By Rabbi Yair Hoffman for 5TJT.com If you look outside today, you will see kids dressed up as pirates, as Chassidish Rebbes, as Donald Trump, as superheroes, football players, and almost any other costume you can imagine.   Indeed, even the non-Jewish mail people who deliver in Jewish areas are dressing up!  It is surely not one of our run-of-the-mill Jewish minhagim. WHERE DID IT COME FROM? Generally, our minhagim deal with simanim – signs that indicate good mazel rather than bad fortune.  They deal with eating or not eating specific foods- Example: On Shavuos we eat milchigs, On Chanukah – latkes.  On Rosh HaShana – honey.  We don’t eat nuts or chrein during Yomim Noraim.   Our other Minhagim deal with special Tefilos at special places:  Kaparos with chicken or money, Tashlich by the water. But dressing up?  Where and when did this come from? THE FIRST MENTION The first mention of the notion of Jews dressing up in costume seems to be in the responsa of one of our Poskim from Italy, Rav Yehudah Mintz (Responsum #17).   Rav Mintz lived in the late 1400’s and was niftar in Venice in 1508.    The Teshuvah says that there is no prohibition involved in dressing up on Purim even in dressing like a woman – since the reason is for Simcha and not for the purpose of immorality – to violate Torah law.  The Ramah quotes the Psak in Shulchan Aruch Orech Chaim (696:8). STEINSCHNEIDER’S ERROR Moritz Steinschneider, (1816-1907) the great bibliographer whose impact and opinions are still felt today, brilliant though he was, cannot fathom that the minhag developed independently.  He attributes the development of the Minhag to the direct influence of the Roman Carnival. Carnival is a festive season which occurs immediately before the Catholic season of Lent. The Roman Carnival involved a public celebration and or parade that combined elements of a circus, the wearing of masks and public street partying. People would dress up in masquerade during these celebrations.  Carnival is a festival traditionally held in Roman Catholic and, to a lesser extent, Eastern Orthodox societies. It originated in Italy and was held in February. TEMPERED VIEW OF CULTURAL DIFFUSION But our Minhag did not come from Roman Carnival.  It is not that we believe that cultural diffusion does not exist.  We do. Its application must be tempered with rational precision and reason.  We must always display a cautious intellectual approach.  Scholars who know what Klal Yisroel is actually all about, know that this particular type of cultural diffusion is about as likely as eggnog consumption and Chrismas Carolling affecting the behavior of Yeshiva boys on a Purim. WE DON’T TAKE GOYISH CUSTOMS It simply would not have happened.   End of story.  The apperception of the Roman Carnival in Torah circles was beyond the pale of acceptable activity even to mimic.  This cannot be the source – especially so close to the time of Rav Yehudah Mintz, who sanctioned it’s use. No, we must look for other sources in order to find truth.  Steinschneider’s theory is just too pat.  We must also bear in mind that silence in the Seforim and responsa literature does not necessarily indicate absence in normative Jewish practice.  A Minhag could exist and yet not be mentioned in the Seforim or Teshuvos until much later. […]
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