B"H
The halachic question whether it is allowed to pray wearing CROCS is extremely interesting to me. I am a CROCS fan and mainly wear those funny looking shoes.
KIKAR SHABBAT was asking the question if a Jew may pray in CROCS and the answer is YES. A praying Jew may wear CROCS but, at the same time, should also wear socks.
Haredim and barefoot is always an issue. Once a friend of mine was praying at the Kotel (Western Wall) only wearing sandals. She didn't wear socks but was barefoot. A haredi woman came up to her and said that she (my friend) shouldn't be praying liked that (without socks). My friend, however, considered herself as "national religious" and for her, this was excuse enough.
B'H
ReplyDeleteThere is another interesting side to this question. I remember that last year, the question arose as to the permissibility to wear crocs on Yom Kippur and other fast days when we cannot wear regular shoes (wuth leather). Some Poskim (among them, HaRav Elyashiv Shlita, if I'm not mistaken) paskened that wearing crocs on Yom Kippur and other fast days like Tisha B'Av was forbidden. The reason was that crocs were too confortable, and so, by wearing crocs, we don't fully feel the disconfort appropriate to a fast day. One of our local Lubavitch Rabbis did agree with that Psak. But almost all the worshippers, me included, were wearing crocs on YK! And this "tradition" of wearing crocs on YK and Tisha B'Av is not going to be abolished in Lubavitch! And after, if it is permitted to take coffee pills before the fast to lighten the pain of not being permitted to drink coffee on the fast day, so why not permit wearing crocs on YK? Although they are confortable, they are not made with leather!
I once saw Neturei karta's leading rabbi wearing black "Vans".. Pretty cool.. considering its a "Skate-brand"
ReplyDeleteB"H
ReplyDeleteThere are Jews in Jerusalem running around wearing socks but no shoes. I saw quite a few Haredim doing this and me, as a wanna be housewife, just thought about the dirty socks and how they are going to wash them afterwards. :-)))
I must be a Lubavitcher because I wear CROCS on Yom Kippur and Tisha be'Av.