Judaica

Wearing Tzitzit: the Tallit Katan

Emmett
July 19, 2023

If you see men walking around with the tzitzit (tassels) hanging down from their waists at their sides, this is the tallit katan (small tallit), and while the mitzvah is the same as the tallit gadol, many other factors are not.

Many people are familiar with the image of Jew praying in the mornings wearing a tallit, but this is only one type of tallit. What that type of prayer shawl, the tallit gadol (large tallit), looks like may be more classic or iconic, but is only one part of the picture.

The tallit katan is an undershirt usually made simply of a 4-cornered sheet with a hole in the center for the head to fit through and sometimes sewn up at the for an inch or two. This is because there is a mitzvah (commandment) that for any 4-cornered garment it needs to have particular knotted tassels known as tzitzit at each corner.

While something like jeans and a t-shirt or even a suit and tie by themselves will probably contain nothing with 4-corners like the ancient-style tunics and kaftans, it has become a (universal custom) to make sure to have such a garment.

Let’s break down a few different factors when it comes to the modern tallit katan.

Wearing “tzitzit” or “tallit katan”

Young Jewish Hasidic men are walking in Uman, Ukraine. On their

You will likely hear people talking about the subject, you may simply hear people use the phrase “wearing tzitzit”. Practically speaking, this means the same thing as “wearing a tallit katan” because the main focus of the garment are the tassels, which will in almost all cases be the only visible part.

As far as any real differences between the two parts, there has been a longstanding preference for wearing wool tzitzit, and only to a lesser extent on having the undershirt made of wool. Technically, there is no problem using other materials, but many people are careful to only use wool for both the tzitzit and the tallit katan body with a certification. Especially during an Israeli summer or during physical exertion, many people look for lighter options though.

Ashkenazim and Sefardim

There are different styles of the tallit between different groups like the Ashkenazim and Sefardim, mostly to do with the knot-patterns. It is always preferable to go according to one’s customs and traditions. Note that the use of tekhelet (a blue string) does not denote only one group, but always confirm with your rav before wearing them.

Many Jews who wear the tzitzit on a daily basis will not be doing so visibly, based on the Sefardic custom. Rather than sticking the tassels out from underneath other clothes, the tassels are tucked inside, so as to not be seen as showing off.

Unless one has a specific custom to wear a tzitzit under other clothes, he should always wear them outward. While not the only point of the mitzvah, a significant aspect indicated in the Torah is to serve as a reminder to oneself and to others to keep the mitzvot, and the different knot-patterns in the tzitzit represent different sides of that message.

T-Shirt vs. Traditional

In addition to those different customs of how to wear the tallit katan, there are also different customs about what to wear. While the idea of a garment to wear around with the tzitzit around is uniform, some people will wear them in garments that on first glance might look like a t-shirt or more often a tank-top, while others will wear something that looks just like a smaller version of the tallit gadol, with a hole for the head to fit through. It is believed this is where the false idea came about that Jewish couples are intimate through a sheet when really people just saw the tallit katan hanging up to dry.

Bracha for Tallitot

Hebrew prayer book and a tallit, a jewish prayer shawl

The blessing (bracha) for the tallit gadol and the tallit katan starts the same, much like many others:

Baruch ata Ad-nai, El-heinu melech ha’olam, asher kideshanu, b’mitzvotav, vitzivanu…

(Blessed are you Hashem, king of the world, who sanctifies us with his mitzvahs, commanding us…)

The bracha for a tallit katan ends “...al mitzvot ha’tzitzit” (on the commandment of the tzitzit).

The bracha for the tallit gadol ends “...l’hitatef b’tzitzit” (...to wrap with tzitzit) which you will often see printed on the side of the tallit body.

In a way, the difference highlights the intention behind the two types. With a tallit katan, this is a blessing focused on the commandment of wearing the tzitzit-tassels on a 4-cornered garment, and the tallit gadol focuses on being enwrapped. While a tallit gadol is also very important, it is only worn in special contexts while the tallit katan tends to be worn all day, everywhere.

Age for Tzitzit

ceremony bar mitzvah boy reads the Torah

Different communities will start putting boys in tzitzit from different ages. While the mitzvah (commandment) of wearing tzitzit on a four-cornered garment comes at the age of Bar Mitzvah, when a young man is now considered obligated in the mitzvot, many families put young boys in tzitzit from the age of three. This is also when he will start wearing a kippa (yarmulke) after his upsherin (ceremony for first haircut).

While little boys may have a tendency to get things messy and dirty, this is the ideal age to start introducing the mitzvah. Ultimately, no matter when you start, it means taking part in an age-old tradition,doing more mitzvot, and visibly signaling your pride as being part of the Jewish community.

Big or small, shirt or traditional, wool or not, find the set of tzitzit that is right for you with tons of options to choose!