No fur shtreimels

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Senior Eda Haredit leader calls on ultra-Orthodox Jews to stop wearing Shtreimels

Satmar rabbi wearing a real fur shtreimel 

By: Eva Fett
A senior leader of the ultra-Orthodox Jewish organization Eda Haredit has issues a shocking proclamation calling on all ultra-Orthodox Jews to stop the practice of wearing shtreimels on Shabbat because they are made of animal fur.

Rabbi Shlomo Pappenheim, a senior member of the Meah Shearim Edah Haredit group, publicly told his followers to stop using the natural fur hats, also known as shtreimels. Pappenheim also suggested that all men should wear shtreimels made ​​of synthetic fur.

Speaking at a conference on animal rights, Pappenheim said wearing shtreimels violate a Jewish law that prohibits unnecessary pain to animals, adding that due to the fact that animal welfare issues have broad public support today, continuing to wear shtreimels would desecrate God’s name.

"We live in an era where people are very concerned about animal welfare. So we need to stop this habit of doing harm to animals," Poppenheim said.

"Some say that the synthetic shtreimels are not so beautiful, but I say, must we really be more stringent than the founder of Hasidism, the Baal Shem Tov? I do not think the shtreimels used by students of the Baal Shem Tov were more beautiful than our synthetic shtreimels. I believe in evolution, not a revolution. We must reach a point where people are embarrassed to wear anything but a synthetic shtreimel," Pappenheim said.