Yeah, that's how I've usually read the commandment. (And I've always been amused to see Orthodox women wearing unfringed 4-cornered shawls...) That's probably why I've never really thought about wearing tzitzit before. But now I'm wondering whether I should give it a shot in spite of that.
Not quite as excited about the tying, though, but maybe it's something worth learning anyway. But I'll come to your party whether I'm tying anything or not!
I always viewed the command the same way, but when I stopped wearing a full talit for shacharit I decided I still needed to make the tzitzit bracha so I started wearing a talit katan. Once I was wearing it for shacharit it began to seem natural to keep it on all day.
Women wearing shawls bothers me, but they can at least justify it because of time bound positive commandment exemptions. If someone does wear a talit then they should be wearing tzitzit on all four cornered garments. Which means if you have any traditional wool ponchos you should tie tzitzit on them(I know a guy who did this).
Or, I guess, a more practical question: Are you supposed to take off a tallit katan at night? If so, how urgent is it? Or should you just not put it on if it's dark out? (What about ben hashmashot?)
If you look at the 3rd paragraph of the shema(orgin of tzitzit) it says, "uritem oto." Since you can only see the tzitzit when it's light the mitzvah only applies during the day. In terms of practice there are a couple different approaches. Some people keep the talit on and others take it off. Personally, I don't rush to take it off, but once I take it off I don't put it back on.
In terms of what clothes are required to have tzitzit, it does need to be a beged, which is defined as being able to cover you. A small shawl or a scarf doesn't count, but a larger cloak or poncho does. By poncho I'm talking about a woven garment, not a single piece of plastic that you wear in the rain.
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Not quite as excited about the tying, though, but maybe it's something worth learning anyway. But I'll come to your party whether I'm tying anything or not!
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Thanks for partying with me--- maybe I'll get around to it one of these days...:)
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(Anonymous) 2009-02-18 09:31 pm (UTC)(link)Women wearing shawls bothers me, but they can at least justify it because of time bound positive commandment exemptions. If someone does wear a talit then they should be wearing tzitzit on all four cornered garments. Which means if you have any traditional wool ponchos you should tie tzitzit on them(I know a guy who did this).
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Or, I guess, a more practical question: Are you supposed to take off a tallit katan at night? If so, how urgent is it? Or should you just not put it on if it's dark out? (What about ben hashmashot?)
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(Anonymous) 2009-02-19 04:05 am (UTC)(link)In terms of what clothes are required to have tzitzit, it does need to be a beged, which is defined as being able to cover you. A small shawl or a scarf doesn't count, but a larger cloak or poncho does. By poncho I'm talking about a woven garment, not a single piece of plastic that you wear in the rain.
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