[Avodah] Is it permissible to eat while walking outside through a marketplace?

[Akiva Miller]

.
R' Marty Bluke asked:

> Why are we so sure that this Halacha even applies today? This
> seems to be a societal thing, in the time of Chazal it was
> considered disrespectful to eat outside. However, chazals eating
> habits were very different than ours. We no longer eat reclining
> and we no longer follow many of the other minhagei seuda of
> chazal. So if today it’s considered acceptable by society to eat
> outside then chazals dictate should not apply.

I have wondered the same thing.

One could make a whole list of topics, some of which are dependent on the
local society, and others are categorical for all times and places, leaving
over a third category where Chazal were unclear about the issue.

This very week on Avodah, we discussed whether "mpnei machlokes" situations
are universal or not. Every so often, we discuss whether the importance of
eating meat on Yom Tov depends on personal preferences. Rav Soloveitchik
famously held that certain chazakos "rest not upon transient psychological
behavioral patterns, but upon permanent ontological principles rooted in
the very depth of the human personality."

We have our work cut out for us. Each case has to be investigated
carefully. For a long time, I had thought that the halachos of Shinui Makom
(the requirement to repeat a bracha rishona because one left the place
where he was eating) was related to society and formal dining, and
therefore might change when eating habits changed. But my current
understanding is that it results from technicalities about Chazal's
requirement that one say a bracha acharona in the same place as he ate, so
leaving that place complicates the bracha rishona as well.

> For example, chazal state that a person should put on some kind
> of belt for davening. This is the reason chasidim wear a gartel.
> And yet, the non Hasidic world has abandoned this practice
> because our mode of dress has changed and this is no longer
> considered a respectful form of dress.

If the reason for a belt or gartel is related to being "a respectful form
of dress", then RMBluke is raising an excellent point, and it should be
okay to pray in a full-length gown, even without a belt or underwear. But
my understanding is that the requirement for a belt is *not* related to
fashion, but is specifically to make a separation between one's head and
private parts, and would apply in all times and places. The reason
non-chasidim don't wear a gartel is because the regular belt is sufficient,
and even without an actual belt a waistband can suffice. (More details at
Orach Chayim 91:2)

Among my pet peeves is people who think that there is a halacha, in all
times and places, that one's shirt needs to be covered for davening, and so
they wear the same dirty windbreaker or parka as when they are doing other
activities. Rather, one must dress for davening in an honorable way, and
this *is* dependent on local fashion, so while a suit or sport jacket might
be the best in many circles, a plain clean shirt is preferable to covering
that shirt with a shmatta.

Of course, I might be wrong. Maybe there IS a halacha that one's shirt
needs to be covered for davening in all times and places. Let me know what
you find.

Akiva Miller
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