Shaatnez

Q: I recently heard of some law which prohibits Jews from wearing certain types of clothing. What are these prohibitions and what do they mean?

A: The law to which you refer has its basis in Leviticus 19, where we read, "...neither shall there come upon you a garment of two kinds of stuff mingled together." Later, in Deuteronomy, we read, these two elements are defined as wool and linen. The mixture of wool and linen is called shaatnez in Hebrew.

To this day, observant Jews can be seen examining the labels of garments before they purchase them in order to learn if they contain the shaatnez, cotton and wool, mixture.  As all clothes are mandated to have labels indicating the composition, it is a simple task to discover the ingredients of all fabrics.

One possible interpretation for the law of shaatnez is because of the disparate nature of wool and linen. While the former comes from a living creature, sheep, the latter grows from the earth.  Since the two textiles have totally different origins, it has been postulated that we would confuse the natural order of the world if we were to combine them.

To be truthful, however, we do not know the rationale for this law of shaatnez. There is no given reason in the Torah for the ordinance. The law simply states, 'do not get these fabrics mixed up.'  Some Jews are so sensitive to the issue of shaatnez that there are laboratories set up to minutely examine the individual fibers of the cloth in question.