Posted on 11/04/25
In last week’s Parsha the king of Sedom offered Avraham a reward for conquering the four kings and freeing the captives. Avraham refused it. He used an interesting phrase in his refusal. He said the following, “I will not accept a thread or a shoe lace, so that you will not be able to say I made Avraham rich.”
Rav Nachman the son of Yitzchok says in the Gemara, Meseches Shabbos, daf samech alef, amud alef that one must put on his right shoe first, leave it untied and then put on the left shoe. He should tie the left shoe first and then go back to tie the right shoe. The Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim, siman bais, seif koton daled rules that this is the proper way for someone to put on shoes.
There are two reasons why the left takes precedence over the right when it comes to tying. The first reason is that we see the Torah showed precedence regarding the tying of Tedfillin, which is done on the left hand.
The second reason concerns Avraham’s refusal to accept remuneration in the form of thread and shoe laces. Due to his actions his offspring merited the two mitzvos of Tzitzis and tefillin. We therefore correlate the tying of the shoes, which is the reason we got tefillin (that is worn on the left hand) to require the left side to have precedence over the right.
The following two questions arise in connection to this discussion. Does tying the left side before the right side apply to other articles of clothing or not?
Does a woman, who does not put on tefillin, tie her right shoe first or her left shoe first?
Both questions would depend on the reasoning behind why we tie the left before the right. If the reason is because the Torah gave precedence to the left over right regarding tying (as seen regarding Tefillin), it would not matter that women don’t put on tefillin and any article of clothing would be required to favor the left side to be tied first. If the reason that tying shoes in the above-mentioned manner directly correlates to tefillin, then a woman would not tie her left shoe first nor would any other article of clothing require the left side to be done first.
The Shulchan Aruch Horav in siman bais writes: when one puts on his shirt or any other article of clothing i.e. pants, one should first put on the right side and then the left side. This is so in the event there is anything that needs to be tied, then the left side shall be tied first. The Yaavetz concurs with this idea as seen in his siddur. The Kitzur Shulchan Aruch in siman gimmel and the Aruch Hashulchan both agree that the left comes before the right as far as tying is concerned. This is so even regarding clothing other than shoes.
The Artzos Hachaim, seif koton lamed alef says (based on the reasoning of the Levush) that the reason tying the left comes first is because it is a reward for Avraham saying that he won’t take even a shoelace. This reason proves that the tying of the left side first is really only concerning shoes; therefore, it would not apply to any other article of clothing. The Mishna Berura in Orach Chaim, siman bais, seif koton vov paskens that we tie the left side first regarding shoes, but not any other article of clothing.
Regarding the question whether women have the same requirement of tying the left side first or not, the Sefer Shashuei Tzvi (Reb Tzvi Pesach Frank) in chelek alef, siman gimmel says that a woman can do as she pleases. She is not required to tie the left shoe first since she does not put on tefillin.
Reb Chaim Kanievsky disagrees and says that a woman must follow the guidelines like a man and tie the left shoe first. Reb Chaim explains that the tefillin is just an indicator that the Torah prefers the left side to be tied before the right side. He continues to clarify by saying that no one would tell a person who is suffering from stomach issues and can’t put on tefillin, that he should tie his right shoe first on that day.
The Halichos Shlomo disagrees in Seder Tefillah, perek sheini, seif koton chof. If a woman would try to put on tefillin, we would protest and not allow her to do so. Therefore, a woman should tie her right side first.
I guess that is why most women wear slip-on shoes and men don’t usually tie other items of clothing besides for their shoes.