בגד עברי לעם עברי
Symbols rule the minds of men. This is not hyperbole. The human
mind reduces reality to an array of symbols. It manipulates symbols.
It comprehends only in terms of symbols. It communicates externally
through symbols. It is no accident that every civilization that
developed a system of writing also developed a tradition of magic based
on its script. It is no accident that every civilization that developed
mathematics also developed a tradition of numerology. Indeed, so
tremendously important are symbols to the human mind that we recognize a
disabling condition, autism, which boils down largely to the sufferer’s
inability to translate reality into symbols.
Seeing that symbols have great power, it behooves us to ask which
symbols have the greatest power. To this question the Holy Torah
provides an answer. Our Sages tell us that the Jewish People enslaved
in Mitsrayim descended to the 49-th level of impurity. They violated
Shabbat, engaged in sexual perversion, ate the flesh of unclean
creatures and worshipped idols. There was nothing, it seems, to
separate them from their filthy Egyptian neighbors. Except for three
things. The three most powerful symbols of identity.
Even sunk to the 49-th level of impurity, the Jews had kept their
Hebrew names. They had kept their Hebrew tongue. And they had kept
their Hebrew garb. Whatever they did, no matter what perversions and
filthy rituals they indulged in, their identity remained distinct,
separate, Hebrew. It remained defined by the three great symbols of
personal identity – tongue, name, garb.
All that a man is, all that he ever was, all that he ever will be,
indeed all that he ever CAN be is hemmed in and defined on the most
basic level by these three things.
And of these three symbols, which is the most powerful? Here,
history, observation and basic common sense combine to provide us with a
definitive answer. A man’s name remains unknown unless he is
introduced. A man’s tongue remains unheard while he is silent. But a
man’s garb is constantly on display. It is the first form of
communication encountered by all who see the wearer. It is, before a
word is spoken, the unquestioned definer of first impressions. It is
always on display. It is never silent. It blends in or stands out,
welcomes or rejects, attracts or repels. It proclaims allegiance,
wealth, marital status, occupation, even intentions. And it does so
without any effort on the part of the wearer.
The clothes make the man. This is no mere adage. The soldier is
defined by his uniform, the prelate by his cassock, the doctor by his
white coat. Not only do others perceive them in accordance with their
garb, but they themselves unconsciously act according to it. So
powerful is garb as a symbol that men begin to act in accordance with
their perception of the role defined by it simply as consequence of
wearing it.
In fact, a 1960s university experiment to explore the power of this
role-defining symbol had to be stopped after only a few weeks. Innocent
university students dressed as prisoners began to act as prisoners,
while their classmates dressed as guards began to act like prison
guards. Even the professor, who was supposed to act as a neutral
observer, began to act in accordance with his garb – as a prison
warden! What is more, students who removed prisoner garb and put on
guards’ uniforms began almost immediately to act as brutal guards, while
“guards” dressed as prisoners began to act as dehumanized prisoners!
The great leaders of history understood the enormous power of garb.
A Swedish king named Gustav Adolph needed to defeat the greatest
armies of Europe. His men needed to perform precise, identical
movements in unison, loading their muskets with the greatest possible
speed, then discharging them against the enemy again and again and again
despite the chaos and terror of battle. So he dressed them in
identical yellow and blue coats. Gustav Adolph became Gustavus
Adolphus, Sweden became a Great Power and modern armies were born.
Tsar Pyotr Alexeyevich Romanov needed to drag medieval Muscovy
kicking and screaming into the 18-th century. So he took off his
Russian robes, shaved his beard and dressed like a Westerner. Then he
forced his subjects to shave, banned the kaftan and introduced western
clothing at gunpoint. Thus Tsar Pyotr Alexeyevich became Emperor Peter
the Great and Muscovy became Imperial Russia.
But the most important case for our purposes is the curious case of a
certain very famous British lawyer and his somewhat less famous
disciple.
When British barrister M. K. Gandhi came to South Africa, he sought
to achieve equality for his race within the British Empire. He sought
this by legal means, within the courts. He encouraged loyalty to the
crown and proudly served in the British Army. Though his strict Jain
religion prevented him from bearing arms, he served with distinction.
At Spion Kop, stretcher bearer M.K. Gandhi rushed again and again into a
hail of Boer bullets and shell splinters in order to rescue wounded
British soldiers. Were it not for British racism, he would have gotten
the Victoria Cross.
When the young man despaired of achieving his people’s rights through
British courts, he took off his British suit and put on the garb that
was his right by birth – the robes and turban of an Indian aristocrat.
M. K. Gandhi, Esq. became Mohandas Gandhi, the princely young Congress
Party activist arguing for Indian autonomy in flawless King’s English.
And when Mohandas Gandhi despaired of autonomy, he resolved upon a
struggle for independence. So he did the only thing a Jain aristocrat
could do. He took off the princely robes of his birthright and wrapped
himself in the simple cloak of the Hindu ascetic, the cloak of India’s
most famous prince of all, Prince Siddhartha Gautama. Mohandas Gandhi
became Mahatma Gandhi.
The British Empire was willing to imprison him for decades. It was
willing to shoot his followers in droves and beat them to a pulp at
every opportunity. But in the end it could not defeat him. For the
British could fight a prince. But they could not fight a saint.
When Gandhi first adopted Indian garb, he was ridiculed. When a
highly successful Indian barrister gave away his fine British-made
clothing and dressed in Indian homespun like his friend Gandhi, the
barrister’s wife, Mrs. Swaruprani Nehru, was mortified. When her son
followed suit, Mrs. Nehru was appalled. It was one thing for her
husband and son to talk crazy talk about independence. Men get silly
ideas once in a while, get all crazy and run off at the mouth. Women
just have to put up with it until the men calm down. Everyone knows
this. It was all phase.
But when her menfolk took off their nice clothing and dressed like
ragamuffin street vendors, why it was serious! What was a wife and
mother to do? How would they make a living? They could be arrested,
imprisoned, even shot in some demonstration! They could even get
themselves hanged! All for the impossible, unattainable, unrealistic
dream of overthrowing the British Raj! What clearheaded woman would not
be appalled at such insanity?
History does not recall whether on 15 August 1947 Jawaharlal Nehru
remembered his mother’s reaction all those many years before. But
history does recall that on the day the first Prime Minister of the
newly independent Republic of India took his oath of office, he was
wearing the same ragamuffin street vendor homespun that had so appalled
his mother.
None of these things should surprise us. We see the power of garb
every day. When we see “Orthodox” Jewish parties such as Shas and UTJ
acting like corrupt ghetto dwellers willing to sell their brothers down
the river for a few million shekels and a wink and a nod from the powers
that be, we need not look any further than the garb that shapes their
identity.
Look at their 18-th century black suits and outmoded black hats!
Look at the pseudo-Islamic turbans of $hade$ and his filthy ilk! These
are the clothes of the ghetto! These are the symbols of the ghetto!
Those who wear them will never leave the ghetto, for the ghetto rules
their minds with its black hats and frock coats and rekelech and
shtreimels and bekishes and turbans!
And why should we be surprised that secular Israeli politicians act
like goyim and order pogroms? Look at those goyish suits and ties and
high heels and power suits! Look at the jeans and miniskirts of their
constituents!
Is THIS Jewish garb? Are THESE the symbols of Jewish identity?
These are the clothes of goyim! These are the symbols of godless
Western hedonism! Those who wear them will never abandon their Western
perversions, for these perversions rule their minds with Armani suits
and designer jeans and Gucci handbags!
Our heroic Hilltop Youth are wiser than their elders. They
instinctively know the power of symbols. They instinctively know the
power of garb. When you see giant kippot and unkempt beards and
extra-long peyot, when you see tallit katan worn as overgarments, when
you see bandannas folded and tied to look like head coverings from a
biblical illustration, look beyond the surface. Our youth are groping
toward our identity. They instinctively reject the garb of our shame,
the penguin suit of the ghetto. They instinctively reject the garb of
perversion and hedonistic filth, the clothing of the West. They grope
toward our TRUE identity, the identity of a free Jewish People in its
own sacred Land. They grope toward THIS:
My brothers and sisters, this clothing is not a Purim costume. This
is not and must not be the domain of reenactors and actors, the costume
of silly people who have nothing better to do on the weekends. This
garb is our TRUE IDENTITY. It is simple to make. It is comfortable.
It is suited to our climate.
Dye it OD green. Add a few extra pockets. Sew some camo netting
onto the robe if you wish. Put on a pair of running shoes or better yet
a pair of good combat boots. Don a boonie cap to keep the sun out of
your eyes. You have an excellent battle dress uniform. Throw on some
web gear, grab a rifle and you are in business, a Jewish warrior in a
Jewish cause.
Until we take off the ghetto straightjacket of alien identity, until
we put on the tunic and tallit and robe of our Jewish selves, we can
never be free, for our minds will remain imprisoned. Our liberation
must begin with the War of Symbols and our greatest symbol must be our
appearance itself. We are not Israeli. We are not medieval ghetto
dwellers. We are Am Ivri. Let us adopt Beged Ivri. Let us free our
minds. Our bodies and our country will follow.
14 Shevat 5769
mind reduces reality to an array of symbols. It manipulates symbols.
It comprehends only in terms of symbols. It communicates externally
through symbols. It is no accident that every civilization that
developed a system of writing also developed a tradition of magic based
on its script. It is no accident that every civilization that developed
mathematics also developed a tradition of numerology. Indeed, so
tremendously important are symbols to the human mind that we recognize a
disabling condition, autism, which boils down largely to the sufferer’s
inability to translate reality into symbols.
Seeing that symbols have great power, it behooves us to ask which
symbols have the greatest power. To this question the Holy Torah
provides an answer. Our Sages tell us that the Jewish People enslaved
in Mitsrayim descended to the 49-th level of impurity. They violated
Shabbat, engaged in sexual perversion, ate the flesh of unclean
creatures and worshipped idols. There was nothing, it seems, to
separate them from their filthy Egyptian neighbors. Except for three
things. The three most powerful symbols of identity.
Even sunk to the 49-th level of impurity, the Jews had kept their
Hebrew names. They had kept their Hebrew tongue. And they had kept
their Hebrew garb. Whatever they did, no matter what perversions and
filthy rituals they indulged in, their identity remained distinct,
separate, Hebrew. It remained defined by the three great symbols of
personal identity – tongue, name, garb.
All that a man is, all that he ever was, all that he ever will be,
indeed all that he ever CAN be is hemmed in and defined on the most
basic level by these three things.
And of these three symbols, which is the most powerful? Here,
history, observation and basic common sense combine to provide us with a
definitive answer. A man’s name remains unknown unless he is
introduced. A man’s tongue remains unheard while he is silent. But a
man’s garb is constantly on display. It is the first form of
communication encountered by all who see the wearer. It is, before a
word is spoken, the unquestioned definer of first impressions. It is
always on display. It is never silent. It blends in or stands out,
welcomes or rejects, attracts or repels. It proclaims allegiance,
wealth, marital status, occupation, even intentions. And it does so
without any effort on the part of the wearer.
The clothes make the man. This is no mere adage. The soldier is
defined by his uniform, the prelate by his cassock, the doctor by his
white coat. Not only do others perceive them in accordance with their
garb, but they themselves unconsciously act according to it. So
powerful is garb as a symbol that men begin to act in accordance with
their perception of the role defined by it simply as consequence of
wearing it.
In fact, a 1960s university experiment to explore the power of this
role-defining symbol had to be stopped after only a few weeks. Innocent
university students dressed as prisoners began to act as prisoners,
while their classmates dressed as guards began to act like prison
guards. Even the professor, who was supposed to act as a neutral
observer, began to act in accordance with his garb – as a prison
warden! What is more, students who removed prisoner garb and put on
guards’ uniforms began almost immediately to act as brutal guards, while
“guards” dressed as prisoners began to act as dehumanized prisoners!
The great leaders of history understood the enormous power of garb.
A Swedish king named Gustav Adolph needed to defeat the greatest
armies of Europe. His men needed to perform precise, identical
movements in unison, loading their muskets with the greatest possible
speed, then discharging them against the enemy again and again and again
despite the chaos and terror of battle. So he dressed them in
identical yellow and blue coats. Gustav Adolph became Gustavus
Adolphus, Sweden became a Great Power and modern armies were born.
Tsar Pyotr Alexeyevich Romanov needed to drag medieval Muscovy
kicking and screaming into the 18-th century. So he took off his
Russian robes, shaved his beard and dressed like a Westerner. Then he
forced his subjects to shave, banned the kaftan and introduced western
clothing at gunpoint. Thus Tsar Pyotr Alexeyevich became Emperor Peter
the Great and Muscovy became Imperial Russia.
But the most important case for our purposes is the curious case of a
certain very famous British lawyer and his somewhat less famous
disciple.
When British barrister M. K. Gandhi came to South Africa, he sought
to achieve equality for his race within the British Empire. He sought
this by legal means, within the courts. He encouraged loyalty to the
crown and proudly served in the British Army. Though his strict Jain
religion prevented him from bearing arms, he served with distinction.
At Spion Kop, stretcher bearer M.K. Gandhi rushed again and again into a
hail of Boer bullets and shell splinters in order to rescue wounded
British soldiers. Were it not for British racism, he would have gotten
the Victoria Cross.
M.K. Gandhi, Esq., who sought justice in British courts
Stretcher bearer M.K. Gandhi, a loyal soldier of the Crown
British courts, he took off his British suit and put on the garb that
was his right by birth – the robes and turban of an Indian aristocrat.
M. K. Gandhi, Esq. became Mohandas Gandhi, the princely young Congress
Party activist arguing for Indian autonomy in flawless King’s English.
Mohandas Gandhi, a young aristocrat who sought Indian autonomy within the British Empire
struggle for independence. So he did the only thing a Jain aristocrat
could do. He took off the princely robes of his birthright and wrapped
himself in the simple cloak of the Hindu ascetic, the cloak of India’s
most famous prince of all, Prince Siddhartha Gautama. Mohandas Gandhi
became Mahatma Gandhi.
The British Empire was willing to imprison him for decades. It was
willing to shoot his followers in droves and beat them to a pulp at
every opportunity. But in the end it could not defeat him. For the
British could fight a prince. But they could not fight a saint.
Mahatma Gandhi, father of his nation
highly successful Indian barrister gave away his fine British-made
clothing and dressed in Indian homespun like his friend Gandhi, the
barrister’s wife, Mrs. Swaruprani Nehru, was mortified. When her son
followed suit, Mrs. Nehru was appalled. It was one thing for her
husband and son to talk crazy talk about independence. Men get silly
ideas once in a while, get all crazy and run off at the mouth. Women
just have to put up with it until the men calm down. Everyone knows
this. It was all phase.
But when her menfolk took off their nice clothing and dressed like
ragamuffin street vendors, why it was serious! What was a wife and
mother to do? How would they make a living? They could be arrested,
imprisoned, even shot in some demonstration! They could even get
themselves hanged! All for the impossible, unattainable, unrealistic
dream of overthrowing the British Raj! What clearheaded woman would not
be appalled at such insanity?
History does not recall whether on 15 August 1947 Jawaharlal Nehru
remembered his mother’s reaction all those many years before. But
history does recall that on the day the first Prime Minister of the
newly independent Republic of India took his oath of office, he was
wearing the same ragamuffin street vendor homespun that had so appalled
his mother.
J. Nehru, a well dressed and loyal British schoolboy, poses for a formal photograph
Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, leader of his people, says goodbye to the British
every day. When we see “Orthodox” Jewish parties such as Shas and UTJ
acting like corrupt ghetto dwellers willing to sell their brothers down
the river for a few million shekels and a wink and a nod from the powers
that be, we need not look any further than the garb that shapes their
identity.
Look at their 18-th century black suits and outmoded black hats!
Look at the pseudo-Islamic turbans of $hade$ and his filthy ilk! These
are the clothes of the ghetto! These are the symbols of the ghetto!
Those who wear them will never leave the ghetto, for the ghetto rules
their minds with its black hats and frock coats and rekelech and
shtreimels and bekishes and turbans!
Prisoners of the ghetto
like goyim and order pogroms? Look at those goyish suits and ties and
high heels and power suits! Look at the jeans and miniskirts of their
constituents!
Is THIS Jewish garb? Are THESE the symbols of Jewish identity?
These are the clothes of goyim! These are the symbols of godless
Western hedonism! Those who wear them will never abandon their Western
perversions, for these perversions rule their minds with Armani suits
and designer jeans and Gucci handbags!
A bunch of Hebrew-speaking goyim
instinctively know the power of symbols. They instinctively know the
power of garb. When you see giant kippot and unkempt beards and
extra-long peyot, when you see tallit katan worn as overgarments, when
you see bandannas folded and tied to look like head coverings from a
biblical illustration, look beyond the surface. Our youth are groping
toward our identity. They instinctively reject the garb of our shame,
the penguin suit of the ghetto. They instinctively reject the garb of
perversion and hedonistic filth, the clothing of the West. They grope
toward our TRUE identity, the identity of a free Jewish People in its
own sacred Land. They grope toward THIS:
A free Jew in his Land
is not and must not be the domain of reenactors and actors, the costume
of silly people who have nothing better to do on the weekends. This
garb is our TRUE IDENTITY. It is simple to make. It is comfortable.
It is suited to our climate.
Dye it OD green. Add a few extra pockets. Sew some camo netting
onto the robe if you wish. Put on a pair of running shoes or better yet
a pair of good combat boots. Don a boonie cap to keep the sun out of
your eyes. You have an excellent battle dress uniform. Throw on some
web gear, grab a rifle and you are in business, a Jewish warrior in a
Jewish cause.
Until we take off the ghetto straightjacket of alien identity, until
we put on the tunic and tallit and robe of our Jewish selves, we can
never be free, for our minds will remain imprisoned. Our liberation
must begin with the War of Symbols and our greatest symbol must be our
appearance itself. We are not Israeli. We are not medieval ghetto
dwellers. We are Am Ivri. Let us adopt Beged Ivri. Let us free our
minds. Our bodies and our country will follow.
14 Shevat 5769
10 Responses to “בגד עברי לעם עברי”
Leave a Reply
Rob Says:
February 9, 2009 at 4:45 pm
Is it practical to wear such garments today? sure, a couple thousand years ago this was the form of dress.
does Torah support this dress code even for today? I understand your point though.
Vienna Mike Says:
February 10, 2009 at 4:11 am
The Torah clearly supports Jews dressing as Jews. Thus it is said
“I have set you apart from the goyim.” In the Kitzur Shulchan Aruch
Chapter 3 Halacha 2 we find: “We do not walk in the paths of the goyim…
…nor adopt their manner of dress…” The Talmud goes so far as to note
that even in the manner of shoe laces the Jew must strive to be
different from the goy.
As for practicality, the garments are easy to make and easy to
maintain. They are already worn on a regular basis by numerous Jews in
Eretz Yisrael. The photograph you see on the previous post was, as a
matter of fact, taken from a catalog that sells fine Jewish garments.
It is important to point out that it is not material whether the garb
is made from authentic hand-spun wool and other such nonsense. These
kinds of details are important to reenactors and souvenir hunters. For
our purposes, it is sufficient that the fabric be sturdy and serviceable
and that the garments look presentable. Whether it is cotton or wool
or ripstop camouflage or anything else should be dictated solely by
considerations of use and economics. The wearing of Beged Ivri is an
act of propaganda in the War of Symbols. It is an act of defiance,
challenge and self-definition. When one is building a house,
cultivating a garden, trading blows with a Yassamnik or planting an IED,
considerations of fashion and authenticity are of no importance. Only
considerations of physical utility and propaganda value apply.
Judeanoncapta Says:
February 24, 2009 at 10:43 pm
I agree with every word of what you say.
However when this beged ivri company sells it’s clothing at 400-800
dollars a pop, that guarrantees that this type of clothing revolution
will never get off the ground.
I’m thinking of starting a new company making beged ivri myself.
We need to get the price down below 100 dollars to actually make this widespread
If Mr. BenYehuda08 is interested in helping such a project along, he has my unpublished email address.
Vienna Mike Says:
March 2, 2009 at 4:28 pm
Anyone can make beged ivri for under $20. All one needs is a
sewing machine. You can find patterns for t-tunics, robes and trousers
all over the web. Our tunics are even simpler than the medieval
reenactors’ garb, as they have neither gores nor gussets and are slit to
51%. The reason the company you mention sells their garb for such
ridiculous amounts of money is that
1) They insist on using period fabric to create an authentic period look. Once a reenactor, always a reenactor.
2) They are out to make money from American tourists
Judeanoncapta Says:
March 2, 2009 at 11:54 pm
I don’t care about period fabric or any such nonsense.
But if you know of a place where I can get cheap quality fabric for under 20 dollars a garment, I would love to hear.
I think that if you know how to producr beged ivri for 20 dollars a
garment, you need to be starting the company to do so. Or atleast tell
me how, so I can do it.
Vienna Mike Says:
March 3, 2009 at 2:36 am
Here is a comment I got from a very brave person in Eretz Yisrael
who keeps asking that I add him to my blogroll (By the way, friend, the
answer is “Absolutely not!” You have a wife and children, I believe,
and you place yourself in enough danger without such obvious incentives
for the Shabak to put a bullet through your head).
“VM, You’re right, of course. I just bought the material I need for
12.50 dollars. The labor may run about 30 dollars, as this is the first
time my friend’s wife is making this for me, and it will require an
extra fitting. Still, 42.50 is much less than hundreds.
With my other friend’s yeshiva discount, tzitzith with techeleth will run me 40 dollars.
I decided upon this design so that I can fulfill the misswah of
walking around “wrapped” in tzitzith and techlet according to the
Ramba”m {not hidden like scared Jews in {Poland, etc.}
The Jews in Givat Ronen wear long shirts w/o tzitzith required. This
was my other option, but then I would have to have an additional four
cornered garment to wrap around myself. I can do that in the future.
Spring and summer are around the corner. I wanted to keep that in mind.
…”
Note that this person is having a friend’s wife make the garments for him. Thus his costs are higher than normal.
It is the philosophy of Vienna Mike that it is preferable for persons
to make their beged ivri themselves, for the same reason Ghandi
insisted that his followers spin their own cloth. It is a way to filter
out many of those who are not serious about self-sacrifice, and with
every stitch you have the opportunity to think whether your commitment
to the liberation of our country is wholehearted. Will you face the
Israeli enemy in the clothes you make, knowing that they will beat you
to a pulp for your defiance? Will you proudly have these clothes as
your burial shroud? Are you willing to sacrifice all for the liberation
of our trampled country? When you make your own garment, you have time
to think about these things.
Nonetheless, the author of this blog does not disapprove of those who
wish to purchase their beged ivri or have it made to order by friends
and family. Nor does the author disapprove of those who wish to evolve a
business model to produce and sell beged ivri, as long as such persons
are strict about using only Avodah Ivri.
P.S. Those who live in the Holy Land and wish to post comments here are strongly encouraged to visit torproject.org
and to use this or similar software to mask one’s IP address. Further,
as previously mentioned on the Scribble Board, the email address field
will accept anything in the format of an email address, including items
like “sodoff@noneofyerbusiness.com”
Once your first post is accepted by the moderator, all subsequent
posts that use the same fake email address and nondescript username will
be automatically approved by the software. Further, if you are a
blogger who uses wordpress, blogspot or any other affiliated blog
engine, you must LOG OUT of your own blog before you try to comment on
this site or else your blog address will be appended to your post and,
if your blog is easily traceable to a person in the Holy Land, the
moderator will DELETE your comment.
Judeanoncapta Says:
March 11, 2009 at 6:00 pm
Actually it is possible to stretch the Techeleth out to be enough for two, or three perhaps even four garments.
Most people are under the mistaken assuption that tzitzith are
required to be 24cm long or even 28 cm long. This is based on the view
of Rabbenu Tam, although the vast majority or poskim including the
Rambam and the Shulchan Aruch say clearly that they need not be longer
than a tephah which is around 8cm long.
So you can buy the regular packet of tzitzith with tekheleth and have enough for multiple garments.
HEIKER MENDOZA Says:
September 6, 2009 at 1:21 pm
DE PANA QUE NO ENTIENDO PERO NO TRATARE MAS ALOS GOYIM
[VM responds: Escribe en ingles por favor! This is an English-only
site. I do not try with the goyim because I do not believe there is a
point. Those who are true to the Bible will support the Jewish People.
The rest will burn in gehinnom.]
Anonymous Says:
March 15, 2010 at 5:05 pm
[VM: This is an excerpt from a private communication that is relevant to the discussion at hand]
BTW, isn’t Beged Ivri a company name?? Don’t EVEN get me started on
Reuven Prager. Check out who he’s been talking to….Messianics. Check
the completely nontzniustik pics on his site, and women’s kippahs????
Lo tiqah shohad, ki hashohad y’awer….
He’s also made purple and gold clothing which the Rambam specifically
says are forbidden to wear. I also question whether they are big
enough to require tzitzith, and just how IVRI or jewish do they look to
you?
To me they just look like western shirt, which have been Jewisized.
Vienna Mike Says:
March 22, 2010 at 12:51 am
Beged Ivri literally means “Hebrew Garb”. Which is a great thing
to call the clothing of Jews who make it a point to differentiate
themselves from the Israelis and set themselves in opposition to
everything Israel’s erev rav government stands for. By calling it
“beged ivri” and not, say “beged yehudi”, we explicitly draw a
connection between the wearer today and his ancient forefathers in this
Land, from Avraham Avinu onward.
I could not care less about Reuven Prager. If he wants to name his
company “Beged Ivri” in order to make money from gullible tourists and
Messianics, that is his business. In fact, the short tunic descending
to approximately mid-thigh was as near a universal ancient Mediterranean
garment as could exist. The reason it looks like a modern shirt to
your eyes is because the modern shirt evolves from it by way of the
garment we know today as the polo shirt. There is absolutely nothing
wrong with making a short tunic that is a four-cornered garment with
tzitzit.
But none of this is very important. To me, what is important is the
symbolism behind the wearing of clothing designed explicitly to look
Jewish and explicitly to look very different from normal Israeli
clothing in order to make the political point that the wearer does not
belong to the same nation as the Osloite erev rav and those who support
them. Beged Ivri is about explicit self-definition as a Jew and making
the point that a Jew cannot be Israeli.
Given that the point is self-definition and the building of an
identity, there is no need to worry about whether or not the clothing is
“historically authentic” from a reenactor’s point of view in that it is
made with period fabrics, etc.
Therefore, as far as I am concerned, the basic garment consists of a
simple tunic descending approximately to mid-thigh, slit to 51% of
length on the sides so that it qualifies as a garment requiring tzitzit.
To this should be added a large kippah. One may also add a more
historically authentic headgear or approximate it by tying a large
bandanna around the head. Obviously, one needs a sash to wear with the
tunic unless one plans to tuck the tzitzit through the belt of one’s
pants to keep the tunic from flapping about indecently. The style of
sash is immaterial as long as it is tasteful. A chassidic gartel works
fine for those not interested in experimentation. Insofar as color and
cut of the tunic, this of course varies depending on the purpose. If
you are gardening, you want a sturdy long-sleeved garment that will take
abuse. If you are performing military duties, you need camouflage. If
you are hanging out with friends in the summer, something light and
short-sleeved will go nicely with your sandals. And if you are going to
schul on Shabbat you need something that looks worthy of wearing on
Shabbat.
Insofar as pants and footwear, obviously one should wear what fits
with the occasion. If one wants to make simple loose trousers that
match the tunic, this is fine. If one wants to have something more
fancy, this is also fine. One could even wear loose jeans or shorts of a
halachically appropriate length. Of course one would wear sandals when
it is appropriate and boots when it is appropriate and so forth.
For Shabbat and other such occasions, one would of course want to add
a tallit of quality make. In cold weather, a robe should preferably be
worn over the tunic, again in order to distinguish oneself from the
Israelis.
Now, regarding techelet, I have one practical issue. If we accept
that the techelet currently produced from snails is authentic, we are
stuck with our soldiers having a blue thread in their tzitizit. But
blue is not a camouflage color and will give the soldiers’ position away
in many situations, endangering their lives. Whereas if we say that
even though the claim for techeilet looks very good, there is still a
machlokes, our soldiers can leave the blue string off their camouflage
garments and use tzitzit dyed OD green. Of course, this issue goes away
if a competent Rav whose authority was universally respected were to
issue a psak halacha stating that soldiers may leave the blue thread out
of their tzitzit in order to protect their lives. But this cannot
occur until after there is a large community self-identifying as wearers
of Hebrew garb. Therefore, I would leave the issue of techelet until
after independence, putting it in the same category as the need for a
single common siddur.
(Yes, I know that many IDF so-called “soldiers” wear tallit katan
with white tzitzit that stand out like a sore thumb. The reason for
this is that the IDF does not qualify as an army. Its “soldiers” do not
fight like soldiers. When they bother to do anything at all and not
run away at the first thrown rock, they play traffic cop at checkpoints
and SWAT cop in Gaza. If you are going to stand at a checkpoint patting
down Arabs or walk down the street like an idiot in order to draw fire
so you do not “endanger the lives of innocent Palestinian civilians”, it
doesn’t matter if you are wearing camouflage or day-glo orange.
And, of course, some will say that one can simply tuck the pretty
white tzitzit under the uniform, but then they forget that the moment
the fighting starts and the soldier is running and diving for cover and
shooting and climbing over obstacles and crawling all over the place,
everything will come loose and dangle out. Or, worse, it will stay
under the uniform and rub off skin until there is an open sore, which
will inevitably get infected…)
Anyway, this should give you an idea of what I mean by beged ivri.