#6006 - A Thing About Clothing!
Kvod Rabenu, Is it correct that some don’t wear Shabbat clothing on Shabbat Chazon?
Sephardic sources indeed maintain the above. They quote as roots: “Radvaz 2:693; ibid. 3:645; Moreh BaEtzba §234; Kaf HaChayim 551:13. See Chazon Ovadia, Arba Taaniyot, p. 210, which cites Shabbat 113a that one must dress differently on Shabbat from the rest of the week, and explains that this Gemara does not differentiate between the different Shabbatot. See also Yabia Omer, vol. 3, O.C. 31:3; Torat HaMoadim, Ben HaMetzarim, p. 207; and Orchot Maran, vol. 3, p. 80, which discuss this subject at length.
Some Moroccan communities follow the custom of the Rama 551:1 and do not wear their Shabbat clothes on Shabbat Chazon. See also Ateret Shlomo §43 and Lebhar, Magen Avot, O.C., p. 266. Yafeh LaLev 3:2 also mentions the custom to wear colored clothing instead of white on Shabbat Chazon. Some have the costume to just to wear an ordinary weekday tie.
Horav Shlomo Miller Shlit’a opinion is that one should follow his family traditions, or the ones of the community he attends.
Rabbi A. Bartfeld as revised by Horav Y. Hirshman, Horav Dovid Pam, Horav Aharon Miller, Horav Chanoch Ehrentreu, Horav Kalman Ochs, and Horav Dovid Bartfeld consulting, Horav Hagaon Rav Yitzchak Berkowitz Shlit’a
Answered by: Hagaon Rav Shlomo Miller Shlit'a
Published: July 18, 2026