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- Shoes of the Deceased
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Shoes of the Deceased
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From: Leah L. and Faigie R.
Dear Rabbi,
I heard there's a concept not to wear clothing of someone who has passed away. Does this always apply, and to what types of clothing?
Dear Leah L. and Faigie R.,
Jews are allowed to wear the clothing of a deceased person, but there has arisen a widespread custom - based on the writings of Rabbi Yehuda Hachasid - to avoid wearing his shoes.Some apply this custom only to shoes worn at the time of death, while others apply it to any of the deceased's shoes which he wore. If he never wore them, they may be worn by others.
Your question reminds me of a story:
A few years ago Rabbi Aharon Leib Steinman visited the United States. His travels brought him to the home of Rabbi Malkiel Kotler in Lakewood, New Jersey, where his attention was drawn to a tattered pair of shoes on display. "What are these," he asked?
Rabbi Kotler answered with the following story: "As you know, my great grandfather, Rabbi Isser Zalman Meltzer, was Dean of the great Yeshiva in Slutzk. When the war (WW1) threatened, all the students were sent home."
One student upon arriving home was told by his mother: 'I didn't send you all the way to Slutsk just so you should come home!' Not able get a train because of poverty and war, the young man walked the 400 kilometers back to the yeshiva. When he arrived, my great grandfather Rabbi Meltzer was so impressed with this young man for having walked so far, he kept his shoes as a symbol of self-sacrifice for the study of Torah."
Rabbi Steinman listened, then spoke: "But surely," he said, "the young man from WWI days is no longer living. Isn't it time to dispose of his shoes?"
"Not living?" said Rabbi Kotler. "He is living. That young man was none other than Rabbi Elazar Menachem Shach!" (Rabbi Shach, zatzal, has since passed away at the age of 107, just a month ago from the time of this writing.)
Sources:
Iggrot Moshe, Yoreh Deah 3:133
Gesher Hachaim page 58
Yabia Omer 3:5
Zvi Freund in Kew Gardens wrote us with the following riddle:
When in Jewish law can a person say five blessings of "L'hadlik ner…" (Blessed is He who commanded us to light the candle…") within a 24-hour period?
Answer next week…
Gotta Riddle? Send it to ohr@ohr.edu
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Comments, quibbles, and reactions concerning previous "Ask-the-Rabbi" features.
Re: Lost Tribes (Ohrnet Vayishlach):
I found your response on possible Jewish roots in Afghanistan interesting in light of an experience I just had in Nigeria. I am an immigration attorney who recently traveled from Baltimore to Port Harcourt, Nigeria to recruit nurses for a local hospital. I interviewed candidates with very African first names and surnames like Jacobson and Khan, wearing cloth imprinted with six pointed stars. I asked one of the candidates if she had Jewish ancestry and she said she was of the Ebo tribe which she claimed meant descended from the Hebrews.
Tzvika MosckowicsThe tribe of Binyamin (Benjamin) is not one of the ten lost tribes! The two tribes not exiled at the same time as the ten were Binyamin and Yehuda (Judah).
Catriel Blum, TorontoCorrection: Meat Substitute (Ohrnet Vayeitzei):
In Vayeitzei's Ask the Rabbi we wrote: "It wasn't just 'someone' who decided that Jews shouldn't mix milk and meat." Correction: That should read "chicken" instead of "meat."
Written by various Rabbis at Ohr Somayach Institutions / Tanenbaum College, Jerusalem, Israel.
General Editor: Rabbi Moshe Newman
Production Design: Binyamin Rosenstock
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