002 - Din Levishas Begadim - ב דין לבישת בגדים ובו ו' סעיפים

Siman 2: Laws of Dressing, containing six seifim:

Recording: Seifim 1–6

1. The trait of modesty is praised by Scripture in many places^[1].

And the Sages commanded every person concerning it: to be modest in all his ways and not to behave immodestly, even when not before people but alone by himself, as will be explained in the Laws of Modesty.

And even when he is alone at night, in the innermost chambers, he must conduct himself with modesty and shame before the Holy One, blessed be He, whose glory fills the whole earth, and before whom darkness is as light^[2].

Therefore he should not uncover his flesh, even slightly, wherever it is the way to be always covered by clothing.

And even when he sleeps on his bed at night, he should cover all his flesh with a sheet.

And even when he enters the bathroom to relieve himself, when he must uncover his flesh, he should uncover only as much as is needed, and no more than is needed, even slightly, as will be explained^[3]:

2. So too, when he takes off his garments and his shirt to sleep on his bed unclothed, he should take care to cover his flesh little by little with a sheet under his shirt before removing the shirt from that part of his flesh, so that when he removes it from that part, that part will already be covered by the sheet, and not even a little of his flesh will be uncovered needlessly, even for one moment.

(So too, one who does not sleep unclothed, but only takes the socks^[4] off his feet, should first cover his feet with the sheet and take them off under the sheet.)

So too, when he rises from his sleep, he should put on his shirt little by little under the sheet while still lying down, so that none of his flesh is uncovered needlessly, even for one moment^[5].

(So too with our socks: he should put them on little by little under the sheet, so as not to uncover his feet, which are always kept covered, in these lands where people never go barefoot, even in summer.)

So too he should take care when he changes his shirt (or his socks) in the middle of the day or night.

Unless he is in a bathhouse, where it is people's way to go about unclothed and it is impossible otherwise, and this involves no immodesty.

So too when he bathes in a river.

(Only he should undress and dress near the river as far as possible, so as not to go about with his body uncovered needlessly.)

And he need not even cover his nakedness as he goes down into the river.

Moreover, one who covers himself appears to be ashamed of the matter, as if denying the covenant of our father Avraham^[6].

But as he comes up, when he faces the people, he should bend over or place his hand over his nakedness to cover it.

Provided that he does not touch it, as will be explained.

So too when he bathes in a bathhouse with other people.

And if he is able to cover it from their eyes with a garment, how good that is:

3. It is good to be careful with one's shirt and the like, to wear it the right way, so that the inside is not turned outward, showing the unsightly seams and the hems of the shirt^[7], and so that he not be made unsightly in people's eyes.

And if he was not careful and turned it inside out: if he is a Torah scholar, he must take it off and put it on again the right way, so as not to be included, Heaven forbid, among "משניאי" ("those who cause Me to be hated") (Mishlei 8:36)^[8].

And according to Kabbalah, one should take care not to put on two garments together, because it is harmful to the memory^[9]:

4. A person should always put his right before his left in everything, because the right is significant throughout the entire Torah: in the service, and in the thumb and big toe at the inauguration of the kohanim and with the metzora, and likewise in chalitzah^[10].

Therefore a person too should always show honor to his right.

Therefore, when he puts on his shoes, he should put on the right one first^[11].

And when he takes them off, he takes off the left one first, for this is the honor of the right.

And with shoes that are tied, he should put on the right one without tying it, then put on the left one and tie it, and then tie the right one.

Because for tying one should show honor to the left, which is significant in the Torah for the tying of tefillin.

But shoes that are not tied: he should put on the right one first.

So too, when he puts on his shirt and his other garments, he should put on the right arm first.

So too with trousers and socks: the right leg first.

And if they are tied, he should tie the left one first.

So too, when he washes or anoints, he should wash or anoint the right hand first.

And when he washes his whole body in a bathhouse, he should wash his head first, because it is king over all the limbs:

5. He should rise and walk with his head slightly bowed, and not with an upright bearing and an outstretched neck, as it is said, "ותלכנה נטויות גרון ומשקרות עינים" ("They walk with outstretched necks and ogling eyes") (Yeshayahu 3:16)^[12].

Even less than four cubits is forbidden^[13].

And whoever walks with an upright bearing is as if he pushes away the feet of the Shechinah^[14].

As it is said, "מלא כל הארץ כבודו" ("The whole earth is filled with His glory")^[15].

The measure of this upright bearing is whenever his eyes cannot see downward near his feet, so that because of this he must walk slowly so as not to stumble as he goes.

Nevertheless, he should not bend his body or his head too much, but moderately, so that he can see the face of whoever comes toward him (without raising his eyes upward too much):

6. It is a trait of piety not to walk four cubits with the head uncovered^[16], even in their days, when most people were accustomed at times to go about much with the head uncovered, because of the heat in those days.

But now, in our time, when everyone's way is always to cover the head, it is forbidden to walk or even to sit with the head uncovered, on account of modesty, for this is like uncovering his covered flesh^[17].

And the young children too: it is proper to cover their heads^[18].

All the more so in these lands, where the gentiles are accustomed to uncover their heads, and the holy Jewish people are careful about this on account of modesty. If so, one who walks or even sits with his head uncovered like a gentile transgresses the prohibition of "ובחוקותיהם לא תלכו" ("Do not follow their statutes") (Vayikra 18:3)^[19].

But if he places his hand on his head to cover it, that is enough to show the difference, only he must not mention the Name of Heaven, as will be explained in Siman 91^[20]:

Notes

1. In many places: For example, "והצנע לכת עם אלהיך" ("and walk modestly with your G‑d") (Michah 6:8).

2. Whose glory fills the earth: Following the verses "מלא כל הארץ כבודו" ("The whole earth is filled with His glory") (Yeshayahu 6:3) and "כחשיכה כאורה" ("darkness is as light") (Tehillim 139:12).

3. As will be explained: Below, Siman 3, seif 1.

4. Socks: The Hebrew is אנפלאות, coverings for the feet.

5. While still lying down: Mahadura Kama says: "Therefore, one who sleeps unclothed, without a shirt, should take care when he rises not to sit up and only then put on his shirt, for as soon as he sits up he is uncovered", using the words "it is good to take care" (Mahadura Kama 2:1; see note 1 there).

6. The covenant of our father Avraham: That is, the circumcision in his flesh, the sign of Avraham's covenant, of which one need not be ashamed.

7. Hems: The Hebrew is אמרי החלוק, the sewn edges of the garment.

8. Those who cause Me to be hated: The verse is "כל משניאי אהבו מות" ("All who cause Me to be hated love death") (Mishlei 8:36). Mahadura Kama ends: "שיאמרו הבריות כמה מגונים לומדי תורה" ("for people will say, how unsightly are those who study Torah") (Mahadura Kama 2:2).

9. Two garments together: Mahadura Kama adds: "It is good to place the two sides of the garment in his right hand, and to put on the right and afterward the left, and to intend that everything is included in the right, and from the right it comes to the left" (Mahadura Kama 2:3).

10. Thumb and big toe; chalitzah: At the inauguration of the kohanim and the purification of the metzora, the blood is placed on the right thumb and the right big toe; and in chalitzah the right shoe is removed.

11. The right one first: "When he puts on shoes, he puts on the right and afterward the left" (Shabbos 61a).

12. They walk with outstretched necks: Yeshayahu 3:16.

13. Four cubits: "Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: It is forbidden for a person to walk four cubits with an upright bearing" (Kiddushin 31a).

14. The feet of the Shechinah: "One who walks with an upright bearing, even four cubits, is as if he pushes away the feet of the Shechinah" (Berachos 43b).

15. The whole earth is filled with His glory: Yeshayahu 6:3.

16. Four cubits with the head uncovered: "Rav Huna the son of Rav Yehoshua said: May it come to me, that I have not walked four cubits with my head uncovered" (Shabbos 118b). In the Alter Rebbe's Shulchan Aruch: "It is a trait of piety not to walk four cubits with the head uncovered, even outside the synagogue, as written in Siman 2" (Siman 91, seif 3).

17. Forbidden to walk or even to sit: Mahadura Kama says: "He should not walk four cubits with the head uncovered. And it is a trait of piety not to walk even less than four cubits, and not to sit at all with the head uncovered" (Mahadura Kama 2:7; see note 6 there). In a letter in the name of the Rebbe: "העניין דכיסוי הראש מחוייב בזה כאו"א משומרי תורה ומצווה, לא רק לדעת אלה הפוסקים אשר כן הוא עפ"י דין הגמרא והראשונים, אלא אפילו אלו שחולקים עליהם ואומרים אחרת, גם הם מודים אשר בדורותינו אלה, עניין גילוי הראש, זהו הוראה על פריקות עול" ("Covering the head is an obligation on everyone who keeps Torah and mitzvos, not only according to the authorities who hold that this is the law of the Gemara and the Rishonim; even those who differ and say otherwise agree that in our generations, going with the head uncovered is a sign of casting off the yoke") (Igros Kodesh, vol. 22, no. 8345). And the Rebbe writes on a public survey about covering the head: "ולפלא גדול ומצער, אשר איש לא זכר כלל עדמש"כ בזה כ"ק אדמו"ר הצ"צ - ובאריכות, לפ"ע - בפס"ד לאו"ח בתחלתו" ("It is very surprising and painful that no one at all recalled what the Tzemach Tzedek wrote on this, at length for him, in his Piskei Dinim on Orach Chaim, at the beginning"); and he remarks there: "במש"כ בפס"ד - צע"ג מל' אדה"ז בשו"ע שלו סמ"ו ס"ב" ("What he wrote in the Piskei Dinim needs great examination from the wording of the Alter Rebbe in his Shulchan Aruch, Siman 46, seif 2") (Igros Kodesh, vol. 11, no. 3712; Siman 46, seif 2). And in another letter: "וצריך הי' לחפש [...] האופנים המתאימים שיתוקן ענין כיסוי הראש מבלי להכנס לע"ע בחלוקי הדיעות שיש בזה" ("One should have sought the suitable ways to correct the matter of covering the head, without entering for now into the differing opinions on it") (Igros Kodesh, vol. 6, no. 1647).

18. Young children: Mahadura Kama adds: "So that the fear of Heaven should be upon them" (Mahadura Kama 2:7), following "Cover your head, so that the fear of Heaven may be upon you" (Shabbos 156b). And the Rebbe writes on the education of children: "אז זיי זאלן טראגען יארמולקעס" ("that they should wear yarmulkes") (Igros Kodesh, vol. 5, no. 1526); and in another letter, about a child: "בודאי ישן ביארמולקע על ראשו" ("Surely he sleeps with a yarmulke on his head") (Igros Kodesh, vol. 3, no. 696).

19. Do not follow their statutes: Vayikra 18:3.

20. Siman 91: There: "But placing his hand on his head does not count as a covering. For the hand and the head are one body, and the body cannot cover itself" (Siman 91, seif 4).