There are children’s books in parts of the Chasidic community that use illustrations depicting the Avos as wearing Shtreimlach and Kapotehs. Is this a good idea or not?
The pro view is that since no one really knows what the Avos really wore anyway, why not make them look like the images of the Tzadikim these children are used too seeing? This reinforces the idea of what Tzadikim are supposed to look like which also promotes the idea that ChitZonios MeOreres Es HaPnimios... that appearances highlight the essence of the individual.
Personally I prefer the quote in Avos of: Al Tistakel B'Kankan Elah Ma SheYesh Bo. Clothes do not make the man. They only make the perception of the man. OTOH, as the great Billy Crystal said in his "Fernando" persona: "It is much better to look good than to feel good". This is the pre-occupation of our time in the Charedi world... The "Fernando" phenomenon: Chitzonius.
Chitzonius will only show you want the individual wants you to think about him, not who he actually is. Jack Abramoff made this point quite well when he put on that cheap black hat. He wanted his people to “know” who he was. But was he really who he was saying he was with that black hat? I don't think so.
Rav Avroham Pam was a Gadol. He absolutely refused to wear the "Levush". He did not wear a Kapoteh that most RYs wear today because he did not think it important. He felt it was a form of Yuhara, or showing off your Frumkeit. This is a mark of greatness. Not the Shtreimel. Not the Kapoteh
And the true Gedolei Yisroel of yesteryear recognized that Gadlus does not require... "a look". I don't really like to use Artscroll hagiographies to demonstrate a point, but I remember reading the opening chapters of the Mike Tress book. (Notice that he was called Mike until the end of his life). Reb Shraga Feivel Mendelowitz was giving his weekly Shiur one Tuesday evening and began by retelling a dream he had. Moshiach had come. Kings, Presidents, and Prime Ministers and all the Gedolei HaDor of that time came to greet him. The Moshiach turned to Reb Shraga and asked, “Who is that sitting in the back, not pushing forward – the one without the beard?” Rav Shraga then answered, that’s Mike Tress. He is the one who brought you.
But this dream would not be dreamt by anyone today. No sir. The Yated recently published an article arguing the importance of wearing the black hat. This is what has become important today. Chitzonius. It is so important that it is instilled at the earliest ages through books where the patriarchs are depicted as dressing only in politically correct current clothing styles like Kapotes and Shtreimlach.
What is the outcome of such “Chinuch”? These children will become indoctrinated into believing that only people who look a certain way are Kosher Jews. A clean shaven Jew like Mike Tress will be looked at as either a Goy or a Rasha. The children reading books with such nonsensical pictures are being done a great disservice. These illustrations are perpetuating a lie that can cause great harm to their conceptions of Emes.
It’s time we stopped concentrating on the exterior and focused more on the interior. What difference is it to God if a Jew wears a suit, a Kapoteh, is clean shaven or bearded, wears a black hat or a blue one, a Kipa Seruga or a velvet Yarmulke. It’s much more important to God... Ma SheYesh Bo.
