Guest post by Rabbi Boruch Clinton:
Why
Black Hats?
This essay is
part of the
Finding Tradition in the Modern Torah World project.
Every now and
then I try to understand the thinking behind various policies enforced by
modern Torah schools. Here, I’ll discuss some educational and social
implications related to the rules governing hats for bar mitzva boys. That's
not to say that such policies are objectively harmful or wrong. Rather, that
it’s always worth assessing them with fresh eyes.
First of all, so
we can start off with a clear baseline, let me present some possible benefits
of such policies:
- Wearing yeshivishe hats is part of
an important mesorah and it's valuable to get boys into the habit of
following such practices.
- Wearing yeshivishe hats promotes
an elevated self-image that should lead to better behavior.
- Yeshivishe hats are key elements
of a kind of yeshivishe uniform that expresses discipline and loyalty to
community standards.
- Wearing yeshivishe hats is in
itself a higher halachic standard.
Now I'll explore
each of those benefits individually.
