Dear Jew in the City, What are tzitzit and why do Jewish men wear them? Sincerely, Jack Dear Jack, Thanks for your question. Just a heads-up, you said tzitzit, reflecting the Sephardic pronunciation, but I’m going to use tzitzis, à la the Ashkenazic. The answer to your question is fairly straightforward: we wear tzitzis because […]

Dear Jew in the City, The Calling has the Orthodox detective saying a prayer (Kaddish) over every dead body he finds. Why do Jews pray for the dead? Sincerely, Jon Dear Jon, Thanks for your question. I haven’t seen The Calling so I can’t comment directly on the show, but there seems to be sufficient […]

Dear Jew in the City, Why do Orthodox Jews wear big fur hats? Sincerely, Suzanne Dear Suzanne, Thanks for your question. I’m sure you are familiar with the children’s riddle, “Why do firemen wear red suspenders?” The answer, “To keep their pants up,” only addresses why firemen wear suspenders. The question one should have asked […]

Over the last few weeks, I’ve answered question about the difference between Chasidim and Orthodox Jews, as well as on the women of Shtisel versus the women of Unorthodox. Last week’s questioner asked even more about Hasidic Jews and those on Shtisel [though while the answers are about Hasidic Jews, the characters of Shtisel are […]

Dear JITC- Why do Jewish men wear hats? All the best, Carla Dear Carla- Thanks for your question. It has been asked before: A man asked his rabbi, “Why do Jewish men wear hats?” The rabbi replied, “Because our forefather Abraham wore them.” “How do you know that?” the man inquired. “The Torah says, ‘And […]

Dear Jew in the City- Why do a lot of Orthodox Jewish men have beards? Sincerely, Steve Dear Steve- Thanks for your question, which we intentionally arranged to answer following last week’s question, which was on payes (sidelocks). As we mentioned there, Leviticus 19:27 contains two prohibitions, not to round the corners of the head […]