Who can name the main sign, how do the Jews differ from other peoples? National dress. A description of him will be presented to your attention in the article, since it is clothing that always distinguishes a Jew from the crowd.
Jews are the people of the Western Semitic group, akin to Arabs and Amharians (Ethiopians). Yes, no matter how strange it may seem, the Arabs and Jews, eternally fighting and not liking each other, are close relatives, roughly like Russians and Poles.
However, religion, culture in general, and clothing in particular, these peoples are completely different. The traditional clothing of the Jews is very colorful and distinguishes representatives of this nation from the crowd. To people modern and far from religion - and the Jewish way of dressing is entirely based on religious beliefs - it may seem ridiculous and kind of old-fashioned, "anachronistic." What does the national costume of the Jews look like? Black frock coats, hats, belts - these items of Jewish costume became the "hallmark" of a real Jew. A little less known yermolka - a round hat. However, this is not all the details of a Jewish wardrobe. What does the national costume of the Jews look like? The photo in the article shows us the image of a real Jew, dressed according to all the rules of his people.
Jewish ideology in clothing
The national costumes of the Jewish peoples are rooted in antiquity. Over the centuries, they have been constantly changing, and the reason for this is the desire of the Jews to disguise themselves (after all, in many countries they were forbidden to live at all or allowed to settle in strictly designated places) or to assimilate. The latest trend appeared at the beginning of the 19th century: educated representatives of the Jewish people decided to exchange their traditional outfit for European clothes; they began to dress in the fashion of those times - so the very long black frock-coats and hats entered Jewish life. Later, this style was "mothballed" and became one of the options for "traditional Jewish" attire, while in the rest of the world it went out of fashion.
But in this transformation there is a certain meaning - national, ideological and even religious. His principle is reflected in a common joke. Allegedly, at the beginning of the 19th century one of such educated Jews approached the rabbi, who seemed to be the keeper of ancient piety, and, deciding to “pin him up, ” he asked: “Rebbe, what did our forefather Abraham wear?” The rabbi calmly replied: “My son, I do not know what Abraham was wearing - in a silk robe or shtraymlu; but I know exactly how he chose his clothes: he watched how non-Jews dressed, and dressed differently. ”
Indeed, from time immemorial, Jews have sought to be different from all other peoples and did so with more fanaticism than all other eastern peoples. The pagan religion of the Jews is still stubbornly refused to be called "paganism" (although, if strictly according to science, only the Jewish faith can be recognized as real "paganism", since it practically did not undergo mixing with foreign cults).
Jewish music, cooking, behavior, clothing - all this should always not be like the environment, but exactly how it should look like, the tenth thing. Even kashrut - a list of culinary (and not only) dogmas - many Orthodox Jews interpret only this way: "Kashrut was introduced in order to distinguish a Jew from a non-Jew." Similarly, with circumcision …
Therefore, it is not surprising that the West European costume of the beginning of the century before last is today officially considered traditional Jewish clothing. The national costume of the Jews in Russia may seem strange and unusual, but these are traditions of another people that must be respected.
Yermolka
This is the same round hat. Jews from the former USSR are accustomed to believing that its name is derived from the Russian name Yermolai. But when they come to Israel, local residents explain to them that the cap is so called from the expression "yere malka" - "afraid of the lord." That is, wearing a yarmulka, in theory, means that its owner deeply and sacredly believes in God.
How to choose a crochet?
Choosing a yarmulka is not an easy task, as it seems uninitiated. In Israeli stores, they are sold like ordinary hats - on the shelves are laid yermolks of various sizes, materials, colors and styles. However, what kind of buyer will choose depends on the characteristics of his religion and mental attitude. For example, Hasidim do not recognize velvet and knitted yarmulka. Religious Jew acquires a cap of the style worn in his community. This is also a reflection of the principles of Judaism: to outside observers it seems to be a monolithic, uniform cult, but in fact it is divided into dozens of movements that differ in dogma, rules, clothing, etc. Relations between many movements are far from friendly.
Cloak
The national costume of the Jews includes a cloak. In Hebrew, it is called Talit Katan or Arbekanfes. Like a yarmulke, this is also a mandatory attribute of a Jewish costume. It is a piece of quadrangular matter with an opening for the head and four tassels (citzite) at the edges. The cloak can be worn under clothes or worn on top like a shirt, but the tassels are always located on top of the trousers. Each brush has eight threads. Here, too, there are elements characteristic of particular movements of Judaism.
The most interesting and even mysterious part is one (there may be two) thread in the brush, painted in blue. It means that the owner of this cape is Radzinsky or Izhbitsky Hasid. There is a legend regarding the origin of such threads. It is believed that the blue dye - "Thelet" - was present on Jewish clothing in ancient times, but two thousand years ago, the recipe for its preparation was lost. At the end of the 19th century, the Hasidic rabbi Gershon-Khanokh received the tehlet again, but his recipe was not recognized by most representatives of the Jewish public as “the same” paint. Therefore, this thehlet remained the property of only these Jewish movements.
In fact, attempts to restore the ancient recipe and get the thelet were supposed by many Western and Jewish scholars, starting from the Middle Ages. Archaeologists who studied the remains of ancient factories and modern chemists also contributed to this.
Zitsit, according to religious canons, should be worn by all men who have reached the age of 13. This means coming of age (bar mitzvah). Wearing brushes indicates that the boy is already able to answer for his actions and participate in adult affairs, including reading and discussing the Torah in the synagogue.
"Casket" and a hat
The national costume of the Jews necessarily includes a hat. Every religious Jew is required to wear a yarmulke. However, it is usually hidden under a second headdress. It can be a hat, hat or “casket” (aka “dashka”) - a cap of the old style. The latter is especially popular among Russian and Polish Jews, including Hasidim.
But the most famous is the traditional black hat. Jews wear it on weekdays. Do not think that all hats are the same: in her appearance, the identity of its owner can be told even more than by passport. The size of the hat, its position on the head, the nature of the crease, and other elements indicate what kind of Judaism the hat owner belongs to and even which one has a social status.
Stramble
Straymbl is the third type of headgear that is included in the national costume of the Jews. But it is common only among the Hasidim. Straymbl - a cylindrical fur hat. They also have more than two dozen types. At the same time, three large groups stand out: the stamp itself - wide and low, of the correct form; Chernobyl - just lower, more free form; and sodik - a very high fur hat. Hasidim put on the straymbl only in solemn occasions - on Shabbat, for weddings and other holidays, during a visit to the rabbi. There are types of stamp, which are only the heads of the communities.
Tie and beard
There are elements of clothing that only some Jewish communities recognize. One of them is a tie. He is the prerogative of only Litvaks. But the Hasidim hate fiercely ties; they explain this by the fact that the first action in tying a tie is tying a knot in the shape of a cross. All that is connected with the cross, a zealous Jew is supposed to hate.
Another part of the “clothes” is the beard. Some Jews walk clean-shaven, others gently trim their beards, but the Hasidim do not recognize any modification of the beard, so they have the thickest and blackest of all Jews.
