In earlier
installments, we noted the Arizal's teaching that one should not put on two
articles of clothing simultaneously – such as putting on a hat with the Kippa
inside it – as this could cause a person to forget his Torah knowledge. The reason, as we discussed, is that the
inner garment will be concealed and thus unable to receive the "Or Ha'makif"
("supernal light") that surrounds our clothing to protect them from harmful
spiritual forces.
It would seem, at
first glance, that this is relevant only to putting two garments on at the same
time, because it is then when we want the "Or Ha'makif" to surround the
garments. When removing garments,
however, there appears to be no reason not to remove two garments
simultaneously – such as removing a sweatshirt together with the shirt
underneath it. This is, indeed, the
position taken by Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach (Jerusalem, 1910-1995). He writes that when it comes to behaviors
which could lead a person to forget his Torah knowledge, we have no reason to
be stringent beyond the restrictions mentioned in the earlier sources. Since the sources speak only of the dangers
of putting two garments on at the same time, we do not need to be concerned
about removing two garments at the same time.
By contrast, the Yosef
Ometz ruled stringently, that one should avoid also removing two garments at
the same time.
Hacham Ovadia Yosef
concluded that although Rav Shlomo Zalman's lenient ruling seems correct,
nevertheless, it is preferable to act stringently and avoid removing two
garments at the same time, because one might then also put them on together. If, for example, a person removes his shirt
together with his sweater, and the shirt remains inside the sweater, he might
later put them both on simultaneously, and so he should preferably remove his
garments one at a time.
