Dress
Continued from preceding page
capote with a wide, black
striped sash. On Shabbat and
holidays, they wear a bekeshe,
a black or dark blue glossy
silk robe with a flowery pat-
tern. The women also shave
their hair when they marry
but their clothes are some-
what more elegant and they
wear colored scarves and
jewelry, unlike the women of
the Reb Areleh sect.
The Belz and Slonim Chasi-
dim wear suits but with
longer jackets, and fedora
hats with rounded brims.
Their payot (side curls) are
often hidden behind their
ears. The young boys wear
black caps and knickers with
black stockings. The Bobov
Chasidim, a similar sect, have
white stockings under their
knickers.
On Shabbat, these Chasi-
dim have thin streimel fur
hats made of sable. Their
bekeshe is made of an un-
patterned, black shiny mater-
ial tied with a gartel, a black
corded belt. The women favor
a hat or turban over a half
wig and their dress is other-
wise fashion directed.
Similarly, the Vishnitz
women are considered very
elegant dressers and they
wear either wigs or elaborate
scarves. Some of the Vishnitz
men wear knickers with white
socks while others favor long
pants. On Shabbat, they wear
thin streimels.
The Gur Chasidim, one of
the biggest sects in Israel,
wear long pants stuck into
white socks, and long,
European-style jackets dur-
ing the week. Some tie their
payot under their hats, but
Yeshivah students display
them curled on both sides of
their faces. The Gur streimel
is, in fact, more like a spodik.
It is a high fur hat, like the
Cossacks wore, made of body
fur (and therefore it costs one-
third the price of those made
from tails); some are even
made of synthetic material.
Their bekeshe is of smooth,
black shiny silk.
The Rodzin, Boyan, Saadia
Gorah, Shortcha, Bosh and
Chenobl Chasidim sects wear
almost modern dress, and
only a few sport a streimel on
Shabbat. Only the Rebbe has
a distinctive wide fur hat
with a black, velvet section in
the middle. The women prefer
wigs.
The subject of wigs as suit-
able hair covering has been
hotly debated in recent gener-
ations. The "sheitels" which
clearly make women more
attractive were thought to
defeat the purpose of mod-
esty, but the rabbis have in
most cases ruled that a wig
which adequately does the
job (that is, covers the
woman's natural hair) is per-
mitted. This indicates
another example of flexibility
104
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 11, 1991
among those who dictate
Halaahah, because clearly
women of all sectors in
Judaism want to be attrac-
tive as well as observant.
A good indication of what
different Chasidic groups
wear is given by their Rebbe.
For example, the Habad men
take their cue from the Luba-
vitcher Rebbe in New York
and like him, wear wide-
brimmed black fedora hats.
During the week, they exhibit
"modern" attire, but their
shirts are generally worn over
their pants and they tie a
gartel around their waist at
the time of prayers. This
indicates a division between
the spiritual and animal as-
pect of man. On Shabbat,
they wear a frock coat to knee
length, open at the back, as
was popular in Europe a
hundred years ago.
One group that has no
Rebbe, the Breslau Chasidim,
are most eclectic in their
dress. Aside from wild, un-
Women of all
sectors in Judaism
want to be
attractive as well
as observant.
tended payot, there is no
unifying dress to distinguish
them from other groups. They
wear all kinds of headgear
and sport various types of
bekeshe, or none at all, on
Shabbat. As many Baalei
'Ibshuvah (newly Orthodox)
have been attracted to
Breslau, the variety has
become even greater and
many colorful additions are
worn, from ancient em-
broidered Buchanan skull-
caps to Spanish-style man-
tillas for the women.
Despite rigidity among
some groups regarding dress
patterns, and despite a
generally conservative
orientation within the ultra-
Orthodox camp, many of the
distinctions between Chasidic
groups in apparel are be-
coming obtuse and may
eventually disappear entirely
as young people intermarry
or learn in each other's
Yeshivot. The issue of dress,
while an interesting and a
colorful subject, is no longer
a central issue for many ultra-
Orthodox. D
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