Wearing White

Yom Kippur tradition calls for
wearing white clothing.

May the coming year be filled with
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Alvin Stern

Special to the Jewish News

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n Yom Kippur, it is custom-
ary to wear white — white
shirts, white dresses, white
blouses and a white kittel (robe) over
our street clothes. The wearing of
white has several significant reasons:
• A white piece of paper is a blank
slate; as we start a new year, our
records are clean. We have the oppor-
tunity each year to have good (or bad)
deeds recorded on our ledgers, but we
are given the chance each year to start
anew.
• White reminds us of purity, free
of sins. Just as the Torah scrolls are
"dressed" in pure white mantles, so,
too, we come to shul on Yom Kippur
as pure souls, not contaminated with
our mundane concerns of eating, what
jewelry to wear or what fragrance to
apply. On Yom Kippur, we come "bar-
ing" our souls to God and signify this
with wearing white.
• When a Jew is buried, he or she is
wrapped in a white shroud. The wear-
ing of white, and especially the kittel,
reminds us that one day, we, too, will
be wearing this white garment; and
therefore, we come to shul on Yom
Kippur truly praying for the gift of life
for the coming year. This adds a cer-
tain sense of solemnity to Yom Kippur.
Though the day is not a sad one, it is
certainly a very serious, solemn Day
of Awe.
In addition to wearing white on Yom
Kippur, we also don't wear leather gar-
ments, shoes or belts. Leather comes
from an animal that was killed in
order for us to use the hide. It would
be a matter of chutzpah on our part
to stand before God begging for life,

while wearing something that required
us to take another creature's life! In
our society, we are perhaps somewhat
removed from the act of animal kill-
ing for our meat and leather goods,
but in ancient days, in a more agrarian
society, people would have been much
more aware that animals were raised
and slaughtered for the products that
we consume.
So, this year, when you come to shul
on Yom Kippur, wear white and sneak-
ers or artificial leather shoes.
Besides the fact that it is most appro-
priate to wear these non-leather shoes,
in many cases, they are much more
comfortable on our feet than dress
shoes (and, I am sure, high heels!).
Since we know we will be stand-
ing for much of the day, our "soles"
will thank us, just as our "souls" are
spiritually being uplifted by the High
Holiday experience.

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Alvin Stern is the former ritual director at
Temple Beth Sholom, a Conservative shul
in Cherry Hill, N.J.

248-737-4188

1860030

Wave Of White

Nancy Kaplan, ritual assistant
at Congregation Beth Ahm in
West Bloomfield, suggests "the
simplest way to create a wave
of white in the sanctuary on
Yom Kippur is for men to leave
their jackets and ties at home
and come to shul wearing white
shirts, with a white tallit on top.
So simple and so powerful."
For more suggestions and
readings, check out Beth Ahm's
High Holiday Resource Guide at
www.cbahm.org/high-holiday-
resources.

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Sunday open at 4

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Wishing You a Sweet and ffealtfi4.9\rew Year

riTs="IV Intif

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September 5 • 2013

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