Reply To: Take a lesson from a taxi driver

Joseph: I don’t think it’s reasonable. A person shouldn’t be judged on clothes. They should be judged on whether they are a good, frum Jew, with yiras shamayim.

For Yom Kippur, if I knew the Baal Tefillah was a frum person, a yarei shamayim, and would inspire others in their tefillos, I wouldn’t care what he was wearing. Remember, however, that the halachah is that a person should dress respectfully when davening, as they are speaking to Hashem. I believe that a true yarei Shamayim usually wouldn’t be wearing such an outfit on Yom Kippur. However, if I knew the person to be a yarei Shamayim, it would pique my curiosity, and I’d likely ask him why he was dressed that way.

If you’re going to tell me that in Lakewood, they think that someone with a kippah srugah is not dressed appropriately, or is not a yarei Shamayim, it just proves my point.