Jews & Textiles

Fabric is a subject of discussion in Judaism, from biblical laws not to mix wool with linen to fabric-specific taxes on Jews in the Ottoman empire up to the advanced methods of textile production found in the modern state of Israel. 

"You shall not put on cloth from a mixture of two kinds of material"

Leviticus 19:19

"You shall not wear cloth combining wool and linen"

Deuteronomy 22:11

These biblical prohibitions are called "sha'antez." Sha’atnez applies only to sheep’s wool and linen, not any other combination of plant and animal fibres. Men and women are equally obligated in all the prohibitions of sha’atnez and it is also forbidden to clothe a child in sha’atnez garments. There is archeological evidence that this was observed in biblical times and it's still observed to this day.

In part due to sha'antez, Jews have historically been involved in textile manufacturing and trade. From medieval times Jews were known as textile merchants, and in the Ottoman Empire Jewish textile production was so widespread that every Jew over 20 years old had to wear locally produced clothesand the tax on Salonika Jewry levied by the Ottoman authorities was payable by a quota of cloth. This continued through the Industrial Revolution in Europe.

In the United States few Jews entered the textile industry, an outstanding exception being the Cone family of Carolina. However, Jews became prominent in raw cotton and wool brokerage, as well as in the wholesale and retail trade in fabrics. None of the large producers of synthetic fibers was Jewish-owned.

In 1937 there were 86 spinning and weaving plants in Ereẓ Israel, with about 1,500 employees, and by 1943 the number of factories had grown to 250, employing about 5,630 workers. By 1965 there were 1,007 textile factories employing 26,300 workers, including 100 plants employing more than 50 workers each. In 1970 there were 300,000 cotton-spinning machines and 50,000 wool-spinning machines, compared with 55,000 cotton-spinning machines before the outbreak of World War II. The number of mechanical looms grew from 2,000 before 1948 to 6,000 in 1970, more than half of them automatic and up-to-date.

By 2008, Israel's growing exports reached $370 million a year as it continued to supply such retailers and designers as Marks & Spencer, The Gap, Victoria's Secret, Wal-Mart, Sears, Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein, and Donna Karan.

• https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1009&context=texterm 

• https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/shatnez/ 

• https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/textiles 

• https://kohantextilejournal.com/textile-industry-in-israel/ 

• https://sewjewish.com/2014/07/30/the-fabric-of-jewish-history-ottoman-jews/ 

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_textile_industry_in_16th-century_Safed