Tradition, tradition! (Part 5) — Shtreimels

I guess shtreimels were indeed the hats of Polish nobility:



Of course, when your scenery looks like this —



— there is a reason to wear a warm woolly hat. And wearing it was a sign of nobility, because a hat like this cost a good amount of money. (Above pictures from some 17th century Polish footage.)

On the other hand, in this weather...



...perhaps such clothes would be more appropriate:



I refer you to my earlier post about traditions (see part 2).

(It is well known that the Lubavitcher Rebbeim did not wear a shtreimel outside of Lubavitch. I suppose the climate in Crimea or Carlsbad was much softer...)

One more grudge against liberals — hats

(I always wondered: is this a fashion, or do these guys don’t know how to pick a hat size? For some reason, Lubavitchers don’t look like a sneeze will knock off their hat.)

Back in the day, all Americans wore hats.

Well, really back in the day, all Americans wore wigs, but even within the first post-Revolution generation, people realized that wigs are gay, so everyone just started wearing hats.

Until that moron got elected. I am talking about the “Don’t ask what your country can do for you, but just bend over and do your slave duty humbly and quietly” moron who almost caused Third World War (and eventually had to bend over in front of the Soviet Corn Head himself), couldn’t kick a small island’s butt, was a total international and domestic failure (as all Democrats) — and was the first President not to wear a hat.

Since the liberals starting from the idiotic history professor Woody turned this country towards socialism and the job of a President into that of a national icon and a nanny, everyone followed K’s suite — people stopped wearing hats.

Then, the “Broadback Mountain” contributed. Nowadays, wearing hats is not only old-fashioned but also gay. The only way you can pull off wearing a hat now is by being an Orthodox Jew or from Eastern Europe — thankfully, I am both.



But it still bothers me. Liberals ruin everything. Some people say we need to act against global warming. Some people say we need to act against increasing entropy in the Universe. I propose a new slogan: “Stop the liberals from destroying our civilization.” Or just “Stop the liberals”. How’s that for a bumper sticker (their favorite argument style, by the way)?

* * *

A liberal being assassinated by a Communist. How’s that for an irony?

A slippery slope of dressing like women. Importance of a beard

(this guy skipped a few steps)

This is what happens. First, men start trimming their beards (bad idea according to Kabbala). Then they start shaving (halachically forbidden according to Tzemach Tzedek). And the next thing you know — they are wearing bras. OK, not exactly, but according to Judaism, shaving is considered to be an activity that leads to men imitating female look, which is forbidden to Jews (as is practice of women imitating masculine look).

Many people believe that just because it says in Shulchan Aruch and Rambam that it is OK to trimm one’s beard, these sources allow use of electric shavers that “trim” all the way to no beard (as opposed to obviously forbidden shaving with a razor). That’s not true. Shulchan Aruch and Rambam talk about halachically allowed (although still kabbalistically forbidden) trimming of beard to maintain a symmetric shape. According to Tzemach Tzedek (whose psak din relates not only to Chabad Chassidim but arguably to all Jews of Russian heritage), trimming all the way down to no beard is immitating a female look, which is not allowed.

In general, having a beard is considered in Judaism a sign of fear of heaven (a Russian shochet who moved to Germany and started shaving should not be bought meat from). In Chassidus, it is considered important to have an untrimmed beard. Listen to Rabbi Paltiel’s shiur explaining the reasons.

* * *

Coming back to the topic of male bras. Those Japanese… what would we do without them? They are the only ones with common sense not only in cars, but, as it turns out, in clothes too.

“Executive director of Wishroom, Akiko Okunomiya, hopes the [men bras] will help men understand women better.” Umm… Yes. This makes sense. I think… Get even more in touch with our feminine side to understand women. And women should get more in touch with their masculine side to understand men. (Women playing Unreal Tournament and paintball, drinking beer and watching soccer? Sounds good to me.)

Regarding this new phenomenon in men’s attire. I’ll go out on a limb and say this is probably assur.

I wonder, however, how long it will take for some MO rabbis to declare that it’s OK, since in our culture, an image of a man in a bra is not shocking (after all, Seinfeld already introduced the concept) — especially, if it contributes to a man’s feeling of self-worth. Just like women feel inadequate by not being given opportunity to wear talles… well, you get the idea. (Lehavdil.)

* * *

Returning to the topic of beards, a joke.

A modern, cleanely-shaven Jew is approached by a traditional-looking Jew with a full beard. The latter says to the former:
— When you go up to Heaven, they will ask you: “Jew, where is your beard?”
The first Jew answers:
— And when you go to Heaven, they will ask: “Beard, where is your Jew?”

“Stabilization is chaos” t-shirt

Front:


Back:


Order online.