compressed together with linen is forbidden. Silk, which resembled wool, and hemp, which resembled linen, were formerly forbidden for appearance's sake, but were later permitted in combination with either wool or linen because they are now distinguishable. Hempen thread was thus manufactured and permitted for use in sewing woolen clothing. Linen mixed with fibres produced by other animals (e.g., mohair or camel hair) is not shatnez. The character of threads spun from a mixture of sheep's wool with other fibres is determined by the majority; if only a minority of the fibre is sheep's wool it is not considered to be wool. None the less, a mixture of any of these materials with linen is Rabbinically forbidden because of the impression it creates. Permitted applications Kehuna clothing Rabbinic Judaism maintains that shatnez was permitted in the case of the avnet (kohen's girdle), in which fine white linen was interwoven with purple, blue, and scarlet material. According to the rabbis, the purple, blue, and scarlet were made from wool and interwoven with the fine linen. Karaite Judaism maintains that the purple, blue, and scarlet materials must also have been made of linen, since the Torah prohibits wearing garments made from combinations of wool and linen. The Torah does not state from what materials the purple, blue, and scarlet threads were made. The phrase regarding the kohenim sons of Zadok, "they shall not gird themselves with any thing that causeth sweat" is interpreted in the Talmud to mean "they shall not gird themselves around the bent of the body, where sweat effuses most". Judah haNasi was of the opinion that the girdle of the ordinary priest was of shatnez, but Eleazar ben Shammua says it was of fine linen. The Talmud states that the high priest wore a linen girdle on Yom Kippur and a girdle of shatnez on all other days. Everyday tzitzit Torah law forbids kil'ayim (shatnez) - "intertying" wool and linen together, with the two exceptions being garments of kohanim and tzitit. Concerning tzitzit, chazal permit using wool and linen strings in tandem only when genuine tekhelet is available, whereas kabbalist sources take it a step further by encouraging its practice. Contact with shatnez The Talmud argues that a woolen garment may be worn over a linen garment, or vice versa, but they may not be knotted or sewed together. Shatnez is prohibited only when worn as an ordinary