www.yeshivishhats.com/. The home page says that their price is $55.
- 19k
10
votes
Accepted
Can I cut to my kippah to make it smaller?
A kippah is not a sacred garment. (The Star-K had found people putting worn-out kippahs in a disposal box intended for worn-out scrolls, which must be buried. So they had to mention that a worn-out ...
- 131k
10
votes
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Wearing special clothes in public while in niddah- isn't this a lack of tznius?
R. Moshe Feinstein has a responsum (Igrot Moshe Y.D. 2:77) with the following question from R. Avraham Chaim Levin:
הנה במקום שיש אחרים רואין אם יש דיני הרחקות באשתו נדה שמסתפק כתר"ה דאולי יש ...
- 49.1k
9
votes
Accepted
Does a mourner tear one garment, or every garment he wears for a period of time?
Shulchan Arukh YD 340:14
על כל המתים אם בא להחליף תוך ז' ימים מחליף ואינו קורע על אביו ואמו אם מחליף תוך ז' קורע כל הבגדים שהוא מחליף ואינו מאחה לעולם כמו בפעם הראשון.
Upon any [ordinary] ...
- 97.4k
9
votes
Would it be considered disrespectful to wear an Islamic styled cap as a Kippah?
The goal is to cover the head. While it might be considered improper to wear a baseball hat in synagogue (though I have seen it) the religious obligation to cover the head would be fulfilled. In terms ...
- 37.8k
9
votes
Hassidim and their socks
You cannot determine sect solely by the socks, but often you can tell something based on the socks. Combining sock style with hat/jacket/girdle/shoe/glasses/shirt style will narrow things down even ...
- 6,676
9
votes
Accepted
Are Tallis and Tefillin considered beged ish?
The Targum Yonasan to the verse prohibiting a woman to wear men's gear says specifically it includes Tallis and Tefilin. However, that doesn't seem to be the prevailing opinion. The Aruch HaShulchan ...
- 131k
9
votes
Why are Tefilin never mentioned anywhere in Nach?
There are two assertions that were made here that need to be assessed:
Tefillin, for being a quite fundamental part of Judaism, and which were [1] apparently worn all day long in Ancient Israel, are ...
- 453
8
votes
Accepted
Why don’t Sheretzs made into a Streimel convey tumah?
Once a hide is tanned, even a bit, it no longer conveys impurity (Chullin 9:2).
- 97.4k
7
votes
Accepted
Is there a difference between Simlah and Salmah?
Both Rav Hirsch and the Netziv point out the word change and explain that Salma signifies a more dignified form of clothing.
Rav Hirsch connected it to Tzelem as in Tzelem Elokim.
Whereas Simla is ...
- 33.4k
7
votes
Accepted
Is wearing unisex clothes considered beged ishah?
No.
The Shulchan Aruch (YD 182:5) lists examples of things that constitute beged isha and then qualifies "in a place where where no one wears such clothing and adorns with such adornments except ...
- 6,392
7
votes
What happened to Joseph's coat of many colors
Presumably, it was buried, because there is a Chiyuv D'Oraisa (biblical obligation) to bury the dead. It is a question in the Poskim of how much remains of the dead requires burial, but a significant ...
- 4,963
7
votes
Accepted
What is the source for Yosef's garment being a "coat of many colors"?
The Jewish Action article mentioned by @dov (thank you) contains the following paragraph:
The earliest mention of the ketonet passim being a variegated garment
dates back to the third-century bce ...
- 47.2k
6
votes
Why do Jewish women wear so much black?
Well, for starters black matches with everything so its the easiest color to wear.
- 113
6
votes
Help! My Uniform has Sha'atnez!
Since the question is not lima'aseh, I'll give an answer that is not lima'aseh.
Not every placing of clothing upon one's body is called wearing clothes and in some situations will actually be allowed....
- 33.4k
6
votes
Accepted
What is considered a four-cornered garment?
The Mishna Brura on Orach Chayim 10:12 writes regarding this question the following
(Source provided by Sefaria.org)
לו) הואיל ואין וכו' - דהנה הב"י כתב יש לדקדק במלבושים שלנו שיש להם ב' כנפות ...
- 4,245
6
votes
Accepted
Was the Hasidic gartel influenced by Zoroastrianism?
No, the Chassidic practice of wearing the gartel, which is properly called Avnet (אבנט) in Hebrew, was not influenced by the Zoroastrian practice.
It is worth pointing out that after listening to the ...
- 14.3k
5
votes
According to Jewish law, may a women wear men's clothing?
There is an explicit Torah commandment forbidding men to wear women's clothing and visa versa. I quote Deuteronomy 22:5:
לֹא יִהְיֶה כְלִי גֶבֶר עַל אִשָּׁה וְלֹא יִלְבַּשׁ גֶּבֶר שִׂמְלַת אִשָּׁה ...
- 5,310
5
votes
Rambam's rules of modesty
In Hil. Ishut (24:9), Rambam lists hair covering in public as dat Moshe.
In halakhot 11-12, he lists the requirements of dat Yehudit the behaviour that was customary for Jewish women:
ואיזו היא דת ...
- 35.4k
5
votes
Accepted
Can tailoring be done during the nine days
In all likelihood this is not allowed.
See shulchan aruch siman 551 siff 7. The Shulchan Aruch mentions an that one is not allowed to be misaken ( you'll soon see why I'm not translating this) new ...
- 33.4k
5
votes
Accepted
What age is the kapoteh donned in Chabad circles?
From the wedding day onward.
Discussed in the book Mazal Tov by Rabbi Nissan Dovid Dubov on page 64
169. After the Kabbolas Ponim the chosson prepares for the chuppah in the following way.
170. The ...
- 4,313
5
votes
Accepted
Why are some makpid on a "double covering"?
The Mishna Brura in צא, ה: יב is famously quoted as saying that one needs a hat as well as a yarmulka because that is the way to go to meet chashuvim, and by bentching says that one should wear two ...
- 488
5
votes
Accepted
Are Tzitzis obligated in Tzitzis
Indeed, perhaps a functionless tallit is not obligated in tzitzit. This seems to have been the opinion of R. Avraham Yeshaya Karelitz, at least:
Shilhi Dekayta Siman 8
וכששטחתי את גליונות הספר ...
- 49.1k
5
votes
Should one change his clothes after sleeping?
There is no halachic problem with sleeping with the clothes you will wear with the next day, and it is permitted to touch ones clothes while his hands are impure (עוד יוסף חי הלכות פרשת תולדות אות י).
...
- 360
5
votes
May a gentile look like a Jew?
The only way I could see it being prohibited for a gentile to dress or groom themselves like a Jew is if גניבת דעת (lit. "theft of the mind", i.e. the prohibition against dishonest ...
- 6,482
5
votes
Accepted
Where King Achashverosh got the priestly vestments
Refer to Rashi on the Gemara there in Megilla 12
בגדי כהונה - שהיו בידו שם בגדי כהן גדול שהביאן מירושלים
The priestly vestments: Since he had in his hand there, the vestments of the high priest that ...
- 30.4k
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