On the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, there is a common law prohibition against wearing leather footware. Thus every observant Jew more-or-less owns a pair of non-leather shoes, perhaps even reserved solely for the holiday’s occasion. Once upon a time, Chuck Taylors were the shoe of choice. Now, it’s my favorite abomination of the foot and yours: Crocs. My office neighbor reports.
Comfort was the issue for Harold Messinger, the prayer leader at Beth Am Israel in suburban Philadelphia and a cantorial student at Gratz College. But he also gave a great deal of thought to color: In recognition of the holiness of the day, Messinger went with his kittel-matching white.
“My wife had to order them,” he said.
It was actually the second rubbery Yom Kippur for Messinger, who last year was forced at the last second to grab a more flamboyant pair from his parents’ closet after forgetting his tennis shoes.
“Not only were they comfortable,” Messinger said, “many congregants came up and said what a great idea.”
It was the comfort that Messinger suggested might pose a problem with the Crocs: They might be too comfortable for Yom Kippur.
“I started wondering, ‘Should I feel guilty about feeling comfortable?’ I didn’t enjoy it fully because of the guilt over enjoying the little rubbery foot massage,” Messinger said. “At one point I started thinking that I should call the Crocs people and get a little endorsement deal. I’m thinking I have 800 people looking at my feet. But then I started feeling guilty again. People shouldn’t be looking at my shoes when they’re supposed to be davening.”
It’s a shonde. The whole point is to -not- be comfortable. Mesechet Yoma says you should afflict yourself by not wearing footwear, stam. Allowing all but leather shoes is a leniency in the interest of pikuach nefesh, not fashion.
And personally I find crocs to be so hideous, I would be afflicting myself by simply wearing them.
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Oh, come now. This isn’t about comfort vs. not. How many people wear sneakers/tennis shoes on YK? Those are often a person’s most comfortable shoe, esp. if the person is female and working on YK and would likely be wearing heels otherwise.
Danya, good point but women also wear heels to look “better” (taller, legs looking longer and more defined etc.). Though heels only look good as long as one can walk in them without tripping. Everything up to 4″ works for me. As for other non-leather shoes: espandrillos, flip-flops, adals (Adidas rubber slippers), wellingtons in every print you can imagine, horse riding boots, Indian silk slip-ons etc.
“And personally I find crocs to be so hideous, I would be afflicting myself by simply wearing them.”
There ya go!
Sarah–
I’m all with you about heels within reason–I’m not really much of a heel wearer myself, generally. My point was that many of the shoes considered “professional” by today’s standards are not always exactly massages for the feet, and that having the free reign for a person held by those “professional” standards to wear sneakers, or flip-flops, or whatever to shul on YK is already placing them pretty squarely in the comfy zone, and whether it’s sneakers or crocs becomes a fairly minor distinction at that point.
(And yes, of course there are many more comfortable shoes that also look professional–thank God–but the point is that for the rabbi who wears heels and not Earth brand shoes or whatever year-round, YK is pretty exciting on the non-affliction tip.)
You know, they look like the footwear an artist from the 1950’s would dream up that we’d be wearing in “the future” with our mylar suits.
Fugly if you ask me.
Danya, then again, I teach, and am up on my heels for up to eight hours on workdays, but it did take a while to get used to them. What I noticed in Brooklyn was that many women would buy their shoes one size or half a size smaller than they’d actually need, caiming it would make their feet “look smaller”, and also, many opted for pointed toes, which already are uncomfortable as flats; in high heels though, you often need to go one size up to be comfortable. Also, many brands (e.g. NineWest, Dr. Scholl’s) sell dressy shoes with cushioned insoles and NineWest also offers a wider fit on many designs. Some designers also offer a range of “vegan” shoes as many vegans / Straight Edge won’t wear animal products in general. But one should never understimate female vanity
Long before Crocs came into being, there were similar shoes sold at gardening supply stores over here - as slip-ons for garden work.
Dan, you’re a few months younger than me. Have you ever been into grunge enough to wear palladiums?
I never understood the leather shoe thing, so i did some research this year and read some Talmud. To my surprize there was no mention of leather in it. The mishnah simple stated one shouldnt lace on shoes. So this year, for the first time, I wore socks. The socks accomplished everything that they were supposed to. They didnt attract to much attention, and they were unomfortable at times (it rained Saturday morning).
I agree with you about crocs, they are silly and consumerist…
leather is made from animal skin, not pure. yk is about purity. as far as self-flagellation, i dunno about that. God doesn’t want us damaging oursevles. furthermore, there are so many allmanmade shoes in the world today, you can wear a pair of vinyl shoes with wooden heels and no leather, so this whole conversation is moot. if you need to concentrate on kavanah, it cannot be done when your feet ache.
There have been a few responsa published on the issue. See http://www.kipa.co.il/ask/show/100267 for example.
What I never understood is why it is OK to replace leather shoes with nonleather shoes that are usually made with sweatshop or prison labor. I wore flipflops, but didn’t feel very virtuous becaue I think they were made in China.
Discussing shoes is never a moot discussion
On a more serious note, I once asked a Chasidic rabbi friend of mine that since it was customary to not wear leather shoes on YK, whether it was ok to sit on a leather couch.
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