Shabbos 27

“However, from where is it derived to include garments made of camels’ hair and rabbits’ wool, goats’ hair or the types of silk, the shirayin, the kalakh, and the serikin among the fabrics that can become ritually impure?”

Today’s topic is all about the cloth. We are provided with a wonderful list of fabrics that comprise garments that can become ritually impure, including wool made from camels, rabbits and goats. These cloths are deemed impure if they come into contact with creeping animals (perhaps bats or snakes creeping or hovering about in faraway markets) or leprosy (is biblical leprosy the coronavirus of its day?)

The Talmud tells us that one must not mix linen and wool. The prohibition is against wearing garments that combine linen from the flax plant, with wool. A Jewish Learning article says that the prohibition is against mixing the substances in one garment and that it is permitted to wear a wool sweater with linen pants (although this mixes seasonal garments, which is an odd combination from a fashion perspective.)

My online research did not yield a definitive explanation for why the prohibition exists. The great priests did in fact wear garments woven with linen and wool. There are various theories. One attributes the practice to the competition Cain and Abel demonstrated for God’s attention through offerings. Cain offered God flax seeds while Abel offered him sheep’s wool. God accepted Abel’s gift and Cain slayed him with jealousy, which led God to decree that “the offering of the sinner should not be mixed with the offering of the innocent.” So, no mixing of linen spun from flax seed and wool,

Today we are living through terrible times with a focus on a virus that has upended our way of life. I am on lockdown with most of the world right now, but when I do venture outside to pick up food or retrieve a package, I worry about what I am collecting on my clothes and hands and face. I am told not to touch my face but the more I think about it the harder it is to resist. Will touching my face ultimately be my demise? 

I have read to not shake your clothes once you remove them because if they carry the virus you will be spreading it throughout your home. I have never been one to consider purity and impurity, or to be very bothered about germs. But now, I worry about germs I may be carrying on my clothes. Should I change them every time I go downstairs to retrieve a food delivery? What is appropriate right now and what is over the top? Is it appropriate to become so obsessed with germs? How can I ever feel comfortable again shoulder to shoulder with fellow New Yorkers on the subway, synagogue, in the theater or at the gym? What does life look like after all this? 

Here is the link to the article on the prohibition against mixing wool and linen in My Jewish Learning. It provides some interesting background on the prohibition: https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/shatnez/