Shabbat Mincha: No Ties
There is a widespread “custom” among those who generally wear a tie on Shabbat to attend mincha on Shabbat afternoon without one. Although this is probably the result of a laziness to put one’s tie back on after the popular Shabbat afternoon nap, there might just be a classical source that would justify the practice.
Rashi and Ran in Masechet Nedarim note a custom for women to remove their Shabbat-exclusive jewelry late in the day on Shabbat afternoon.[1] Based on this, the Shu"t Gur Aryeh Yehuda[2] rules that the requirement to wear Shabbat clothes no longer applies in the late afternoon. In fact, there is a custom among certain Chassidim, who generally wear flowery or colorful bekeshes on Shabbat, to wear a plain black bekeshe from mincha time until the conclusion of Shabbat.[3]
So too, there might not even be a requirement to wear one’s Shabbat clothes on Shabbat afternoon, and there may have once been a custom, alluded to by the Erech Shai, to remove them. The Erech Shai says that the reason that one is not required to wear Shabbat clothes in the late afternoon is in order to recall that Yosef, Moshe, and David passed away on a Shabbat afternoon.[4] Indeed, it is for this reason that Shabbat afternoons have a slightly mournful flavor to them, a topic that will be dealt with in the next volume.
Other authorities dismiss the references from Rashi and Ran mentioned above. They argue that the Nedarim reference, if halachically admissible at all, applies only to jewelry, just as it says. It cannot be extended to include any other Shabbat clothing.[5] Indeed, the Magen Avraham rules that one should not remove one's Shabbat clothes until after Havdala.[6]
The Tzitz Eliezer[7] argues that it is possible that the Magen Avraham may not truly hold that one is required to wear one's Shabbat clothing until after Havdalah. So too, the Machatzit Hashekel[8] seems to imply that it was common in his locale to remove one's Shabbat clothes in the afternoon. There is also an opinion that removing one's Shabbat clothes is only permissible if one continues to wear at least one Shabbat garment along with the clothes that one changes into. This is consistent with the Chassidic custom cited above where only the Shabbat bekeshe is removed, while all the other Shabbat clothes, such as pants and shoes, continue to be worn until after Havdalah.
While the sources cited above are somewhat ambiguous and unclear, and should probably not be followed halacha l'maaseh, it might just be that this is a source or, at the very least, a limud zechut for the unofficial North American "custom" of not wearing a tie (and other dress-down practices) when going to the synagogue for mincha on Shabbat afternoons.
There may also be another explanation for the prevalent practice of not wearing a tie at mincha, whose source I do not recall. It goes something like this. Shabbat Mincha is said to correspond to the World to Come, where there is no separation between the heart and the mind. A knot, however, represents barriers, separations, and obstructions. In this case, the tie would act as a “barrier” between one’s heart and mind. We remove our ties, therefore, in order to symbolize our desire for the era when our hearts and minds will combine as one in the service of God.
In complete contrast to all that has been mentioned above, there actually exists a custom to change into even nicer clothing on Shabbat afternoon than one was previously wearing. It too, however, is a custom whose source is dubious and unclear.[9]
[1]Nedarim 77. All sources cited are taken from Shalom Rav, Shaar Hahalacha, 42:7:7.
[2]OC 13.
[3]Cited in Shalom Rav, Shaar Hahalacha, 42:7:7.
[6] Magen Avraham 262:2; Mishna Berura 262:8; Aruch Hashulchan, OC 262:3.
[7]Tzitz Eliezer 14:34:2.
[8]OC 262:2.
[9] Tzitz Eliezer 14:34:2.