The Great Gartel Debate: High, Low, or Not at All – A modest sash with a major personality.
There’s a little strip of cloth that somehow inspires fierce loyalty, casual disregard, and the occasional confused glance: the gartel. Worn to separate the spiritual part of our body from the less spiritual, it’s a humble belt that carries the weight of centuries of tradition.
You’ll notice:
Some wear it high, practically hugging the ribs, as if to say, “I am spiritually upright, and I mean it.”
Others wear it low, barely keeping their coat in place, whispering, “I’ll get to the separating-upper-and-lower-body thing… eventually.”
And some – bless them – skip it entirely, trusting that their inner intentions are enough, while their outer garments flail freely.
I confess, I fall into the latter category. The first time I noticed someone put on a gartel was Rosh Hashanah 1970, at my wife’s shul in Bergenfield, N.J. It was a Conservative synagogue with a YU-trained rabbi and the popular Birnbaum machzor.
Several frum families davened there, and on Rosh Hashanah we looked to one man as our guide. When he stood, we stood; when he sat, we sat. He wore a kittel on the Yamim Noraim. One year he rose, we rose, he adjusted his kittel in the back, and sat.
The gartel is serious business, but also a reminder that even in the most disciplined practices, there’s room for personality, preference, and humor. Whether high, low, or in between, at least you’re acknowledging the boundary between soul and stomach – and in these days when many live to eat, that’s something!