Does God care how we dress?

I remember getting dressed in my best clothes to go with my parents to temple for weekly Sabbath services when I was a child. Of course, I had to pass inspection from my mother. She chose my clothes.

So I learned early on that the purpose of proper attire for Sabbath services wasn't only about what I wore but about fitting in to the expectations of the community of worshippers in the congregation. That was just the way it was.

When we went to temple, we all knew that dressing for temple was not so much about pleasing God but more about pleasing mom and looking good in front of the community. Did God really care how we dressed?

In college during the mid '70s we felt liberated to attend services in jeans or some sport shirt knowing that everyone was like that and the rabbi at the university Jewish center accepted us as we were. Mom and Dad couldn't do anything about it. That was true liberation.

Years have passed, and now I find myself wearing a robe, just like the rabbis of my home congregation did decades ago. I am also obliged to advise people who ask, "What is the style of dress at your congregation?" I hear myself answering them and at the same timeimagining that my parents would be smiling, seeing that I have come around full circle.

Of course one does not have to be Jewish to relate to my experience. Jewish and Christian worshippers probably have all experienced the same memories. My mother was right to be concerned that my father and I look properly dressed. Be it a synagogue, church or mosque, the question of how we dress in a holy place deserves our attention. Once again, one is tempted to ask: Does God really care how we dress?

Truthfully I never try to answer any question on behalf of God. But I would like to believe that God cares that we feel in the right frame of mind and body when we enter a house of worship. We all have different customs and values about how public worship is conducted so that we cannot dictate one style of dress for all religions. Does God want us to dress for success while we worship, or is our attire a matter of indifference to the Creator?

The proper style of dress for worship will depend upon the custom of the religious community. College campus houses of worship will have a more relaxed dress code. Retirement congregations mandate a different code of dress today from what we see in big cities. The truth is that we live in a much less formal society today from what we grew up in, where boys had to wear a tie and girls a dress to go to church or synagogue. Now people say today, "I am so rushed with the kids and their activities; I don't have time to fight that battle of what they will wear. I am just glad I can get them to services."

But I think there should be some guidelines, not about exactly what clothes to wear, but rather, on the sanctity of the worship environment.

First, it is important to wear clothes that are beautiful and show respect for the Most High and to the sensibilities of the community.

Second, modesty also is important as a criterion for choosing the proper kind of clothing for worship. It is not fair to the others sitting in the same space to wear sexually suggestive clothing that would distract us from focusing on the prayers and our service to God.

Third, services are not the place to show off our wealth. Clothing and accouterments that clearly demonstrate financial prosperity breed resentment and envy. All these kinds of behaviors do not belong in a house of worship.

Just remember what happened to Joseph in the Torah when his father Jacob gave him a coat of many colors and how it created hostility in his brothers towards him. Jacob viewed him as the favorite child, and that led them to kidnap him and sell him into Egyptian slavery. The lesson is a warning to us about being careful about displaying our prosperity. We are more than the clothes we wear. Clothes can enhance our worship if we come to public worship with the attitude of thanksgiving and reverence for the faith and the community we worship in.

I urge everyone to find the middle ground by recognizing that the dressing for worship is not about making a fashion statement. Nor is it about judging others for how they dress. Our thoughts are supposed to be focused on high. Yet the worshipper ought to be sensitive and respectful to the range of dress options that enable a family or individual to fit into the prevailing culture of the congregation.

Rabbi Brad L. Bloom is the rabbi at Congregation Beth Yam on Hilton Head Island. He can be reached at 843-689-2178.