Friday morning the rabbi's brief admonishment was from the Ben Ish Hai.
He read that a Jew is not to dress as the "goyim" dress.
I have a serious problem with the term "goy" applied as a pejorative to non-Jews - nokreem. HaShem told Abraham that he would be the father of a "goy gadol," and if that is us - as we know it is - that we, too, are "goyim." Each time "goy" appears in the Torah - the final arbitrator of Hebrew - it means one thing - nation.* Not foreigner. Not stranger. Not someone to be denigrated. Nation. Period.
But to the point of this entry.
We are told not to dress as non-Jews.
I think the Ben Ish Hai's point is that we should wear modest clothing. That doesn't mean women wearing a blouse and mini-skirt combo that has the width of a belt, or for men to run around in a Speedo briefs and muscle shirts.
But it got me thinking.
Should Jews in the West dress as 18th Century Polish pans or as both Arabs and Jews dressed in the Moslem countries in the same century? I would suggest that brings ridicule upon us.
Should we all dress as "modern Orthodox" Ashkenazi rabbis, with white shirts, black suits, and fedoras? Even the Mizrachi Shas of Hakham Ovadia Yosef are Ashkenazi dress-alikes; fortunately Rav Ovadia and the current Rishon l'Zion dress in "traditional" garb, albeit very expensive outfits.
It seems to me that the "goyim" generally dress conservatively in this day and age. Looking around the morning minyan I see men dressed in suits, in long sleeve shirts sans jacket, and short sleeve shirts. All have two things in common: tallit and tefillin. THAT is the way a Jewish male should dress in the morning on a weekday.
Women who come for Shabat dress conservatively, even in Florida's summer heat. In their homes both men and women dress casually.
The bottom line is that, within the constraints of modesty, Western Jews dress and look very much like their non-Jewish neighbors.
The Ben Ish Hai's ruling seems out of synch with modern Jewish life.
How would the Ben Ish Hai have us dress?
Even in his generation, Jews dressed similarly with their neighbors.
* In last week's portion, Tolidot, we read (Breshit/Genesis 25:23, with HaShem addressing Rivkah) "יומר '' לה שני גיים בבטנך ."
הריני מקבל עלי מצוה עשה של ואהבת לרעך כמוך, והריני אוהב כל אחד מבני ישראל כנפשי ומאודי
