Taamei Hamitzvos - Shaatnez
by Rabbi Shmuel Kraines
“Study improves the quality of the act and completes it, and a Mitzvah is more beautiful when performed by someone who understands its significance” (Meiri, Bava Kamma 17a).
Mitzvah #551; Devarim 22:11
The Torah prohibits wearing shaatnez, which means any type of garment that is made of a mixture of wool and linen. Sefer HaChinuch (§62) likens this to the prohibition against interbreeding, and he explains that the reason for both is that we are not allowed to tamper with the nature of the world that Hashem created.
According to Rambam (Moreh Nevuchim 3:37), shaatnez is prohibited because it used to be the garb of idolatrous priests, and wearing it may attract a person toward idolatry. He notes that this was the practice of priests in Egypt, where he lived, and Rav Menachem HaBavli (§320) observed the same among Greek priests.
Rav Hirsch takes a different approach, which we will present in our own words:
There are two types of living beings other than humans: animals and plants. Plants have an inferior living spirit that enables them to feed and grow; animals have, in addition, a superior living spirit that enables them to think and act. At a glance, one would think that humans fall into the latter category; however, this is a terrible error.
Though animals have the added faculties of thought and action, they utilize these only for the purpose of feeding and growing. Ultimately, they are no more than sophisticated plants. Humans, like animals, feed, grow, think, and move, but when they live appropriately, they utilize their feeding and growing for the purpose of thinking and acting — and all this for the most elevated purpose of serving Hashem. They thereby transcend the level of animals and are more comparable to angels, who think and act, and do not feed and grow. It is up to every person to decide in which category he wishes to be.
Linen, a plant product, represents the inferior living spirit of plants that enables feeding and growth; wool, an animal product, represents the superior living spirit of animals that enables thought and action. The Torah prohibits covering one’s body with wool and linen because this would imply that a person’s life is nothing more than feeding, growing, thinking, and acting, like that of an animal. In truth, our purpose far transcends by far these earthly matters.
There are two exceptions where (under certain conditions) the Torah allows, and even requires, that a garment contain shaatnez : tzitis (a four-cornered garment with techeiles and fringes)and the garments of the kohanim. Because these garments allude to our higher purpose of serving Hashem, wearing shaatnez together with them symbolizes that we rise above animals.
Radvaz (Metzudas David §235) discusses Kabbalistic reasons for the prohibition of shaatnez. In simplified terms, he explains that wool represents the Attribute of Mercy (Chesed) and linen represents the Attribute of Justice (Din). Mixing wool and linen is like “crossing wires” in Heaven and yields power to the forces of impurity. In allusion to this idea, the Hebrew letters of shaatnez can be rearranged to spell Satan Az (or Eiz), which symbolize the forces of impurity. (In a Torah scroll, these letters all have crown-like tops to symbolize that whoever engages in Torah study is spared from these negative forces.) But when the Attributes of Mercy and Justice are harnessed under Hashem’s kingship, they fuse appropriately and have a positive effect; shaatnez is therefore permitted in tzitzis and in the garments of kohanim, for these garments remind the wearer of Hashem’s kingship.
The prohibition against shaatnez is therefore not just about clothing; it also alludes to the idea that combining opposing forces can be harmful. Such a combination occurred at the beginning of history, in Parashas Bereishis,when Kayin brought an offering of flaxseeds (the source of linen) and Hevel brought an offering of sheep (the source of wool), which was like mixing linen and wool; the result was that one brother killed the other.
This almost occurred again when Yitzchak and Yishmael, sons of Sarah and Hagar respectively, grew up in the same home. Sarah observed that the combination would have disastrous results and she demanded that Avraham banish Yishmael, comparing this to the commandment to separate wool and linen. As with the Mitzvah of Shaatnez, it was difficult for Avraham to accept her view rationally; but Hashem told Avraham that Sarah was right. Upon Sarah's death, Avraham eulogized her with the paean of Eishes Chayil. The fourth line, “Darshah tzemer ufishtim
- She sought out wool and linen,” alludes to her sage advice at this critical point of Jewish history.
