Clothing Makes the (Wo)man

Saw this article posted in a closed group, and thought it should be shared.

Two things struck me- "colleagues have even been told that since the congregation hired them, they need to dress and appear the way the congregation says (ie. the way that particular parishioner wants)." Sean has experienced this. One of the things that attracted our shul to him years ago was his quirky (read unlike other rabbis) style of dress- more casual, Hawaiian (in silk) shirts for summer Shabbat Mincha, riding his bike, wearing a bright blue or camo (US Navy issue) parka instead of a long black coat, but after the first contract some voices on the board decided the rabbi's image should be more traditional. They even made it a contract issue.

As I've served a congregation for the first time over the last six years, I have frequently thought about how I dress and the image I want to portray. I'm not a suit every day kind of person. Before last April, I owned one pants suit and one skirt suit (which I wear almost never). Most of my work is via phone or digital communication. I wear jeans to work most days. For meetings I generally try business casual. Since this is my wardrobe I continued to dress in business casual for most of my days. As I continued there were evenings when I wasn't working for Beth Tzedec that day, but was organizing minyan that evening. At first I'd change to head to the shul, but as we moved into the summer I chose not to change some evenings, and headed down in jeans. It was well received.

I also needed to decide my Shabbat clothes. I've always worn skirts or dresses to Shabbat and Yom Tov services, with a sometimes change to slacks for Shabbat Mincha. I wear hats. I do not wear kippot. But when I took a congregational position I needed to reevaluate. What message do I send to people with my clothing choices? If I never wear pants or a kippah, what message does it send about people who choose to dress in pants or kippot. Suddenly my choices affected more than whether I'd be warm or cold each day.

Different circumstances call for different wardrobe choices. There are times and places for different levels of dress. But it should still be up to the individual to choose, barring official dress and uniform codes, what to wear.