24 | JANUARY 26 • 2023 

W

herever he goes, 
Rabbi Mark Lorkis 
of Oak Park is often 
approached by people asking 
him things like, “Can you quick-
ly check my jacket?” Fortunately, 
he’s always prepared with a 
small knife and is usually happy 
to oblige.
“I’m known as ‘The Shatnez 
Man’ because that’s one of the 
things I do, check for shatnez,
” 
said Rabbi Lorkis, who works 
as a resource room teacher 
at Yeshivas Darchei Torah in 
Southfield, among other things. 
“Shatnez is a little-known mitz-
vah, the prohibition of wearing 
wool and linen together. Just like 
there’s kosher food, there’s also 
kosher clothing.
”
The busy father and grandfa-
ther first learned how to check 
clothing for shatnez in 1996. At 
the time, only one other person 
knew how to do it in the entire 

state of Michigan: Rabbi Dovid 
Apt. 
Rabbi Lorkis attended basic 
training in Lakewood, New 
Jersey, where he learned how to 
identify fibers, how and where 
to search for them and how to 
remove them.
Rabbi Dovid Apt’s son, 
Avrohom, grew up watching 
his father check for shatnez. 
In 2011, when he lived in 
California with his wife, Rena, 
he decided to learn the ropes as 
well. In 2014, the now-family of 
eight moved to Lathrup Village. 
These days, Rabbi Lorkis and 
Rabbi Avrohom Apt are the only 
two people who actively check 
for shatnez in Michigan. Rabbi 
Dovid Apt stopped doing it 
around 2012. 
“Your eyes get tired. It’s not 
something you can do forever,
” 
explained Rabbi Apt, who also 
carries around a knife with him. 

Rabbi Lorkis spends a few 
hours per week checking 
people’s clothing, but as with 
anything else, there are busy 
seasons. “Before Rosh Hashanah 
and again before Pesach … as 
well as when Suit Depot has a 
big sale! Back in the day, it was 
when people went shopping at 
the ‘Syms Bash’ — they’
d buy 
three or four suits at a time!” 
Rabbi Lorkis said. 
The most commonly checked 
item is men’s suits because shat-
nez is often found in them, but 
the mitzvah is for all clothing 
for all people, even baby clothes. 
“The mitzvah of shatnez is a 
chok, which means the Torah 
doesn’t give a reason 
for it … We just 
do it because it’s in 
the Torah,
” Rabbi 
Lorkis said. “Labels 
are not reliable, and 
we always check for 
shatnez, whatever 
the label says.
”
The search for 
shatnez is thorough 
and includes making 
a small incision in 
the jacket (both rabbis recom-
mend waiting to tailor a new 
suit after it’s been checked) and 
pulling the entire jacket inside 
out. They open the lining, 
explore the shoulder pads, tape 
around the arm holes, collars, 
each pocket, button, buttonhole 
and everything in between. 
Though Rabbi Lorkis usually 
carries around a small knife 
for the times he’s stopped by 
passersby, he prefers to use a 
seam ripper. Both of the shatnez 
checkers also use a microscope 
to inspect fibers up close. 
“Under the microscope, linen 
looks like a bamboo pole and 
wool looks like fish scales, or 
like a hair. They both have a 
specific look. I go through the 
whole garment to make sure 
there’s no wool and linen togeth-
er,
” Rabbi Lorkis said. “Shatnez 
could be anywhere. I never 
know what I’m going to find 

before I check it. The manufac-
turers use whatever’s in front of 
them. Sometimes the label says 
it’s made of ‘other fibers’ — they 
don’t know what’s in it either!”
“I find shatnez most often 
in shoulder pads and collars of 
men’s suits,
” added Rabbi Apt. 
“It’s also more likely to be found 
in nicer brands … But there are 
many good suits out there that 
don’t have shatnez, too. It’s just a 
matter of verifying.
”
Rabbi Apt shared that recent-
ly he checked someone’s jacket 
for shatnez, found some in the 
collar and removed it. “The 
guy was so thrilled, he said he’
d 
never had the opportunity to 
actively fulfill the mitzvah and 
have shatnez removed before.
”
Though it can be tedious, 
the process doesn’t usually take 
too long. These days, it takes 
Rabbi Lorkis about six or seven 
minutes to check an item of 
clothing, faster when he’s in the 
groove. If he does find shatnez, 
he removes it. 
The only complication is if an 
article of clothing is 55% wool 
and 45% linen. “When each 
thread is spun together, there’s 
nothing I can do to fix that,
” he 
said. 
Both men enjoy what they do, 
and neither are sure why this 
mitzvah seems to be unfamiliar 
with many people. 
“I like that I’m able to provide 
a service that helps Jews wear 
kosher clothing. It’s an import-
ant service. People can wake 
up in the morning, put on their 
jacket and rest assured it is free 
of shatnez,
” Rabbi Lorkis said. 
Rabbi Apt feels the same 
way. “There are only two of 
us actively checking here in 
Detroit, so it’s a pretty rare skill. 
It’s a great feeling to help people 
fulfill this mitzvah that most 
people don’t know how to do 
on their own.
” 

For more information, call Rabbi Lorkis 

at (248) 545-2666 or Rabbi Apt at 

(650) 388-8003.

OUR COMMUNITY

Michigan’s two shatnez 
checkers help local Jews 
fulfill a little-known mitzvah.

Kosher 
Clothing

ROCHEL BURSTYN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Rabbi Lorkis 
checks a suit for 
shatnez with his 
microscope

Rabbi Avrohom 
Apt and his father, 
Rabbi Dovid Apt