Halacha Date: 12 Tevet 5786 January 1 2026
Shabbat Clothes
We learned last week that there is a Mitzvah to wear nice, specially-designated clothes for Shabbat. Indeed, the Gemara (Shabbat 113a) expounds the phrase “And you shall honor it” the Navi uses in reference to Shabbat to mean that one’s clothing on Shabbat should not be like one’s weekday clothing. One should therefore designate special clothing for Shabbat that one does not wear on weekdays.
In prior generations, there were places where people would only wear Shabbat clothes on Shabbat morning; however, on Shabbat night, they would show up to the synagogue still wearing weekday clothes. Maran Ha’Chida decries this custom in his Sefer Berit Olam (p. 57) and writes that people who do so desecrate the splendor and honor of Shabbat. Maran zt”l (Chazon Ovadia- Shabbat, Vol. 1, p. 26) quotes the words of the Poskim on this matter and explains that this custom should be abolished.
White Clothing
The Ba’er Hetev (Ch. 262) quotes the saintly Ari z”l who said that one should wear specifically white clothing on Shabbat according to Kabbalah. The Ba’er Hetev adds that in places where wearing white clothing is not the norm, one may not follow the directive of the Ari, for doing so would be perceived as arrogance, i.e., observing a stringency no one else is.
Maran zt”l complimented this with the words of the Meiri (Baba Kama 81b) who writes that if something is clearly permitted by Halacha and one wishes to act more stringently, one must make sure not to do so in front of those who are greater than him in Torah knowledge, for this would constitute a show of arrogance. One may only do so if one is known for his piety and sincerity in the service of Hashem.
Thus, Maran zt”l rules that only one who is truly well-known for his piety and near-perfection in all other matters of Judaism may wear white garments on Shabbat.
Indeed, the great Mekubal, Hagaon Harav Benayahu Shmueli Shlit”a, would come visit Maran zt”l every so often on Motza’ei Shabbat while still bedecked in his white Shabbat clothing and Maran never pointed anything out to him about this behavior because Harav Shmueli is well-known for his piety, stands at the helm of a Yeshiva of Mekubalim, and his actions are for the sake of Heaven. Thus, in this scenario, such behavior does not constitute arrogance.
In the previous generation, there were several great sages that wore white clothing on Shabbat. There were others who wore a very lightly-colored linen robe specifically during the Days of Awe, as prescribed by Kaballah. This was the practice of Hagaon Harav Mordechai Azran zt”l, one of the sages of Porat Yosef, among others.
Hagaon Harav Moshe Tzadka Shlit”a, Rosh Yeshivat Porat Yosef, in a lecture delivered on Erev Rosh Hashanah 5786 quoted the words of the Ben Ish Hai (Parashat Nitzavim, Section 3) who writes that one should wear white garments on Rosh Hashanah. Harav Tzadka explained that there are those who are particular to wear specifically black garments during the week in order to quell Heavenly judgment since these garments are symbols of sadness and broken-heartedness. For such people, it behooves them to wear white garments on Rosh Hashanah as a symbol of joy and trust in Hashem. Nevertheless, nowadays when dark-colored garments do not symbolize sadness at all and many people commonly wear black garments throughout the week, there is no issue to wear black clothing on Shabbat either. He added that even according to Kabbalah, there is no problem with wearing black garments on Shabbat since nowadays, black garments are not seen as a lack of respect to Shabbat. Although, he explained, there are those who disagreed with this premise, such as Hagaon Harav Sasson Mizrahi zt”l, nevertheless, the custom of Maran zt”l was to wear black garments on Shabbat and only his shirt was white. This is also the custom of the great Mekubal, Hagaon Harav Menashe Shua Shlit”a.
The Garb of Torah Scholars
The Gemara (Baba Batra 98a) states that one who adorns himself in the garb of Torah scholars when one is not a Torah scholar will not be brought into the inner sanctum of Hashem. The Rashbam (ibid.) explains that this refers to the long, outer robe that is unique to Torah scholars. In those times, laymen would wear a long inner robe on the body and on top of it, a shorter outer robe that did not reach the floor, which would allow the inner robe that did to be seen. Torah scholars, on the other hand, would wear a long outer robe as well such that their inner robe was fully covered by the outer one and could not be seen. This was an overly modest behavior that was appropriate only for Torah scholars, but laymen were expected not to behave that way. It is for this reason that in the previous generation, there were several great Torah scholars who dressed like real simpletons because they did not want to be perceived as Torah scholars.
