The “goldene medina” that was America back in the 1800s and early 1900s was a sad place as it pertained to Jewish life. Unfortunately, many people were unwilling, unable, or simply didn’t know better regarding keeping all of our beautiful mitzvos. One mitzvah in which Jews in America were severely lacking was that of shaatnez – not wearing wool mixed with linen. For many decades, this mitzvah was pushed aside, with nary anyone to care for it. That changed in the mid-1900s and it is now commonplace for suit stores to have in-house shaatnez checkers to ensure that those buying merchandise will not be nichshol. This is all wonderful. However, I think there is one area that people do not realize or understand the obstacle that they face on literally a daily basis. I’m speaking of carrying cash in your pocket. U.S. paper currency is printed on what is essentially fabric. It consists of 75% cotton and 25% linen. Now, that poses a problem. If you are wearing wool pants and you stick paper money into it, who is to say that small strands of linen aren’t falling off, mixing with your pants’ wool, and causing a shaatnez issue? I haven’t yet discussed this with a rav, but this has been bothering me deeply. I think that the most obvious and simple solution is to always make sure you have a wallet. This way, if you need to carry cash with you, it can simply be covered up by the wallet. Doing this will ensure that there is no chashash that linen fibers will fall off the currency and into your wool pants. Kol tuv. Avraham K – Brooklyn NOTE: The views expressed here are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of YWN. DO YOU HAVE AN OPINION YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEE POSTED ON YWN? SEND IT TO US FOR REVIEW. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

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