There are few Jewish items more recognizable than a tallit.
Perhaps a Hanukkah menorah or a kipa. Maybe the Star of David. But whenever we see Jews in media doing Jewish things, they often wear a tallit. A four-cornered garment with tzitzit hanging from each corner.
These tzitzit, terribly translated as fringes, are strings, usually white but also occasionally with a single blue string, that are meant to remind us of the mitzvot.
However, it is the garment itself that is obligated to have tzitzit rather than us as people. This is to say, it is good to wear clothing with tzitzit, and the only way to do that is to wear a four-cornered garment!
We learn in Masechet Menachot, that this might be a bit more complicated than it appears.
Rava says that Rav Seḥora says that Rav Huna says: In a case where one affixed ritual fringes to a garment possessing only three corners, which is not required to have ritual fringes, and then completed its fourth corner by sewing on additional material or cutting away some of the material, the ritual fringes he attached to the original three corners are unfit.
This is due to the principle: Prepare it, and not from what has already been prepared. Once the garment is required to have ritual fringes one may attach the ritual fringes; the strings that were attached before the garment was required to have them are not fit.
The Talmud describes a specific case:
What happens if we have a three-cornered garment and we attach tzitzit to it? First, the garment doesn’t have to have tzitzit because it is not a four-cornered piece of clothing. Already a strange scenario.
Ok, let’s say we add a fourth corner, perhaps because the item wasn’t completed yet, or was remade in some way, and I attach tzitzit to the final corner. Is that kosher?
According to Rav Huna, the answer is no. The tzitzit are not considered kosher, and they would have to be removed and reattached. Why is this?
Principle: ta’aseh v’lo min ha’asui
This is due to a principle called ta’aseh v’lo min ha’asui, which translates to: “Do [it], but not from what is been done.” Sometimes, the word “do” is translated as “prepare.”
This means that we are not able to transform something that has an unfit, pasul, status and make it fit, kosher. It has to come from a more neutral status beforehand.
This arises commonly in building a sukkah. Can you put the schach roof up before the walls? Or does the roof have to come after? (As a side note: there are opinions on both sides of that particular issue.)
Our Talmud continues:
The Gemara raises an objection from a baraita: It is told of the early generations of pious individuals that once they weaved three fingerbreadths of the length of the garment, they would affix the white and sky-blue strings to the first two corners, even though the garment was not yet long enough to be obligated to have ritual fringes.
The Gemara answers: Say that the baraita should read as follows: Once they completed [shepatzu] the garment until there were only three fingerbreadths left to weave, they would affix the white and sky-blue strings to the first two corners.
The Talmud tells us of earlier rabbis who would add tzitzit as they made a garment, even if it wasn’t yet obligated to have them. This is a problem! This is the same issue we had before!
The Gemara responds: This situation should be understood differently. They would attach the tzitzit not when they were starting to make the garment but when it was nearly completed.
The Gemara asks: And do we say: Prepare it, and not from what has already been prepared? Is that so that this principle disqualifies ritual fringes that one affixed to a garment before he was required to do so?
You might be asking: that seems like the same thing! The Gemara agrees with you. It seems pretty similar. Our principle seems appropriately applied here.
Principle: Obligations
The Talmud then presents a similar but ultimately different situation:
But doesn’t Rabbi Zeira say: If one affixed ritual fringes to a garment that already had ritual fringes affixed to it and then removed the original strings, it is fit, despite the fact that when he attached the second set they were superfluous? This indicates that even if one attaches ritual fringes to a garment when there is no obligation to attach them, the ritual fringes are fit.
Rabbi Zeira says that if you have a four-cornered garment with tzitzit on it, which would be fully kosher, and you add a second set of tzitzit, which is not necessary, is this kosher?
This case is similar because of the idea that obligations are like open loops that need to be closed. Halakhically, obligations are like checkboxes. Once they are checked, we can continue until the obligation becomes checkable again.
If I’m about to eat food, I’m obligated to say a blessing. Once I’ve said it, my obligation is complete, and I’m good to eat. It is not until I’m eating again later that my obligation kicks in, and I have to say another blessing. (It is a bit more complicated than that, but the principle still works.)
In our case, our four-cornered garment had an obligation to have tzitzit, which was resolved by adding tzitzit. If I put on a second set of tzitzit, they aren’t obligatory. This might make me think that I’ve made them unfit in some way because two sets of tzitzit are not halakhically appropriate.
If this is the case, I’ve made them unfit, therefore I cannot make this garment fit again because of our principle of ta’aseh v’lo min ha’asui.
However, Rabbi Zeira tells us that this is not a problem. This four-cornered garment is not made unfit during the time period that it has two sets of tzitzit attached to it.
Except…
Principle: Bal Tosif
Rava said: This does not present a difficulty, because now that he adds a second, unnecessary set of ritual fringes and is liable for violating the prohibition of adding to a mitzva (see Deuteronomy 13:1), is it not considered an action?
We’ve got a whole new problem! This one comes from this week’s Torah portion, Re’eh.
There is a principle that we are not permitted to add or remove a mitzvah. It comes from this verse here:
Be careful to observe only that which I enjoin upon you: neither add to it nor take away from it. (Deuteronomy 13:1)
We’re instructed only to do what God has told us and not to add more mitzvot.
In this case, Rava is highlighting that adding two sets of tzitzit feels dangerously close to transgressing this idea of adding extra mitzvot.
Rav Pappa objects to this: From where is it known that Rabbi Zeira is discussing a case where the person intended to add to the original set of ritual fringes? Perhaps Rabbi Zeira is discussing a case where he intended to nullify the original strings, and therefore there is no prohibition of adding to a mitzva, and there is an action.
However, Rav Pappa comes to Rabbi Zeira’s rescue and utilizes the power of intentionality. Rabbi Zeira always intended to remove the original set and never meant to have two sets on the garment at the same time. Therefore, no problem.
The Talmud continues presenting a variety of different situations that one might encounter with tying tzitzit on various garments.
So what do we do with this?
Not every situation can be fixed.
In life and in tzitzit, we can learn that not every situation can be fixed. Not every problem or mistake can be repaired. Some things made “unfit” cannot be made “fit” again.
Many years ago, I used my wife’s ceramic red dairy pot, which I thought was designated for meat, to make dinner. It was red after all. Unfortunately, due to the laws of kashrut, I couldn’t fix it. Its status could not be repaired, and I had to purchase a new pot for her.
In our relationships, we can apologize and do our best to repair things, but sometimes, it cannot be fixed.
This should teach us to be careful. To be thoughtful in our interactions and in our choices.
Context and status are interconnected.
Whether a garment has four corners or not makes a difference in its status. Fewer than four, there’s no obligation, and it is just a piece of clothing.
As soon as it has four corners, the clothing transforms into a holy opportunity for a mitzvah.
There are many moments in our lives, if we are paying attention, that change instantly and thus our relationship with them. They call out opportunities to stop, think, and engage Jewishly in ways we might not have expected.
With the right lens, our days are filled with these whispers of mitzvot, ready for us to get involved.
Enough is actually enough.
Even as our society changes and how Judaism changes with it, we are reminded not to add to the mitzvot. We must be careful about not becoming so over-zealous that we lose track when we add more and more restrictive observances to our lives.
Jewish observances are powerful, and deepening them in our lives can be inspiring and meaningful. At the same time, we can treat customs as if they were mitzvot and mitzvot as if they were mere customs.
We must remember that the Torah was given to us, and through the Tradition translated constantly into the present, so that we may live amidst the mitzvot. There are enough of them to keep us busy.
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The Hebrew month of Elul is traditionally a period of spiritual self-reflection as we slowly approach the High Holiday season. This year, let’s take a breath and do a little learning and conversation!
The four sessions are at 12 noon Eastern Time (9 am Pacific) over Zoom:
August 17th - Rosh Hashanah: Learning to Listen, Learning to Cry
August 24th - Yom Kippur: Teshuva and Reinventing Ourselves
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September 7th - Setting Times
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