Oxymoron: “Religious” dress

Rabbi Moshe Ben-Chaim

“The suit makes the man.”  Society is impressed more with man’s appearance, than with his values, thoughts or actions. While Judaism includes laws of dress, they must be understood. Other than modesty, honor, cross-dressing, and dressing as idolaters (as they dress in their religious rites) God did not include a dress code as a Torah law. 

Dress & Appearances

Dressing for Sabbath and holidays is not to “make the man,” but to give honor to the day. In this fashion, man develops respect for God’s chosen days and focuses on God’s acts which we commemorate at those times. It’s all about God. In no manner is this dressing up to honor man. No one would suggest that by changing one’s external garments, that he has perfected his internal ideas and values. Prohibitions on cross-dressing eliminate lewdness; prohibitions of idolatrous dress break our identification with this idolaters’ practices, and modest dress removes the focus from ourselves so we focus on God. This is all reasonable. Thus, dress carries no inherent value. But within Jewish communities, this is not the case. 

Today, Jews categorize their own brothers and sisters into superficial categories. “Does he wear a black jacket or hat?” “What type of yarmulke does he wear?” “Does she wear jeans skirts?” “Does he have a beard?” These questions are asked to determine the “hashkafa” or outlook of the person. But I ask, what type of “outlook” is related in any way to one’s garments? This is truly superficial. In fact, it is the flaw of insecurity that propels individuals to associate with only those who appear like them. If however, one was firm in his or her Jewish values, such a person would care nothing about what others say. They would associate with upright Jews, regardless of their dress. They would disassociate with corrupt Jews, again regardless of their dress. Further, one violates a halacha d’oraisa (positive command) of “Viahavta l’ra-acha comocha” (Lev. 19:18) – “thou shall love thy neighbor as thyself” – when one passes these judgments or prevents a shidduch (a match) if one is a convert, divorced, black, not Sephardic or Ashkenaz, and the like. This is a despicable trait, which must be removed from one’s value system.

As always, when one desires to follow what is in accord with the Torah, one must look into the sources, not to what people say, or what is popularly believed or performed.

Jacob gave a gift of a coat of striped colors (Radak, Gen. 37:3) to his son Joseph. Joseph as well didn’t abstain from wearing that garment. Both Jacob and Joseph realized that wearing a colored garment is not a “religious” issue. Had Jacob known the tragic outcome of demonstrating his favoritism towards Joseph in this manner, perhaps he would not have expressed it. But this does not mean that Jacob felt that the garment per se was a problem; the reaction of the brothers was unforeseen. The priests as well are commanded to wear colored garments. We find in Exodus 12:35 the Jews following Moses’ command to ask the Egyptian’s for their garments. Rashi points out that the clothing was valued by the Jews more than the gold and silver vessels. It is clear: there is no law concerning wearing types of garments, even those of other nations (as long as the garments are not of religious practice). And we are not to add to the Torah by opposing these sources and wearing specific clothing as a “sign of religiosity.” In fact, clothing cannot affect our perfection. 

The conscious act of wearing “specific” clothing to distinguish one’s self, is a violation, and is not part of Torah. One who is truly righteous, is humble, and does not seek an audience or applause for his good deeds: “And humbly shall you walk before God (Micha 6:8).” God is his only concern, for only God determines truth and what is of value. His sense of reality is not human applause, but God’s word alone. Zephania 1:8 records certain Jews who were punished by God due to their wearing of “malbish nachri” (foreign or strange garments). In his final interpretation, Radak describes the sin of those Jews: 

These men made themselves to look separate and righteous, and they wore strange garments, unlike the rest of their brethren, so that they should be recognized through their clothing as distinct individuals, but their ways are evil.

Radak states that one is evil when parading his righteousness. In Samuel I, 1:16, God tells Samuel to go to Jesse, for “He (God) has seen a king for Himself among his sons.” Interestingly, God does not tell Samuel which son. Why? God desired that Samuel learn a lesson simultaneously with God’s selection of the new king. Upon Samuel’s arrival at the house of Jesse, Samuel admires Eliav. God tells Samuel,

Do not look at his appearance or his height, for he is despised, for it is not as man sees. Mans sees with his eyes, but God sees what’s in the heart.

God is teaching us not to pay attention to the superficial information quickly assumed with the eyes. This is not the real person. The person, as God says, is what is in the heart.

Lineage

Kings David and Solomon descended from Ruth the Moabite. Joshua married Rachav the harlot. Moses married Zippora – a woman whose father previously practiced every form of idolatry. Ruth partook of greatness, as she exemplified modesty to such a high degree. God therefore selected her to be the mother of our greatest kings. God never rebuked Moses or Joshua for marrying people with such backgrounds. At the time of marriage, these individuals were living the correct philosophy. That is all God is concerned with.

Imagine how much more peace there would be if we studied the Torah and kept to the teachings without distortion or projection, instead of operating out of false, destructive notions. We would have more ahava (love) towards one another. Remember why God destroyed Noah’s generation, and sustained the generation of the dispersion. As Rashi stated, “great is love, and hated is argument.” We must stop fabricating false categories about our own brothers and sisters. Instead of looking for reasons to degrade a Jew, look for reasons to love someone and appreciate their real worth. Certainly, we must all abandon false notions regarding dress.

God knows the perfect system for man, and included in the Torah only those commands which, if followed exactly, will yield the only perfect life. Any addition or subtraction is a defect in the system. Did the Creator of the heavens and Earth, who designed every aspect of the human personality, miss a point? Did He forget to include something in the Torah? Of course this is absurd. As there is no command to wear specific garments, it must be a destructive practice, as Radak teaches.

A person is what’s inside, not what’s outside.