Q&A: Attire During Prayer
Originally published:
This is an English translation (via GPT-5.4). Read the original Hebrew version.
Attire During Prayer
Question
What does the Rabbi say about attire during prayer, and especially about shorts, which the Mishnah Berurah writes are truly a halakhic problem beyond merely being inappropriate? And how far does the Rabbi think one needs to go in wearing respectable clothing for prayer and for the Sabbath?
Answer
I do not think the words of the Mishnah Berurah reflect anything beyond the norms that were customary there. The norms are what determine it.
Discussion on Answer
When it comes to questions of social norms, you're as much an expert as I am—certainly regarding your own setting. I don't have any objective or universal standard.
Right, but even by today's norms, shorts are not something respectable, and when a respectable person does sports, he will wear long pants. So do you have a definition of respectable dress according to today's norms? Meaning, what or whom can this be compared to, or is it just each person according to his own norm? And even there, each important, respectable person—at what level, and to what should he compare himself? Meaning, if he were doing such-and-such, or meeting so-and-so, how would he dress?