Do Orthodox men wear suits 24/7? (2018)

Summary

Dear Jew in the City, I live in Hollywood, California, and here there is a community full of Orthodox Jews with beards and everything. I was wondering where do they work? How do they make money? I have never seen an Orthodox Jew outside of this neighborhood. I been in many business places, offices, etc., etc. and have never seen and orthdox man working there? Also do you guys wear the suits 24/7? In the house? Camping, beach, etc??? And second I’ve never seen an Orthodox Jewish couple out on a date somewhere like the movies or dinner. You guys dont go out much or what? Sincerely, Raj Hi Raj, All good questions. I understand your curiousity – I’m sure we Orthodox Jews can be a bit puzzling from the outside looking in! Since I’m Jew in the City (as in New York City), I’m not personally familiar with the Orthodox community in Hollywood, California, but I’ll answer your questions to the best of my ability based on things I do know about Orthodox men who have beards, hats, and suits. First of all – not all Orthodox men have hats and beards and suits. The ones that do would generally be considered”ultra-Orthodox” in English or “Chareidi” in Hebrew. (Though you will sometimes see a modern Orthodox rabbi in a black hat, suit and beard.) I know it’s hard to tell from the outside, but there are actually many different types of Orthodox Jews out there. Even the ultra-Orthodox world is broken into many groups. The two main ones are: Chasidic and Yeshivish. Within the Chasidic world, there’s a group called Lubavitch (or Chabad) that is a bit different in dress and philosophy than most other groups of Chasidim (as they’re more involved with the larger world). So I don’t know for sure which subdivision you’re seeing in Hollywood, but with black hats, suits, and beards, my best guess would be either Yeshivish or Lubavitch. In that case, I’ll answer what your average Yeshivish or Lubavitch man would do for the various things you asked, but I’ll also explain what some more modern Ort...