Shaatnez

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Shaatnez

The Shatnez Centre in London
Halakhic sources*
Texts in Jewish law relating to this article:
Bible: Leviticus 19:19 and Deuteronomy 22:11
Babylonian Talmud: Tractate Kilayim
Mishneh Torah: Hilchos Kilayim 10
Shulchan Aruch: Yoreh De'ah, 298-304
* Not meant as a definitive ruling. Some observances may be rabbinical, or customs, or Torah based.

Shatnez (or Sh'atnez/Shaatnez) (שעטנז) is the Jewish law derived from the Torah that prohibits the wearing of a garment containing both interwoven wool and linen; any such fabric is referred to in Judaism as shatnez. The relevant parts of the Torah (Leviticus 19:19 and Deuteronomy 22:5, 22:9-11) prohibit the combining of various fabrics in one garment, the interbreeding of different species of animals, and the planting together of different kinds of seeds; in Deuteronomy the rules against mixing also include a prohibition against transvestitism.

Contents

[edit] Etymology

Although the word Shatnez is used in modern Hebrew to mean mixture, this may be a semantic change as a result of the word's use in Jewish law. In the Mishnah the word is interpreted as being the acrostic of three words - those for "carded", for "woven", and for "twisted". However, in the Coptic language, which is linguistically related to Hebrew, the phrase sasht nouz, which is possibly cognate to Shatnez, means false weave; this is also the etymology suggested by the Septuagint which translates the term as κίβδηλον, meaning false/adulterated/drossy.

[edit] Original purpose of the law

Early writers, like Maimonides, argued that the prohibition was a case of the general law (Leviticus 20:23) against imitating Canaanite customs. Maimonides wrote that: "the heathen priests adorned themselves with garments containing vegetable and animal materials, while they held in their hand a seal of mineral. This you will find written in their books"[1]. Classical Kabbalah regarded such combinations as a defiance of God, because according to them God had given each species individuality.

Some modern apologists, however, argue that the law was based on scientific reasoning, as while wool absorbs water and shrinks, linen is water resistant, which they argue would cause mixtures to present a problem in relation to perspiration, and hence hygiene; material scientists do not consider this a problem - including a proportion of linen would help woolen garments retain their shape while wet, and the proportion could be kept low enough to not cause water absorption issues.

According to modern biblical scholars, it is probable that the rules against mixtures are survivals of ancient magical taboos, and that mixtures were considered to be holy and/or were forfeited to a sanctuary[2]. According to textual scholars the rules against mixtures derive from the Holiness Code, predating the Priestly Code that forms the rest of Leviticus, and were only later extended by the Deuteronomist to include a prohibition against Transvestitism[3].

According to some traditional views, one of the concepts behind sha'atnez lies in the fact that the first murder recorded in the Bible was over a dispute based on sacrifices of wool and flax (Cain and Abel). Since these textiles led to that episode, Jewish people are forbidden to wear the mixture.

[edit] Limitations of the law

[edit] Definition of shatnez material

In the Torah shatnez is prohibited only after it has been carded, woven, and twisted, but the rabbis prohibit it if it has been subjected to any one of these operations [4]. Hence felt - a mixture of wool compressed together with linen - is forbidden[5]. Silk which resembled wool, and hemp which resembled linen, were formerly forbidden for appearance sake[6], but were later permitted in combination with either wool or linen, because we now know how to distinguish them. Hempen thread was thus manufactured and permitted for use in sewing woolen clothing.

On the other hand, the rabbis regarded only sheep's wool as wool, the finest being that of lambs and rams[7]; they exclude camels' hair, the fur of hares, and the wool of goats. If any of the excluded wools is mixed with sheep's wool, or spun with it into thread, the character of the material is determined by the proportion of each. If the greater part of it is sheep's wool, it is reckoned as wool; if the contrary, it is not wool and may be mixed again with linen [8].

[edit] The priest's girdle

Shatnez was permitted in the case of the priest's girdle, which was interwoven with purple, blue, and scarlet wool[9]; it may be used also in the case of the purple and the blue cord entwined in the Tzitzit, or the woolen Tzitzit on a linen garment [10], as the sacredness of the Tzitzit is supposed by Talmudic commentators to protect against any evil effect from mixing fabrics.

The phrase they shall not gird themselves with any thing that causeth sweat, from the Book of Ezekiel[11], is interpreted in the Talmud to mean they shall not gird themselves around the bent of the body, where sweat effuses most[12]. Rebbi was of the opinion that the girdle of the ordinary priest was of shatnez, but Rebbi Eleazar says it was of fine linen. The Talmud states that the high priest wore a linen girdle on Yom Kippur and a girdle of shatnez on all other days[13].

[edit] Contact with Shatnez

The Talmud argues that a woolen garment may be worn over a linen garment, or vice versa, but they may not be knotted or sewed together. Shatnez is prohibited only when worn as an ordinary garment, for the protection or benefit of the body[14], or for its warmth[15], but not if carried on the back as a burden or as merchandise. Felt soles with heels are also permitted[16], because they are stiff and do not warm the feet. In later times rabbis liberalised the law, and, for example, permitted shatnez to be used in stiff hats[17].

Cushions, pillows, and tapestry with which the bare body is not in touch do not come under the prohibition[18], and lying on shatnez is technically permitted. However, Classical Rabbinical commentators feared that some part of a shatnez fabric might fold over and touch part of the body; hence they went to the extreme of declaring that even if only the lowest of ten couch-covers is of shatnez one may not lie on them [19].

[edit] Enforcement of the Shatnez law

There were special experts employed to detect shatnez[20]; a linen admixture can be detected during the process of dyeing cloth, as wool absorbs dye more readily than linen does[21]. Wool can be distinguished from linen by four tests - feeling, burning, tasting, and smelling; linen burns in a flame, while wool singes and creates an unpleasant odor. Linen thread has a gummy consistency if chewed, due to its pectin content; a quality only found in bast fibers.

Observance of the laws concerning shatnez became neglected in the sixteenth century; and the Council of Four Lands found it necessary to enact (1607) a Takkanah ("decree") against shatnez, especially warning women not to sew woolen trails to linen dresses, nor to sew a velvet strip in front of the dress, as velvet had a linen back[22].

Particularly observant Jews in current times also follow the laws of Shatnez, and newly purchased garments are checked by experts to ensure that there are no forbidden admixtures. In addition to the above mentioned methods, modern day shatnez experts employ the use of microscopy to determine textile content.

In most case, garments that do not comply can be repaired by removing the sections containing linen. There exist some companies that label compliant products with "Shatnez-free" tags.

[edit] Notes and citations

  1. ^ Maimonides, Moreh, 3:37
  2. ^ Peake's commentary on the Bible
  3. ^ Richard Elliott Friedman, Who wrote the Bible?
  4. ^ Talmud, Tractate Niddah 61b
  5. ^ Tractate Kilaim ix. 9
  6. ^ talmud, Tractate Kilaim ix. 3
  7. ^ cf. 2 Kings 3:4
  8. ^ Talmud, Tractate Kilaim ix. 1
  9. ^ Exodus 28:6
  10. ^ Talmud, Tractate Yevamot. 4b, 5b
  11. ^ Ezekiel 44:18
  12. ^ Talmud, Tractate Zebachim. 18b
  13. ^ Talmud, Tractate Yoma 12b
  14. ^ Sifra, Deuteronomy 232
  15. ^ Talmud, Tractate Betzah 15a
  16. ^ Talmud, Tractate Betzah 15a
  17. ^ Sefer ha-Chinuch," section Ki Tetze, No. 571
  18. ^ Talmud, Tractate Kilaim. ix. 2
  19. ^ Talmud, Tractate Yoma 69a
  20. ^ Ha-Karmel, i., No. 40
  21. ^ Talmud, Tractate Niddah 61b
  22. ^ Grהtz, Gesch. vii. 36, Hebrew ed., Warsaw, 1899

[edit] Bibliography

  • Maimonides. Mishneh Torah, Kilayim, x.;
  • Ṭir Yoreh De'ah;
  • Shulkhan Arukh, Yoreh De'ah, 298-304;
  • Israel Lipschtz, Batte Kilayim. appended to his commentary on the Mishnah, section Zera'im: Ha-* Maggid (1864), viii., Nos. 20, 35;
  • M. M. Saler, Yalḳuṭ Yiẓḥaḳ ii. 48a, Warsaw, 1899.

[edit] External links

This article incorporates text from the 1901–1906 Jewish Encyclopedia, a publication now in the public domain.

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