This dispute continued into the medieval era, with Maimonides (MT Hilkhot Shevitat Asor 3:7) and others requiring one’s foot to feel the ground, while others, followed by Rabbi Joseph Karo, forbade only footwear made of leather or wood (OĤ 614:2). Despite the latter, normative ruling, many prominent figures, including Rabbis Yisrael Meir Kagan (MB 614:5) and Yeĥiel Michel Epstein (AH OĤ 614:4), deemed it meritorious to wear slippers or soft-soled shoes in which one feels the ground. While Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik also discouraged padded sneakers (Nefesh HaRav, p. 210), Rabbi Moshe Sternbuch further suggested that any regularly worn, comfortable shoes should not be donned on Yom Kippur (Moadim U’Zemanim 6:28). Despite these sentiments, the widespread practice – as noted by Israel’s chief rabbi during the recent Crocs controversy – is to wear any type of non-leather shoe.
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