This is because in ancient times, many garments were four-cornered and most often consisted of a simple rectangle of cloth, direct from the loom, which was worn as a shawl, cape, tunic or toga. Rabbi Yitzchak Abarbanel a 15th century CE Biblical commentator , known simply as Abarbanel, in his commentary on Bamidbar mentioned above stated that this is the reason why the Torah states that.
Even though a time would come when four-cornered garments would not normally be worn, we must continue to wear a special garment in order to fulfil the commandment of tzitzit. If you wear more than one four-cornered garment they are all treated as tzitzit but the bracha is only recited on the first one that you put on.
But if you recited the bracha and only had in mind to wear one four-cornered garment and then changed your mind and put on another one, you must recite a new bracha Shulchan Aruch at The obligation of tzitzit extends to any garment with at least 4 corners, for instance, a 5 or 6 cornered garment and the tzitzit should be attached to the four corners that are the farthest away from each other Shulchan Aruch at What's with the funny tied bits below the shoulders?
This is because a t-shirt, or indeed a regular shirt does not require tzitzit, as it has no corners although a shirt has four corners, two on the collar and two at the front, they are both in front of the wearer and therefore it does not count as a four cornered garment.
However, if you cut a slit up the sides of a t-shirt so that a majority of the side is "open", as above, that would in effect create "four corners," and the t-shirt would require tzitzit. Sephardim generally follow the opinion of the Shulchan Aruch at , based on Rav Nachman Rav Nachman bar Yaakov a Babylonian Talmudist of the 4th century CE in Menachot 39b that one can only fulfil the biblical mitzvah with either a wool garment or a linen garment.
But Ashkenazim rely on the Rema R. The answer is unclear. We have seen that the Torah commandment states:. And this shall be tzitzit for you, and when you see it, you will remember all the commandments of G-d, and perform them. Accordingly, the Shulchan Aruch states at that one should wear the tzitzit over your other garments so that you can constantly see them and be reminded of the mitzvot.
He wrote in the Mishnah Berurah a commentary on Orach Chaim, being a section of the Arba'ah Turim dealing with the laws of tefillah and shul, Shabbat and Yom Tov at that doing so is a denigration of the mitzvot. On the other hand, the acknowledged father of Kabbala, the Arizal Yitzhak Ben Sh'lomo Luria who lived in Tzefat in the 16th century CE would tuck in his tzitzit because concentrate now! The tallit katan represents the internal level and is therefore worn within other garments, while the tallit gadol represents the external and is therefore worn over the other garments Pri Etz Chaim the notes of Arizal's lectures which his disciples made , Shaar Tzitzit I.
The shema mentions techelet, citing the above verse from Bamidbar:. But most tzitzit or at least the ones I have seen are only white. Why is this? There are actually two commandments in the verse from Bamidbar: first to tie white tzitzit on the corners of a four-cornered garment; and the other is to add a thread of techelet to each corner.
When techelet is available, we must therefore add a techelet fringe to the tzitzit; but when it is unavailable, we fulfil the mitzvah with plain white fringes. Techelet is wool dyed with blood extracted from a sea animal called the chilazon. However, about 1, years ago, the chilazon died out. Indeed the Talmud at Menachot 44a tells us that it surfaced only once every seventy years.
Essentially, there must be a kosher tzitzit at each corner of the garment. What if a tzitzit — that is, the fringe - breaks? It depends. If the break is within the section of knots and windings, then according to most opinions the tzitzit are invalid Orach Chaim If the break is in the part where the strings hang loosely, then even if there is a break all the way up to the windings, it is still kosher.
So, straggly looking tzitzit, as worn by most children, are OK. If there are two breaks, then you must determine whether or not these are two ends of the same string, given that each string was initially inserted into the hole at each corner of the garment and doubled over. If the two broken strings are on the same side of the knot, these must be from two different strings. This is still kosher, even if the two strings are broken all the way up to the windings.
But if the two broken strings are on opposite sides of the knot, then one of the broken strings will require a length of ki'day aniva - enough of a string that it could be tied Orach Chaim The length of ki'day aniva is at least 4 - 4. If there are three broken strings, it's more complicated.. As we have seen, tztzit is a very important commandment which we mention every day in the shema.
According to other opinions, the tzitzit must be spun by hand. And finally, according to the most stringent opinion, the tzitzit strings must not only be spun by hand " tevia " , but in fact must be made with mitzvah intent starting at an early stage in the production process, carding "niputz".
These tzitzit strings are commonly referred to as niputz lishmah. The main stages in the tzitzit production process are gozez shearing , libun bleaching , niputz carding , tevia spinning and shezira plying.
According to the Shulchan Aruch the tevia must be done lishmah i. The Rema notes that according to some opinions the niputz stage must also be done lishmah carding with mitzvah intent , though he adds that the prevalent custom is to be lenient. Note that all of the above only refers to the making of the tzitzit strings.
Once you have kosher strings, according to all halachic opinions they must be tied on the tallit or tallit katan garment by hand; there is no such thing as "pre-tied" tzitzit that can then be attached.
Whether to choose thin or thick tzitzit strings is essentially a question of aesthetics. Typically thin tzitzit are tied on a tallit katan, although some may prefer thick, which are less likely to break and may be a bit easier to tie.
On a tallit gadol, thin tzitzit are generally standard. A high-end traditional wool tallit is often be sold with no tzitzit, and in that case thick tzitzit strings are more commonly used. The essential difference between Ashkenazi tzitzit and Sephardic tzitzit is the way in which they are tied. With a quick wipe of the tears, I reassured him that he would not be embarrassed, his tzitzit were kosher. Oh, one minor detail. Now you tell me??
A boy over 13 should be the only one tying them. However, since young boys have no obligation to wear tzitzit and wear them for chinuch purposes, a woman or young boy can tighten or redo the bottom knots. More than that, ask your local Rabbi. Follow her on instagram cookkosher. Brilliant article thank u I super glue the bottom knot and trim the strings before my son ever wears them. Pour boiling hot water of the bottom knot and tighten.
Let dry. It helps the knot stay closed longer. Some people drive themselves batty over this. Briskers, among others. They want to have their cake and eat it too, i. So they buy a tallit katan in a huge size, and tuck a foot or two into their pants. Or they buy a normal size i. Wanna hear a secret? I used to be one of those people myself. First go through the various halachas to the best of your ability, and then take your questions to a rav.
Assign a Menu. How kosher are your tzitzit?
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