June 26, 2026 Categories: Parsha
A Slave To Fashion
“The Children of Israel did according to the word of Moshe; they requested from the Egyptian silver vessels, gold vessels, and garments.” — Shemos 12:35
Hashem promised Avraham that his children would be slaves in Mitzrayim, yet they would be redeemed and leave with great wealth. And so when it was time to leave Mitzrayim, Hashem told Moshe to tell the Jews to borrow the silver and gold vessels of their Egyptian neighbors. Interestingly, the Torah records that the Jews borrowed the silver vessels, gold vessels, and garments. Rashi explains that the order is progressive. To the Jews leaving Egypt, even more valuable than the silver and gold were the garments of the Egyptians. Therefore, while they weren’t commanded to ask for the garments, they did this on their own. This Rashi is difficult to understand. These were highly intelligent people. They knew Hashem was fulfilling a promise made long ago. They knew they were to leave with great wealth, and they also knew the value of the objects involved. A shirt, a cloak, or whatever article of clothing is of limited value. With gold and silver vessels, they could buy whole wardrobes of such clothing. How is it possible that the clothing was more valuable to them than gold or silver? The answer to this may be understood with an observation. If you look at your parents’ wedding album, you might find yourself wondering, “What were they thinking? The wild colors. The wide lapels. The strange haircuts. Didn’t they realize that people would look at them and laugh?” Of course, the answer is that in those times, that look was “in.” That was the style. It was the way that fashionable men and women dressed. Whether bell-bottom pants, wide lapels, huge bows on the back of women’s dresses or rollers in their hair, each generation has a specific look that it considers appealing, and the vast majority of people kowtow to the demands of dressing fashionably as dictated by social pressure. It’s later on when the fashions have again changed that we look back and recognize how preposterous that old style was. This seems to be the answer to this Rashi. The people leaving Mitzrayim were born into slavery. They were brought up in a world where the Egyptians were their rulers and masters. They viewed the Mitzrim as a superior class. And so the clothing that their masters wore was that of the upper crust, something they couldn’t even dream of owning. When the Jews were given the opportunity to take whatever they wanted, the most valuable thing to them was the clothing. Naturally, they understood the wealth they were taking out could buy them many rooms full of such clothing, but nevertheless they still desired those garments because in their world, this was coveted. This concept is very applicable to us. In the 1960s, Western civilization underwent a cultural revolution. Norms and standards that had been accepted for generations were thrown away. The cry of the day was, “Do you own thing. If it feels good, do it. Throw away your inhibitions.” Established guidelines of conduct crumbled. Gone was decency. Gone was chastity. Gone was a sense of propriety and dignity. We now live in the aftermath of that upheaval. Some of the collateral damage is a divorce rate topping fifty percent, which makes the concept of children being raised in a stable home a relic of the past. And while as Jews we are somewhat apart from this, we still are affected. One of the manifestations is the way that our young people dress.
