Why Sackcloth?
Question
What is the meaning of wearing sackcloth & sitting in ashes
Answer
Shalom!
Thank you for your questions.
Sackcloth and ashes are ancient symbols of mourning as well as repentance. We find examples of such in the Bible, such as in Genesis 37:24 where we read that Jacob put on sackcloth when he was made to believe that his son Joseph had been killed.
It is also found in the Book of Esther, Chapter 4:1, where we read that Mordechai wore sackcloth and placed ashes on his head when he learned of Haman’s plan to kill the Jews.
The custom of wearing sackcloth to convey mourning was nearly universal. Indeed, we find that the non-Jews of Ninveh put on sackcloth on their own initiative, including the king, when the prophet Jonah told them that G-d was going to destroy Ninveh if they did not repent. We find that Job repented by wearing sackcloth and ashes (Job 42:6). And in the Book of Daniel we find that Daniel wrote, “I turned to the Lord God, pleading in sincere prayer, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes” (Daniel 9:3). There are other Biblical reference to sackcloth as well, such as King Hezekiah (Isaiah 37:1), Eliakim (2 Kings 19:2), King Ahab (1 Kings 21:27), and the elders of Jerusalem (Lamentations 2:10).
There was even a lesser-known custom, cited in the siddur of Rabbi Shabtai of Rashkov (who was a student of the Ball Shem Tov), to wear sackcloth during the entire period between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur in order to arouse ourselves to repentance and coming close to G-d.