can i wear a robe without pajama bottoms while saying shema or learning Torah? in other words, if ones genitals are not completely covered from the bottom, just the robe is covering them from the sides when standing up. if not, do the pajamas have to fit tightly so that the floor cant see the genitals? by the way, does arutz sheva, which i see is affiliated with this site, have rabbinical supervision? it has an extraordinary amount of apikorsus and generally inappropriate material for observant jews.

Shalom, Thank you for your question. There are two issues when wearing a robe without some form pants. The first is that one’s genitals need to be covered. That is, they need to not visible to one’s surroundings. The fact that they can “be seen” by the floor is not a problem. As long as they are covered and out of view of what another person present would see (even if there are no other people present), then it is fine. The second issue is that one’s “heart may not see one’s genitals”. That means that if a man is wearing only a robe, there would be no division between his heart (chest area) and his genitals – which is forbidden. Normally, the elastic of one’s underpants, or the belt of one’s pants, would create the needed division. However, when one is wearing only a loose robe, then one needs to create such a division before saying blessings etc. The way to do this is to wear some type of belt or sash that is tied around the waist. Another way is to push one’s arm (or other object such as a pillow or the table edge etc) against the robe, so that the pressure pushes the material of the robe against the stomach and thus creates the needed separation. As to the content of Arutz Sheva – I really do not know about their editorial policies. I suggest you write to them directly with any comments of inappropriate material you find. I hope that this is of some help. Blessings.