Right precedence in Judaism is a

Minhag ''Minhag'' ( he, מנהג "custom", classical pl. מנהגות, modern pl. , ''minhagim'') is an accepted tradition or group of traditions in Judaism. A related concept, ''Nusach (Jewish custom), Nusach'' (), refers to the traditional order and fo ...

Hasid Ḥasīd ( he, חסיד, "pious", "saintly", "godly man"; plural "Hasidim") is a Jewish honorific, frequently used as a term of exceptional respect in the Talmudic and early medieval periods. It denotes a person who is scrupulous in his observ ...

s to give precedence to the right side of things. A well-known exampled is putting on the right shoe before the left.

Origin

The

Talmud The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cente ...

, in tractate

Shabbat Shabbat (, , or ; he, שַׁבָּת, Šabbāṯ, , ) or the Sabbath (), also called Shabbos (, ) by Ashkenazim, is Judaism's day of rest on the seventh day of the week—i.e., Saturday. On this day, religious Jews remember the biblical storie ...

, quotes Johanan bar Nappaha who said one should wear the left shoe first. On the other hand, a Baraita says one should wear the right shoe first.

Rav Yosef b. Hiyya Rav Yosef bar Hiyya ( he, רב יוסף בר חייא), or simply Rav Yosef, was a Babylonian rabbi of the third generation of amoraim. Biography He was a student of Judah bar Ezekiel and was Abaye's teacher, and a scholarly disputant (''bar plug ...

said that since there is a source for every option, they are both fine.

Rav Kahana II ''For other Amoraic sages of Babylonia with the name "Rav Kahana", see Rav Kahana.'' Rav Kahana (II) ( he, רב כהנא (השני), read as ''Rav Kahana (Ha-sheni)'', lit. "Rabbi Kahana (II)"; recorded in the Talmud merely as ''Rav Kahana'') was ...

also didn't care which shoe is worn first. On the other hand,

Rav Nachman bar Yitzchak :''You might be looking for Nachman bar Huna or Nachman bar Yaakov.'' Rav Nachman bar Yitzchak (Hebrew: רב נחמן בר יצחק; died 356 CE) was a Babylonian rabbi, of the fourth and fifth generations of amoraim. It is generally accepted tha ...

said a Hasid should combine the options: enter the right shoe first, then the left and then tie the left shoe first and then the right. That was also the Minhag of Mar Bar Ravina. The Minhag of Mar Bar Ravina was quoted in the prominent book of

Halakha ''Halakha'' (; he, הֲלָכָה, ), also transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Jewish religious laws which is derived from the written and Oral Torah. Halakha is based on biblical commandm ...

the ''

Shulchan Aruch The ''Shulchan Aruch'' ( he, שֻׁלְחָן עָרוּך , literally: "Set Table"), sometimes dubbed in English as the Code of Jewish Law, is the most widely consulted of the various legal codes in Judaism. It was authored in Safed (today in Is ...

'': "One should put his right shoe on first and the left shoe last. Only after putting on the left shoe should one begin tying the shoe laces. First tie the left shoe and then the right one." Other activities with right precedence appear in a Baraita in the Talmud: "When one puts on his shoes, he must put on the right first and then the left; when he removes hem he must remove the left

irst An infrared search and track (IRST) system (sometimes known as infrared sighting and tracking) is a method for detecting and tracking objects which give off infrared radiation, such as the infrared signatures of jet aircraft and helicopters. IR ...

and then the right. When one washes, he must

wash the right and, footand then the left. When one anoints imselfwith oil, he must anoint the right and then the left." The precedence of the right in hand washing and using lotion were brought to Halakha by Avraham Gombiner and in the book

Mishnah Berurah The ''Mishnah Berurah'' ( he, משנה ברורה "Clear Teaching") is a work of ''halakha'' (Jewish law) by Rabbi Yisrael Meir Kagan (Poland, 1838–1933, also known as ''Chofetz Chaim''). It is a commentary on ''Orach Chayim'', the first section ...

Israel Meir Kagan Rabbi Yisrael Meir ha-Kohen Kagan (January 26, 1838 – September 15, 1933), known popularly as the Chofetz Chaim, after his book on lashon hara, who was also well known for the Mishna Berurah, his book on ritual law, was an influential Lithuan ...

Moses Isserles ). He is not to be confused with Meir Abulafia, known as "Ramah" ( he, רמ״ה, italic=no, links=no), nor with Menahem Azariah da Fano, known as "Rema MiPano" ( he, רמ״ע מפאנו, italic=no, links=no). Rabbi Moses Isserles ( he, משה � ...

wrote he didn't see people do so. Avraham Gombiner, based on

Isaac Luria Isaac ben Solomon Luria Ashkenazi (1534Fine 2003, p24/ref> – July 25, 1572) ( he, יִצְחָק בן שלמה לוּרְיָא אשכנזי ''Yitzhak Ben Sh'lomo Lurya Ashkenazi''), commonly known in Jewish religious circles as "Ha'ARI" (mean ...

books, added: "One should put both sides of the cloth on his right hand and wear the right side and then the left and have Kavanah that everything included in the idea of right and from the right comes to the left." He was later quoted by

and

Yaakov Chaim Sofer Yaakov Chaim Sofer (1870–1939) (Hebrew: יעקב חיים סופר) was a Sephardi rabbi, Kabbalist, Talmudist and ''posek''. He is the author of ''Kaf Hachaim'', a work of halakha that he came to be known by. Biography Sofer was born in Bagh ...

, but while Kagan wrote it is a good thing to do, Sofer wrote it is a thing to be careful about. There are other instances Judaism sources prefer the right side, and as the Talmud says: "All turns that you turn should be only to the right."

In science

According to a study published in '' Journal of Experimental Psychology'', "Right-handers tended to associate rightward space with positive ideas and leftward space with negative ideas, but left-handers showed the opposite pattern, associating rightward space with negative ideas and leftward with positive ideas."Daniel Casasanto
Embodiment of Abstract Concepts: Good and Bad in Right- and Left-Handers
Journal of Experimental Psychology: General 2009, Vol. 138, No. 3, 351–367

In popular media

In the Israeli TV series '' A Touch Away'', Roha'le Berman tells Zorik Mintz that pedantry in the order of wearing shoes is a way to test the potential spouse in matchmaking.

References

{{reflist Jewish law and rituals