The New York Times Explores Hasidic Summertime Dress

My oh my is it hot! My oh my are haredim overdressed! My oh my are we wrong to think as outsiders that haredim aren't actually dressing cooler than they appear to be!

The New York Times has a piece on hasidic dress written by the Times' unofficial in house 'Jewish expert' Joseph Berger.

These types of fluff pieces – Look! Those hot, sweaty hasidim aren't really as hot we think they are! – were a staple of the Times Brooklyn coverage for years, covering the emergence of matzoh bakeries every spring that – surprisingly! – aren't open for business in May, June or July, and similarly cute but unimportant fluff, repeated ad nauseam with only slight variation year after year, while all around them kids were being raped, rabbis were covering up, the D.A. was looking the other way – and the Times knew it.

Just because the Times has now discovered that haredim have a child sexual abuse cover up problem much like that of the Church, and that the D.A. appears to have enabled that ongoing coverup (although the Times' coverage is heavy on the latter and light on the former), doesn't mean that it will stop publishing these inane shtreiml/sheitel/matzo pieces.

And so we get Joseph Berger's piece today.

My oh my is it hot! My oh my are haredim overdressed! My oh my are we wrong to think as outsiders that haredim aren't actually dressing cooler than they appear to be!

Early in his piece, Berger – the Times unofficial 'Jewish expert' who is looked at by them as an expert on haredi Brooklyn – quotes Shea Hecht and misidentifies him:

Hot and cold is all in the mind anyway, argued Shea Hecht, a Lubavitch Hasid who heads the movement’s educational outreach arm. In his dark suit and gray fedora — Lubavitch garb differs from that of other Hasidim, though it is still conservative — he sometimes chuckles at people in Bermuda shorts.

Shea is not the head of Chabad's "educational outreach arm."

Chabad's educational arm is Merkos L'Inyonei Chinuch Lubavitch, headed by Rabbi Yehuda Krinsky. Chabad shluchim, outreach rabbis, report to Merkos. So the Chabad rabbi in Podunk, USA reports to his regional head, who himself reports to Merkos and Krinsky.

Shea Hecht heads what is in effect one of those Podunk, USA Chabad Houses – except that he's located in Crown Heights and runs a couple small school and a larger day camp. But he is not in any way the head of Chabad's "educational outreach arm."

Past that, 99.99% of Chabad shluchim wear a particular style of black fur felt fedora hat – the same style (and often the same brand) as the late Rebbe wore. They do this in the middle of a frigid North Country January when temperatures are minus double digits and the snow is driving and stings like jagged ice. They also wear those same fedoras when the temperature is hot, like it is now, walking the streets of Brooklyn or Phoenix when the temperature is pushing 100 degrees, sweat dripping down their faces, salt-stained fedoras firmly planted on their heads.

Berger continues:

Beyond the law, the identifiable style of Hasidic clothing — even some waggish Hasidim call it a uniform — serves many purposes. It honors the way ancestors dressed in Europe starting in the 18th century, when the Hasidic movement was founded by sages who sought more joyous fervor in observance that could be expressed by the common folk. Many dress patterns, like the round, fur hats and knee-length frock coats, imitated the attire of the nobility. A style adopted by a movement’s grand rabbi filtered down through ardent acolytes.

The "ancestors" in Europe dressed in ways we don't see at all today. Hasidim – except for rebbes (grand rabbis) and heads of yeshivas and senior Torah scholars and teachers – wore various types of caps that were identical to what non-Jews wore. The rest of their clothing was similar to what non-Jews wore, as well.

Even on the Sabbath most hasidim wore newsboy-style caps or caps that were similar to Greek fishermen caps – not hats, not shtreimls, not spodeks.

In fact, the average middle class hasid in pre-War Hungary looked on the average weekday just like his non-Jewish counterparts, except for tzitzit protruding from underneath his vest, an untrimmed beard, and hat/cap-wearing inside as well as outside.

Berger knows nothing about any of this, just as he seems to know nothing about the change in hasidic clothing in America over the past 50 years.

In 1979 it was common to see hasidim wearing long but completely unlined frock coats in the summer, coats so thin they were almost sheer.

Hasidic summer hats were made of straw. Lightweight summer shirts were covered with lightweight cotton tzitzit or tzitzit made of an almost sheer wool fabric.

Shoes were often woven cotton.

Flash forward to 2012.

The coats are overwhelmingly wool (or silk), black and not sheer. The hats are beaver fur felt. The shoes are black leather and fully enclosed.

Hasidic women's clothing has itself gone through a similar shift to darker, heavier summer fabrics.

And lets not forget that hasidic rabbis issued bans on denim skirts, blouses made of lighter materials, or that were too bright colored or denim, stockings that were not opaque enough, and those without (or sometimes, with) seams. All of these bans are recent. All the items banned were worn by hasidic women before the bans. Berger misses all of this.

In other words, the basis of Berger's article is wrong, he wrote based on a false premise, and he made factual errors – as did the Times' fact checkers.

I'll close with one more of those errors. Berger writes:

The tzitzit, the fringed ritual garment, adds another layer for men on a torrid day, so Jacob Roth, of Malchut Judaica, one of the largest distributors of prayer shawls, is working on some remedies. For the Sabbath, he has come up with a summertime wool version that is half the weight — “light as an eagle” is its name in Yiddish. It can be accompanied by an imitation silver collar band to replace the heavy band of real silver that the most traditional insist upon.

Berger – again, allegedly the Times unofficial 'Jewish expert' – is confusing the tallit (prayer shawl) with the arba kanfot (four cornered garment). The latter, often known colloquially as "tzitzit," is worn every day – even Saturdays – by Orthodox and hasidic Jews. It's the "poncho" Berger refers to elsewhere in the piece. Arba Kanfot do not have silver band on their "collars," even though they have collars. The tallit, however, worn by adult (usually adult and married) men during morning prayer services, can have a band of silver attached to part of one of its edges. The tallit is a much larger garment than the arba kanfot and, unlike the arba kanfot, which is essentially a small poncho, the tallit is essentially a large shawl. And as you know, shawls do not have collars.

Way to go, NYT.

Comments

[Dave Rintel]

Secular media hates "chareidim" less than this blogger. Not a bad article...oh how it bothers this blogger...hehehe.

[WoolSilkCotton, rock star and sports superstar]

Shmarya, you can write a letter to the editor, or offer to write an opinion piece for the NYT.

Will they accept such an opinion piece for publication? I doubt it.

On the list of problems facing NYC and the hasidic community, overdressing does not rank high.

[Video killed the radio star]

Did you read this screed against wearing clothes, people? Now do what the author does and sit around blogging in your underwear even when temperatures rival that of the North Pole as they do in Minnesota.

On the double!

[Seymour]

Dave you might be right. However, it is. Because we truly know

them

[Yonina]

Good job Shmarya. On the same topic, I was under the impression that the long coat + streimel was the typical garb of non-Jewish nobleman in Eastern Europe in the 18-19th century. Can anyone prove/refute this? thanks and shabbat shalom.

[jancsibacsi]

As the saying goes,shote anoi margish a fool does not feel heat or cold like a normal person,so by reason of deduction hassidim who are dressed in 90 degree temps. are shoites. .

[jancsibacsi]

Dave Rintel-CHAREIDIM HATE OTHER CHAREIDIM JUST AS MUCH AS OTHERS DO IN SHORT,I HAVE MET THE ENEMY ANTHE ENEMY IS YOU YOURESELF US.

[Barry]

I too often wonder how in the business world people walk around in three piece business suits in the sweltering heat.

[בּעל קרי]

Yeah!! tell me about it!!!

You guys are sitting comfertably there and reading about it..

Im the Shlepper who actually has to walk around like that in 90 fucken degrees!!!

[WoolSilkCotton, rock star and sports superstar]

++jancsibacsi | June 29, 2012 at 08:59 AM++

Jancs, that is a great saying!

[Shoshi]

I was under the impression that the long coat + streimel was the typical garb of non-Jewish nobleman in Eastern Europe in the 18-19th century. Can anyone prove/refute this? thanks and shabbat shalom.

Posted by: Yonina | June 29, 2012 at 08:56 AM

I originally thought that the Chasidic clothing was a form of dress held onto while the styles around them changed. I thought the fancy dress was adopted in imitation of the nobility of the time. Then I heard from various sources that it was consciously and deliberately adopted by Chasidim as a uniform, to set themselves apart. Just now I checked the venerable "AskMoses" site, which agrees with that version.

I too often wonder how in the business world people walk around in three piece business suits in the sweltering heat.

Posted by: Barry | June 29, 2012 at 09:05 AM

People seldom wear three-piece suits today. And there are, of course, summer weight suits and winter suits (and business casual in many cases). Although I agree that there is a slavery to fashion in all strata of society that runs contrary to comfort, health, and safety.

[jancsibacsi]

WoolSilkCotton--It is actually written i forgot where and alot of hassidim use this saying,in fact i heard it many years ago from them and i use it when applicable:))

[PrettyBoyFloyd]

On some articles (such as this one), you can litarely feel the hatred just dripping from Shmarya's 'pen'.
Pretty cool.

[jancsibacsi]

בּעל קרי--Throw of ths shackels of and free youreself dont be a masochist treat youreself good,you have one life to live dont be a slave to someones whims.

[Garnel Ironheart]

First of all, they seem themselves as soldiers in God's army so just like American soldiers will wear a full set of uniform, helmet and equipment in the Afghan desert, so these guys wear their uniform all the time too.
Secondly, if everyone around you smells like sulphurous sweat, then you stop noticing the smell and it doesn't bother you anymore.
If someone says to you "And this is how our ancestors dressed at Sinai and the only acceptable way a good Jew dresses" you'd have a reason to be upset but if the Chabadnik wants to wear his hat in -30 deg weather and freeze his ears off, why do you care?

[בעל קרי]

Thanks for your advice!! Belive me I would take ur advice in a heartbeat!! But at this point in my life it too FUCKEN late!! Got a lovely wife and a lot a lot of kids k"eh (that are dressed like this article) and there is no going back!!

Maybe in my next life (if there is one.....)

[Rochel]

... unimportant fluff, repeated ad nauseam with only slight variation year after year, while all around them kids were being raped, rabbis were covering up, the D.A. was looking the other way ...
Love it, great description!

My oh my are we wrong to think as outsiders that haredim aren't actually dressing cooler than they appear to be
They are dressing cooler in the summer months? What are they doing, going without underwear in the summer to keep cooler?

[Mike]

I think it is high time that this form of dress should be declared illegal. Just like you cannot walk around in the nude for it would offend the senses same here.

[Jake]

Just my local chabadniks shaliach in the kosher ake out place.
I berated him for not wearing a jacket and a hat.

[Jake]

Just saw me local chabad shaliach in the store and I berated him for not wearing a hat and tie.

[Jeff]

Another error - the first photo to the left of the article has the caption "A shtreimel, a fur hat, has been given holes for ventilation", whereas the item in the photo is obviously a yarmulke.

They really didn't pay attention.

[Eli, what me messiah?]

בעל קרי
If you are sincere and not a troll playing games, you are already where you want to be. Your mind is who you are, not your clothes.
Try to pass on some of that healthy skepticism to your kids, will ya?

[בעל קרי]

That the whole problem!!! We were sold crap by our elders that didnt believe in what they are preaching, and now I'm commiting the same transgression by carrying the torch and further selling the same shit to the next generation!! And I guess my true Yiddesh Nachas will be when I see my kids selling the same shit to their own offspring!!!

We are above the חכמי התלמוד cause we disprove what they said that.... אין אדם מוריש שקר לבנו!!

[Brian]

Here's an interesting piece from the NY times from last week:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/22/opinion/style-and-the-meaning-of-gay-culture.html

It's an opinion piece stating that, whilst being gay is fast becoming a socially acceptable orientation, acting stereotypically "gay" still "frightens the horses", and won't be accepted for a long, long time.

Are we in a similar situation with regards to Charedi/Chassidic Judaism? Are we in a position to berate those who choose to wear this garb (as long as they aren't inflicting it on their children in the 95-degree-heat)?

Thoughts, please.

[S.]

Re dress of the Polish/ Russian nobility, see these

http://onthemainline.blogspot.com/2011/03/russian-serfs.html

http://onthemainline.blogspot.com/2010/05/18th-century-notice-about-chassidim.html

[Alan Schleider, Neve Daniel, Israel]

Failed Messiah's rant this time is utter nonsense, and worse.

I am no supporter of the Times or its editorial staff, and its near-endless left-wing anti-Israel approach is reprehensible. That having been said, it is perfectly alright for the Times - or any publication for that matter - to write an innocuous human interest story about a community within the varied communities which it services as a home-city newspaper.

In its trashing of that story, FailedMessiah.com fails its own mission.

This was not bringing a matter of bringing a problem to light - how people or a people choose to dress is a matter for them to decide. This was very sadly an instance in which FailedMessiah.com chose to create a controversy where none exits. In that act, it performed an unnecessary and totally useless act of baseless hate for the sake of its own aggrandizement.

With this rant FailedMessiah.com performed as a pot calling a kettle black (pun VERY intended). I think its writer has some serious "cheshbon-hanesfesh" work ahead of it if he wants to attempt to re-establish its claim to "integrity" - whatever that is.

[Shmarya]

Posted by: Alan Schleider, Neve Daniel, Israel | June 30, 2012 at 03:21 PM

You either have a tremendous reading comprehension problem or you're a disingenuous fool.

The Times did dozens of these fluff piece over a period of years while they knew about the haredi pedophilia problem but would not cover it.

Pedophile priests, sell papers, one Times staffer allegedly told an advocate for sexually abused haredi kids, but pedophile rabbis don't.

On top of that, Berger is – as i clearly noted – the Times informal "Jewish Jew expert," they guy they frequently turn to when they want to know if a tip they have or reporting that has been gathered with regard to the haredi community is correct and in character.

But Berger is, as you could see from this article if you were not the clearly damaged individual that you are, a know-nothing.

And that's why I took the time to point out the errors in the piece.

Now toddle off, little man. Your lies and your attempted smears will never win.

[Alan Schleider, Neve Daniel, Israel]

I suffer no problem comprehending what I read nor am I disingenuous. [Full disclosure - I have no interest whatsoever in smearing you. Nor will you be able to find a lie in what I wrote. Neither am I a 'little man", but sadly, you managed to show yourself in this instance to be rather "small minded".]

It appears to me, however, that you would criticize a recipe in a cooking section if you could tie it to a criticism of the observant Jewish communities.

Berger made a mistake? He confuses a talit gadol for a talit katan? Big deal. (So did you in your rant for that matter - a talit indeed has a collar known as an atara, and by the description in the Times it is probably what Berger was referring to; if not that then it might be lining often sewn onto the "inner" side of the talit. But so what of it?)

What is my non-disingenuous point? Simple - you attempted to drum up a non-existent controversy in order to slime the Torah communities; when you should stick to the real topics which require attention. When you do that you perform a service; when you write like you did in this piece you are just another Korach.

You know the difference between the two. And when you write like this the only person you damage is yourself. Learn a little humility and shed a little of your hubris.

[Shmarya]

a talit indeed has a collar known as an atara, and by the description in the Times it is probably what Berger was referring to; if not that then it might be lining often sewn onto the "inner" side of the talit. But so what of it?

Please.

You're a fool. I'm clearly writing about a tallit katan – which has no atara or lining.

Past that, Berger is, as I wrote, their in-house "Jewish" expert. Brooklyn's frum communities were his beat.

Even so, he doesn't know the difference between a tallit and a tallit katan (or he misrepresents it for reason that escapes both you and I). He also thinks Shea Hecht – who has no national, let alone international, power in Chabad – heads Chabad's educational arm – which is completely false.

Since Chaabd happens to be the world's largest Jewish organization by reach and by revenue and expenditures, and since its international headquarters is in Brooklyn and its actual leader, Rabbi Yehuda Krinsky, is frequently named to top rabbis lists by publications like Newsweek, you might expect Berger to know it.

But he doesn't just like he doesn't know the origin of Jewish dress, or the actual history, or, well, a lot of other things he has reported on.

That has import – even if a little man in Israel isn't smart enough or honest enough to know it.

[s]

I thought it seemed nuts for Lubabavitch women to wear wigs over their hair when outside their homes. After getting four doses of the IV drug Paclitaxel and consequently buying a wig, finding out how fun it is to wear a wig;I still think it is nuts!

[Alan Schleider, Neve Daniel, Israel]

Like I said, Shmarya, you need to check your unrestrained hubris. Your turning this into an ad-hominem against me is as disingenuous as your hatred of things observant.

I am by no means little, but you are indeed tragically small-minded. I wish you a refua shlayma from this machlat nefesh of yours.

[Shmarya]

Posted by: Alan Schleider, Neve Daniel, Israel | July 01, 2012 at 03:36 AM

Process, little man: you made allegations that are false.

You have failed to answer any factual point I made in response to your lies.

It is not an ad hominem attack for me to respond to your lies by (in part) pointing out your deficiencies.

Now toddle off.

[Levi]

The reason why he made the mistake about heading the educational arm of Chabad is because hecht is in charge of the "national committee for furtherance of Jewish education" or known as ncfje.
It is only natural for the reporter to think that that means he is in charge of educational arm of Chabad. Which of course he is not.
Ncfje is really only active in NY.
but shmarya, you should have known that and put 2 and 2 together!
So who is misclaiming to be the expert now?
And by the way, I agree with Chabad being biggest Jewish org by reach, but by $? What a bout the federation? I bet their budget dwarfs Chabad 3 to 1

[Shmarya]

Posted by: Levi | July 01, 2012 at 04:54 AM

Please.

I've known Shea for 30 years, Levi.

As for NCFJE, if a reporter who covered Brooklyn and who covered its hasidic communities and who is deemed to be the Times' in-house "Jewish expert" doesn't know the difference between it and Merkos, he isn't much of an expert, now is he?

As for Chabad and money, it's annual combined budget is reportedly well in excess of $1 billion, which is more than the Federations.

[Alan Schleider, Neve Daniel, Israel]

So Shmarya wrote, "Process, little man: you made allegations that are false...You have failed to answer any factual point I made in response to your lies."

My not-so-good man, precisely what allegation did I make concerning you which is false? And exactly what "factual point" have you made in response to what you allege to be a "lie" on my part?

My read on you, Shmarya, is that you are fast to dish it out but cannot tolerate criticism. In common parlance, that is called, "thin-skinned."

I repeat, I wish you a refua shlayma.

[And I now give you, the "home team" as it were, the last at-bat. But I will no longer monitor this string, so swing for the fence in your empty stadium.]

[Shmarya]

Idiot.

Facts?

1. Your understanding of the simple English I used to discuss Berger's lack of knowledge with regard to tallits and tallit katans.

2. The mis-identification by the Times of Shea Hecht – a well known NYC character who had his own mainstream radio show for years – as a senior internation official for Chabad when he is not, and no such senior official bears a name even slightly similar to Hecht's.

3.. The fact my post was clearly and expressly written to point out that the Times in-house "Jewish expert" is no expert at all, and that his years of covering haredi Brooklyn still leaves him clueless.

Those are facts, little man. And you are most definitely a fool.

[Mendy Hecht]

Well, well, Shmarya!

I thought YOU were the Times' "Haredi expert."

After all, any time they write anything that makes them look remotely good or normal, you can count on Shmarya, faster than a Hatzolah call, to coming rushing along to make sure the world knows that Haredim really are dirty and not to be trusted, as everyone knows.

If I were you, I would contact your brown-nosing friend Sam Freedman and see if he can replace Berger with you. That ought to set the record straight.

[Atheist Jew]

I myself am a non-practising Jew - but I am glad the ignorance of the NYT has been pointed out.

In fact, the NYT is not only viciously anti-Israeli, it is viciously anti-Semitic - such as the allegation on its editorial page that the Jews hae bought Congress.

For these reasons, I wish the NYT would really shut up and leave discussion of Jewish habits to the Jewish community.