Should We Hide Our Tsitsit or Kippot to Protect Us from the Anti-Jewish Mob?

This week’s Torah reading is mainly concerned with the 12 men sent by Moses to tour the land of Israel before entering it. On their return, 10 of them stated that although the land was fruitful, the inhabitants were too much of a military challenge. The two dissenters, Joshua and Kalev, were shouted down. Thus, the Jewish people were sent back into the wilderness for another 40 years, until a new generation with a different mental state would be ready to enter.

Mental fortitude is the theme of this week’s reading — and a very relevant one for all of us.

This week’s reading also talks about the fringes — Tsitsit — that many Jews wear, sometimes over their clothes and sometimes underneath:

God said to Moses speak to the children of Israel and tell them that they should make these fringes on the corners of their garments for all future generations and included in the fringes should be a thread of blue and when you look at them you will remember all the commandments which God has given and you will carry them out and you should not allow your eyes and you should not be seduced after your heart and your eyes which so easily seduce you. (Numbers, Chapter 15:37-40).

Archaeologically we know that in the ancient Middle East, aristocrats and priests wore distinctive clothes, including girdles with fringes as a symbol of superiority. The Israelites adopted these fringes to remind everyone of the laws.

The general clothing of the Israelites were square garments with a hole in the middle for the head, falling down at the sides with four corners. That was where the fringes were attached. When the style of clothing changed to be togas or skirts during the Greek and Roman period, which didn’t have four corners, some gave up the law, while others had specific garments made in order to keep the tradition. Of course, this identified Jews as being different in the Graeco-Roman world. Some flaunted it, and others hid or abandoned Judaism.

In the 19th century, after the Enlightenment, Jews began to mix more freely and generally in non-Jewish society, and tried to avoid looking different. It became a pretty widespread custom to make special four-cornered garments that would be worn underneath one’s shirt, and therefore not necessarily visible. The only place that one saw the garment with fringes was in the synagogue, where we have what is called the Talit Gadol, which is much bigger than the smaller Talit Katan, the little one worn underneath.

In the less civilized world that we live in, I have been asked several times whether it would be better if we didn’t wear our Tsitsit, out of fear of being attacked. Some people have even asked me whether they are allowed to take down their Mezuzah because they fear that if their house would be recognized as a Jewish house, it would be vandalized.

This is not a new problem. It has been with us throughout our period of exile, whether in the Christian or Muslim world. Particularly toward the end of the 19th century, as Jews spread out beyond the ghettos, and Jews were attacked, assimilated Jews like Franz Kafka and Marcel Proust withdrew even more.

Wearing Tsitsit in public (and/or kippot for that matter) can take courage. And not all of us have the fortitude to assert our identity openly. And it’s up to us as to how we deal with it. For me, it is a matter of pride and taking a stand — as well as passing on to the next generations that being proud to be a Jew may very often subject you either to ridicule or even attack, but it defines one as a person.

It was so impressive and reassuring during the recent parade for Israel in New York to see hundreds of youngsters and adults walking down Fifth Avenue happily wearing the Magen David, kippot, and flaunting their Tsitsit.

We all make choices as to how much of our tradition we adhere to, and to what degree, but this is a very important test case of who we are and where we stand. This too is about mental fortitude.

The author is a writer and rabbi, currently based in New York.

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