Don’t Step On Me!
This week’s Torah reading contains more Mitzvot (74, about 12% of the 613) than any other. It’s sort of a list of Mitzvot. Most of the Mitzvot fall into the category of MISHPATIM. These are Mitzvot which we understand because they contribute to a just (‘have only accurate weights’) or safe (‘build railings on roofs’) society. But there are those Mitzvot which make us scratch our heads (if not shake them) in confusion, and this week we have the reprise of one of the most famous: SHATNEZ.
SHATNEZ is, of course, the prohibition of wearing clothes woven of linen and wool together. According to the Midrash, that word is a combination of three terms: one means a material that is pressed (SHUA), or woven (TAVI) or twisted (NOZ) together (Sifra, Kedoshim 4:18). The English called it ‘linsey-woolsey’ As the OED records: earliest evidence for linsey-woolsey is from 1483, in Catholicon Anglicum:an English-Latin wordbook. Using a warp of linen and a woof of wool, linsey-woolsey is a mixed cloth that combines the properties of strong linen with spongy wool. Linsey-woolsey was an important fabric in Colonial America due to the relative scarcity of wool in the colonies.
Cool! We rejected English wool as much as English tea! But, of course, this brings us to the issue of: Why is this prohibited? There are those who accept the idea that these CHUKIM are incomprehensible, and that’s their power. Reb Ovadia S’forno explains:
One of the foremost ways in which we demonstrate our reverence for the Lord is not by observing commandments which we find reasonable and useful, but by observing those commandments which we fail to understand, or worse, which run counter to what our intelligence dictates to our mind as being useful. Hence the Torah urges: You must make a special point of meticulously observing God’s statutes (CHUKIM). The motivation for doing so must not be merely fear of punishment, but blanket recognition that ‘Father knows best’, that the fact is that it was God Who legislated these statutes proves that they are intelligent and beneficial for us even if we fail to understand why.
However, we rabbis can’t control ourselves. So, there are a plethora of explanations for this ostensibly incomprehensible precept. I believe that it’s the Ramban who takes the lead in this endeavor. He suggests that any mixing of diverse entities to produce a new creation (K’LAYIM) defies the intent and action of God’s Creation.
He discusses the prohibitions of mating different animals and the making of hybrid fruits and vegetables. All this leads him to conclude that this is the rationale behind prohibiting the production of cloth from the combination of animal fiber (wool) with vegetable fiber (linen).
A number of authorities cite the presence of SHATNEZ in the PAROCHET (the beautiful curtain separating the sections of the building within the Beit HaMikdash). There was also SHATNEZ in the garments of the Cohen HaGadol. We must not wear such items in everyday clothing, for it displays disrespect, if not an outright abomination.
Finally, there’s the historical approach. We don’t want to be reminded of the first ever murder. According to one Midrash, Kayin, the farmer, kills his brother Hevel, the shepherd, over the disputes between these very different economic interests. We, also, are not surprised to find out that the farming society of Egypt denigrates shepherds, like Yosef. As Oscar Hammerstein wrote: The Farmer and the Cowman should be friends (Oklahoma!, 1943). Well, we know very well why they can’t get along. One needs to fence in fields; the other requires open range.
So, the wearing of vegetable fiber together with animal thread reminds us of this enmity and violence which has permeated history. We’d rather not be enticed to think about such traditional competition and animus.
Over the great majority of human history, people tended to make their own clothes. When we imagine a home from before about 1850, we tend to envision a spinning wheel in the tableau. People made their own cloth, and from that their own clothes. The Industrial Revolution put an end to that. Thank you James Hargreaves and your Spinning Jenny.
Keeping the laws of SHATNEZ was a snap until then, but how to keep this Mitzva when your suit is made in a factory far away is a dilemma. Even the labels in your garments (which themselves are relatively new) don’t help, because manufacturers aren’t required to list connecting threads or backings in their label of contents.
Enter Reb Yosef Rosenberger! He became a one man movement to make the FRUM world aware of the problem of SHATNEZ in modern clothing. He arrived in Brooklyn in 1941 as a boy straight from the Dachau Concentration Camp, in a rare prisoner exchange. He was amazing: tireless and focused. Never married or cared about his own needs (He lived many years in a modest apartment behind his ‘lab’ at 203 Lee Ave, Brooklyn). He made us aware of this issue. I already wrote about him in another post: https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/the-power-of-one-3/
I met Reb Yosef in 1975, and he was just another person like the rest of us. But he made a difference because he cared and was dedicated. We can all effect changes in ourselves and those around us if we just become dedicated to the issue at hand.
As we move deeper into Elul and think about the approaching YOMIM NORA’IM, please, remember this idea about Reb Yosef and SHATNEZ: You can make a difference!!
What we understand or can’t fathom isn’t really important (as a Litvak it’s hard for me to admit that). What’s crucial is what we do and how we affect those around us. We can all be agents for change and improvement.
Reb Yosef’s catch phrase was: Please, don’t step on me! He meant don’t step on the CHOK of SHATNEZ, but he could have been talking about himself and each of us!
Be like Reb Yosef, don’t give up! 5786 can be a better year for each of us and for Klal Yisrael, if we make it so. And always remember the Power of One!
