Prayer in the Parashah תְּפִלָּה
In Vayishlah, God tells Yaakov to return to Beit El, and build there a מִזְבֵּחַ (mizbei’ah, altar) to God. Yaakov prepares his family for this journey to encounter God by telling them to change their clothes: וְהַחֲלִיפוּ שִׂמְלֹתֵיכֶם (Bereishit 35:2).
Ibn Ezra tells us how this relates to our own prayer practices:
Ibn Ezra (Spain, 900 years ago)
“Change your clothes” - from here we learn that every Jew must have a clean body and clean clothes when they go to their regular place to pray.
אבן עזרא
"וְהַחֲלִיפוּ שִׂמְלֹתֵיכֶם" - מֵהַמָּקוֹם הַזֶּה נִלְמוֹד שֶׁחַיָּב כָּל יִשְׂרָאֵל, כַּאֲשֶׁר יֵלֵךְ לְהִתְפַּלֵּל לְמָקוֹם קָבוּעַ, לִהְיוֹת גּוּפוֹ נָקִי וּמַלְבּוּשָׁיו נְקִיִּים:
Apparently, what you wear has an impact on how you pray.
Do you agree? Do your prayers feel different if you’re wearing special, clean clothing? What if you’re wearing grubby, dirty clothing?
Rava bar Rav Huna used to have special socks for tefillah:
רָבָא בַּר רַב הוּנָא רָמֵי פּוזְמְקֵי וּמְצַלֵּי.
Rava bar Rav Huna would put on special socks and then pray the Amidah.
- What counts as special clothing? Is there a difference between clothes you wear to pray and clothes you wear to be fancy other times? Do you have any special clothes you might wear in order to pray?
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