We stated in the previous shiur that all the halachos mentioned here deal with public domains that do not have an eiruv, or they have an eiruv which one does not wish to rely upon.

May a woman wear a plastic sheitel cover?

In the previous shiur we mentioned the problem of wearing a plastic hat cover on Shabbos. Certain poskim hold that since it is only intended to prevent the hat from getting wet and not to prevent the body from getting wet it is not a garment.

Rav Weiss ztz”l writes [1] that the advantages of the plastic sheitel cover are that it covers part of the face, is not only worn to prevent the sheitel from getting wet but is also worn as clothing. The problem is, that it is only worn when raining and removed as soon as the rain ceases. As such, Chazal were concerned that a person would remove the covering and carry it in a pocket, which invokes a severe prohibition of carrying.

Rav Weiss concludes that a woman may not wear such a plastic covering on Shabbos.

May one wear jewelry?

Background: although jewelry and ornaments are not ‘clothing’ nevertheless they serve a function and wearing them on Shabbos is not considered carrying, provided that they are worn in the regular manner. [2] Chazal however were concerned that one would remove one’s jewelry to show to a friend and carry it in a reshus harabim (a public domain) and transgress the issur of carrying. They therefore prohibited wearing most jewelry.

Most jewelry and ornaments may be worn nowadays because the Rama writes [3] that women do not remove their jewelry to show their friends and therefore the major concern is removed. The explanation being that in former times pieces of jewelry were not common and women would wear them only on Shabbos, thus they would show their trinkets to friends. As jewelry is much more common nowadays and worn all the time, this no longer applies.

As mentioned, the prevalent custom is to wear jewelry but there is room to be mehader and not to rely on the various leniencies, [4] especially in big cities that are likely to be a reshus harabim d’oraisso.

May one wear a watch?

It depends on how a watch is defined. If a watch is a piece of jewelry it may be worn, based on the above halacha. We might say that a simple, cheap watch is not jewelry but a gold watch is. The problem is that one cannot resolutely declare that one’s watch is jewelry, because if it stops or is broken it would not be worn. [5]

There is leeway to say that since the watch is worn on the arm like any other clothing it is not called carrying and permitted. [6]

Rav Moshe Feinstein ztz”l instructed his pupils not to rely on this leniency and they should avoid wearing watches on Shabbos. Others were more stringent and prohibited it altogether. [7]

Accordingly one must ask one’s rav as to the correct conduct, especially in big cities that are likely to be a reshus harabim d’oraisso.

What about wearing glasses when there is no eiruv?

Glasses that are continually worn may be worn on Shabbos even where there is no eiruv, as they are considered clothing. [8] The Chayei Adam [9] was stringent with glasses, because they were not fastened around the head as ours are and there was concern that they would fall and be carried.

Reading glasses may not be worn because they are not considered clothing.

What about wearing sunglasses when there is no eiruv?

Even if there is scope to say that sunglasses are worn on one’s body like any other clothing, nevertheless we are concerned that one might remove them when in the shade. Accordingly one may only wear sunglasses outdoors within an eiruv.

Medical sunglasses, which one wears even indoors are different, because one would not remove them. [10]