Kitel
A kitel (Yiddish for “gown”) is a white
robe, traditionally worn by the Ashkenazim.
It is also traditionally only worn by men; although some women today
have become accustomed to wearing the kitel. The robe is worn over one’s
clothing and is adorned with a white belt and a lace collar. While the
kitel used to be worn every Shabbat for services, today it is only worn
on High Holidays and special
occasions. The kitel is a mark of new beginnings, thus Jews tend to
wear the kitel during Passover Seder and at weddings. Some Jews also
chose to be buried in a kitel, wrapped as a shroud.
The kitel is symbolically white to represent one’s
return to purity and forgiveness. This is why many Jews believe it is
appropriate to wear the kitel during the High Holidays (Rosh
Hashanah and Yom Kippur)
in the time of atonement. It is during this time that Jews ask God to absolve any transgressions committed within the past year and to
cleanse their souls. For the reason that the kitel is also used as a
shroud, it emblematically reminds Jews of the solemnest of the High
Holidays.
Sources: Eisenberg, Ronald L. The
JPS Guide to Jewish Traditions. PA: Jewish Publication Society,
2004; Wigoder, Geoffrey , Ed. The
New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia. NY: Facts on File, 1992; Kolatch,
Alfred J. The
Jewish Book of Why/The Second Jewish Book of Why. NY: Jonathan
David Publishers, 1989. |