I have a question about Hassidic Jews and what they wear. Specifically, why do they wear all black suits with long heavy black coats and heavy black hats?
I understand the need for this clothing in, say, Eastern Europe. But why on earth do they wear it in the middle of summer heatwaves in Los Angeles and Miami Beach?
From what I know, this is not remotely based on scripture, it’s just tradition. As a tradition, it seems, in a word… f@#*ing stupid. Not to be insulting, but HEAVY winter clothing in Miami Beach in July? That’s a recipie for heat stroke!
I know observant Jews in Israel who go to pray in shorts and short-sleeve shirts and sandals, because of the insane heat. What gives with a sect that tortures itself with dangerous clothing that isn’t required by their religion?
The ultra-orthodox, espeically, believe it is a sign of their humbleness. They are not supposed to wear bright, flashy colors. Also, there are rules about exposing the body, such as the women always wear long skirts. It’s, it’s…tradition!
As for humbleness and colors, that’s not my question. Wear all black. But I’m talking about THICK HEAVY COATS and THICK HEAVY HATS. In days where I’m in shorts and a t-shirt, in my car, the A/C cranked to 11, and I’m STILL sweating.
Forget about the women not showing skin. These are men in Tundra wear. I thought seeking out pain and suffering (for yourself) was strictly a Catholic thing.
Thanks, Cain. But I think you hit the nail on the head.
250 years ago (no central heating) in the Ukraine! Talk about brutal winters!
Ya know, I suppose you gave me the factual answer I’ve been looking for. But I still don’t see how tradition trumps a modicum of common sense during a Los Angeles summer.
Isn’t two hundred and fifty years a bit on the short side for a tradition in a religion that dates itself back five thousand seven hundred years?? How does a custom from the Ukraine override something in the Bible?
I used to live in Manchester (England, that is), which has a reasonably high number of orthodox-looking Jews i.e. men dressed in the heavy coats and often wearing their hair in ringlets under hairy hats with wide, circular brims, which I took to mean that they were Hasidim although I might be entirely mistaken. It certainly does make them stand out in the crowd: “Oh, look: Jews”.
I always felt very sorry for them, especially during very warm weather. But at the same time, I couldn’t help thinking that overcoats with buttons were not the usual style in North Africa all those years ago when the rules of Judaism were drawn up.
I also had to chuckle: it was only the men who were condemned to sweat their goolies off. There does not seem to be a correspondingly incongruous uniform for the women!
…and in heat waves, many Hasidim in NYC do indeed walk around in their white shirt-sleeves, with no coats or carrying them. Strict Orthodox also dress similarly (although they’ll wear short-sleeved shirts) but they take off their hats and just wear yarmulkes. I don’t see the beaver hats this time of year on the Hasidim, though, just smaller black felt ones.
The rural Hasidim–the Amish–are quite sensible–nice straw hats for the men, skullcaps for the ladies, who have their hair up anyway. Very comfortable.
My guess is they are orthodox. The Hassidic folks wear the beaver hats and full coats in both Miami and Los Angeles during heat waves (I live in LA, used to live in Miami, and they were regular sights in both). Orthodox Jews have no such impositions as far as oppressive clothing.
Eve - they get their curls with curlers, of course! (Really.)
Mehitabel - ‘Hasidic’ is a term for a subgroup of Orthodox Jews, so presumably the men you saw her Orthodox, whether or not they were actually Hasidim. Hasidim aren’t monolithic in terms of dress, either - Lubavitch guys don’t do streimels (the round, beaver-fur hats), for example, and only some groups do the high white stockings on men.
At this point, yes, they do it because it’s traditional. Two hundred-plus years ago, they decided to stop changing their clothing with the prevailing fashions, and just continue wearing what they were wearing. It’s the source of the differences in uniform, as different groups are from different regions in Eastern Europe, where slightly different fashions were popular at the time they decided to stop updating.
:smack: You’re right, I meant more standard-issue Orthodox, who dress very conservatively with white shirts, etc. but wear short sleeves and will do without coats and usually hats in hot weather.
Except for the many who don’t even wear yarmulkes 24/7…
What’s the sect of Hasidim that wear those high-crowned black felt fedoras set forward on the head? They seem to be the most common types I see.
Just trying to keep up the tradition around here of bumping Judaism threads late on Fridays…
Thanks for introducing me to the term ‘Urban Amish’! That’s a very appropriate analogy.
For a very nice story that explains many facets of Hasidic living in easily understandable terms, I heartily recommend Chaim Potok’s ‘The Chosen’, which is my most treasured book ever. I don’t know if the author was raised in a Hasidic home or just around lots of Hasids. (He and Douglas Adams were my two very favorite writers and they died a little over a year apart. )
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