Shulchan Aruch: Chapter 91 - One should Gird his Loins and Cover his Head during Prayer

The Alter Rebbe is referring to his statement in sec. 90:1 above: “A person [who is about to pray] should prepare a fit place to pray and should also prepare his clothing, his body, and his thoughts for prayer.” The present section speaks of preparing one’s clothing; later sections speak of preparing one’s body and one’s thoughts.

See sec. 74:2.

Loc. cit., subsection 1.

Berachos 24b-25a.

There the Alter Rebbe states that this is necessary, because “when reciting Shemoneh Esreh, one must perceive himself as standing before the King and speaking to Him. Hence he must stand in awe.”

Needless to say, as an initial preference he should pray fully clothed.

A sash tied around the waist.

In one of his letters (Igros Kodesh, Vol. 10, p. 393), the Rebbe explains the Lubavitch custom to wear a gartl for prayer only after marriage:

“Though I have not found an explicit explanation, one could point to a similarity with the mitzvah of wearing a tallis. Wearing a gartl is a chassidic custom (see its full treatment in Tur Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chayim, sec. 91, and its commentaries), which is practiced in fulfillment of the injunction to ‘Prepare to greet your G‑d, O Israel.’ In this it resembles the mitzvah of wrapping oneself in a tallis, which is an instance of prisu demitzvah (lit., ‘being enveloped by a mitzvah’; Zohar, Vol. III, p. 120b), for it is a means of drawing G‑d’s sovereignty upon oneself (as is explained at the beginning of Tanya, ch. 41). It could thus be suggested that this similarity between the gartl and the tallis explains why people are accustomed to begin wearing both at the same time. This time is after marriage, as is hinted at, with regard to the tallis, in Kiddushin 29b. Other reasons too could be proposed, but this is not the place to enumerate them.”

Shabbos 10a.

Amos 4:12.

See section 46:2 and sec. 206:6.

Accordingly, the common contemporary leniency regarding a gartl may be explained by the fact that nowadays people are not accustomed to wearing a sash over the jacket. Since this means that wearing a gartl during prayer is not mandated halachically (min hadin), doing so remains minhag chassidim, a pious custom beyond the letter of the law (lifnim mishuras hadin). See also footnote 7 above.

In the original, the word translated here as “G‑d’s name” is azkarah — lit., “a mention.”

Sofrim 14:15; see also sec. 206:7 below.

In the original, middas chassidus.

See (in Vol. 1 of the present Bilingual Edition): Mahadura Kama (the first edition of the Alter Rebbe’s Shulchan Aruch), sec. 2:7; Mahadura Basra (its second edition), sec. 2:6. In the latter source, after mentioning the prohibition stated above, the Alter Rebbe continues:

“[This applied] even in the [Talmudic] period, when most people often went about bareheaded [...]. Today, when all [Jews] always cover their heads, it is forbidden to walk or even sit bareheaded. [Doing so is considered] immodest [...]. Certainly this applies in these countries, where the gentiles customarily go bareheaded and the holy people of Israel are careful [to cover their heads] as an expression of modesty; here, a person who walks or even sits bareheaded like a non-Jew transgresses the prohibition, ‘Do not follow their statutes.’ ”

See also sec. 46:2 and sec. 282:6 in the present work, and the Piskei Dinim of the Tzemach Tzedek, sec. 2.

This applies with regard to prayer. With regard to walking four cubits, it is acceptable (Mahadura Basra of the present work, sec. 2:6).

R. Shlomo Luria (1510-1573), one of the foremost Ashkenazic halachic authorities of his age.

This translation follows one of two interpretations of the term afundaso — “his undershirt” and “his money-belt” — offered by R. Ovadiah of Bartenura in his gloss to Berachos 9:5 (where Rambam understands it to mean an undershirt). Mishnah Berurah (91:11) cites both interpretations.

Shabbos 10a.

Mahadura Basra 2:2 implies that “in these lands” wearing socks is a dictate of modesty.

Or: sandals.

The situation described apparently assumes that instead of trousers, men customarily wore a long belted shirt that hung below the waist, as well as leggings and/or socks.

Ishei Yisrael (3:4) permits one to wear gloves — and likewise an overcoat — during prayer when it is very cold. Leket Tziyunim VeHe’aros cites views that require one to remove boots or galoshes before prayer, since they are not customarily worn in the presence of distinguished people.

This is a mark of reverence, though wearing a jacket or coat can serve as an alternative (see sec. 183:6 below). Indeed, it is customary in many circles to wear a jacket for prayer. The above source also states that while reciting the Grace after Meals, a G‑d-fearing person will make a point of wearing a hat, and not only a light head-covering, in order to practice the ituf recommended at that time. (Ituf can mean wearing either a tallis or a hat.) From our text, we see that ituf is also recommended for prayer. This is one reason for the practice of chassidim to make a point of wearing a hat for prayer, in addition to the yarmulke worn at all times.

As to the mystical dimension of this practice: The Divine soul in every Jew comprises five levels. Of these, the three “lower” levels (Nefesh, Ruach, Neshamah) are invested in him consciously; two sublime levels (Chayah, Yechidah) remain transcendent — lit., “encompassing,” which translates the Kabbalistic term makkifim. Since these two levels of the soul find physical expression in the dual head-covering mentioned above, the head-coverings themselves are popularly referred to as “two makkifim.” Wearing two head-coverings during prayer thus enhances one’s ability to access and activate all the levels of one’s soul, and to make one’s acceptance of the Yoke of Heaven more far-reaching.

See the maamarim of 5683 (1923), p. 140; Toras Menachem — Hisvaaduyos 5748 (1988), Vol. 4, p. 164; and the documented discussion in the Hiskashrus weekly journal (Tze’irei Agudas Chabad, Kfar Chabad), Issue #537.