The Shulchan
Aruch [91/6] writes that it is the way of the wise and their students
to daven while they are “atufim” which means wrapped up.
This is understood by the poskim to mean [in our day and age] while
wearing a hat and jacket. Later, the Shulchan Aruch [98/4] expands this to
include all people ראוי שיהיו
לו מלבושים מיוחדים לתפילה כמו בגדי כהונה
– it
is fitting that he should have special garments for tefillah like
kohanic garb. When one meets a very important personage he dresses in
a special way, so why should one wear a nice suit and tie for Obama
but for the Master of the Universe [who is also, kviyachol,
pro-israel] he wears khaki pants and a three button shirt? [עי'
גם ברמב"ם
הלכות תפלה ה ה].
It eludes me
why it is considered so acceptable to dress so casually for tefillah.
The gemara [in the first perek of shabbos 10 and see also the
beginning of the fifth perek of brachos] is very clear about the
issue of הכון לקראת אלקיך
ישראל [Amos
4/12] – Prepare yourself [with fine clothing] to meet the G-d of
Israel. People say that a hat and jacket are purely social norms
that have no basis in halacha. This is false and misleading. For
those who walk around in a hat and jacket it is an obligation to
dress that way for davening. For those who don't – SOMETHING should
be worn as an expression of our respect for the great personage we are about to beseech.
Rav Chaim
Kniyevsky and Rav Nissim Karelitz are quoted as saying that if one
can either daven with a minyan but without hat and jacket or with a
minyan but without a hat and jacket – he should miss the minyan!
Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach argues. [עי'
מאיר עוז עמוד 278].
Rav Belsky [קובץ מתיבתא תשנ"ג
עמ רפ"ו] is
quoted as saying that it is a mistake to think that in the olden days
people would wear a hat in front of important people but today we
don't so it is not necessary for tefilla. The reality is that people
would REMOVE their hats when standing in front of important people
and yet the halacha required a hat and that hasn't changed. The
Klausenberger ztz”l also says in a tshuva [עי'
דברי יציב סי'
ס – הוא קורא למנהג
ללכת ברחוב בלי כובע -
מנהג שוטים]
that בטלה דעתו if
he feels that a hat isn't necessary because it is an act of kavod to
wear one and is thus obligatory.
In Yeshivas
Rabbeinu Yitzchak Elchanan, Rav Soloveitchik would give shiur while
wearing just a yarmulke but after shiur he would wash his hands [with
a כלי]
and then put on his hat and daven [מפניני
הרב עמ'
ע”ד].
Modern
Orthodox, Yeshivish, Chasidish – it doesn't matter. Special
clothing for the King is fitting for anyone who either has a Jewish
mother or who converted to Judaism….
לזכות גילה שונה בת נעכא גיטל
