Shabbos 57

“She tightens it because it pleases her that she will appear fleshy.”

I was very excited to read about women’s accessories in today’s portion of the Talmud, even if it is from the perspective of a group of Rabbis who are mostly concerned with dictating what a woman can wear in the public domain on Shabbat. Nevertheless, today’s reading is like a walk-through of the archives of the Fashion Institute of Technology’s library where I worked when I was in graduate school.

We are told that a woman is allowed to go into the public domain on Shabbat in a “broad, ornamented strap” that hangs around the neck and is attached to a type of bib. The strap is often tightened (maybe like the strings on my grandmother’s girdle that she would lace up each day with help from my patient grandfather) so that “flesh would protrude.”  We are told she “tightens it because it pleases her that she will appear fleshy.”  This is a very different view from what is considered attractive today.

The general principle of what a woman can wear in the public domain on Shabbat is if the ornament can be easily removed it is prohibited because it is considered a type of carrying. We are provided with a view into the fashion of the time. Hair braided with wool or flax or strips of other materials is prohibited from being worn in the public domain on Shabbat. This is because the braids would obstruct the water of a ritual bath from reaching the entirety of her hair.

Additional items prohibited from being worn in the public domain are gold ornaments, nose rings, finger rings devoid of seals, and a type of amulet called a totefet, which was worn on the forehead and contained spices to protect from the evil eye. The Rabbis are so observant of how women adorn themselves that they note that young girls have their ears pierced when they are young but wait until they are older to be able to wear earrings. The Rabbis say it is permissible for these girls to go out into public on Shabbat with string in their ears in order to keep the holes from closing up. 

I love accessories, including scarfs, shoes, handbags, earrings, watches, necklaces, bracelets. They are more than just adornments; they serve as a means for expressing and presenting oneself to the world. I remember spending hours when I was a little girl analyzing every ornament in my Grandmother Ida’s jewelry box. It contained necklaces and oversized clip-on earrings made of glass stones. I am sure she kept the finer stuff somewhere away from a child’s hands. I loved trying on multiple necklace strands of turquoise, coral and pearls and clip-on earnings in the form of seahorses and pins of bursting hearts. It all seemed so magical to me. And still, even at my age, I find great solace in sorting through my own jewelry box on a quiet day and remembering the history inherent in each item. 

Whenever I would buy something new, my Grandmother would say trog gezunterhait, wear it in good health. A piece of jewelry is a deeply personal item which is acquired with the promise that somehow it can make my life just a little bit happier. Of course, the acquisition of things can never truly do that, but there is always the promise of something better to come.