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Ask the Rabbi: answers from Project Genesis rabbis
My son recently gave me a kittel. What days should I wear this? Should I wear it to Shul on the evening of Yom Kippur and to services the next day? Also, are there any other times that I should wear it. Thank you.
Kittels are worn the entire Yom Kippur, by the Pesach Seder, and one is buried in it.
Rabbi Meir Goldberg
What is a kittel?
It is a white robe which men wear on Yom Kippur and at the Passover Seder and are buried in it at the funeral. It symbolizes purity.
Rabbi Meir Goldberg
What is the purpose of wearing a kittel and is it better to wear one at the seder?
There is a custom to wear a Kittel at the Pesach seder because it symbolizes purity, as we are said to be in a purer state on this night of freedom and closeness to G-d. Another reason is because a kittel is worn when we die. On Passover night, though we are in an especially joyous mood, we wear a kittel to remind us not to be overly excited, since one must always keep his day of death in the back of one’s mind. Only married men wear a kittel at the seder, though some have the custom not to wear it during the first year after marriage. The first year of marriage is set aside for the groom to give his new bride, unbridled joy.
Rabbi Meir Goldberg