Wearing tzitzit with a thread of blue

From Rabbi Avi Weiss:

What is the purpose of wearing tzitzit, the ritual fringes that are attached to the four cornered garment mentioned in our parsha? (Numbers 15:37-41) Several classic answers come to mind.

Some suggest the meaning lies in the tekhelet, the unique blue color found amongst the fringes. This color "is like the sea, the sea is like the sky and the sky like the throne of glory." (Menahot 43b) In other words, wearing tzitzit reminds us of God's presence.

Still others suggest that the tzitzit remind us to commit to God's mitzvot. The numerical value of tzitzit, coupled with the number of knots and strings used to make these fringes, is 613, equal to the number of commandments. Beyond feeling God's presence, one, through the wearing of tzitzit, has a constant awareness of responsibility to God's law.

Yet another thought comes to mind. The tzitzit remind us of the first garment recorded in the Torah, the one made by God for Adam and Eve after they ate from the tree in the Garden of Eden. Indeed, Adam and Eve disobeyed God, following the temptations of their eyes and heart. (Genesis 3:6) Here, God commands the wearing of fringes in order to avoid being seduced by our own hearts and eyes. (Numbers 15-39)

In a sense, the prayer shawl serves a different function than that of the fringed garment worn all day. Wrapping ourselves with the prayer shawl helps us to feel God's love, God's protection and God's embrace.

..Excerpts from: Tradition Today: 'Make for themselves tzitzit'

By REUVEN HAMMER

Published: JANUARY 7, 2010

When I read about the arrest of a woman for wearing a tallit at the Western Wall, I was appalled and asked myself the question: Why is this a criminal act? It is certainly not forbidden according to Jewish law. Perhaps this is a good opportunity to consider the meaning of wearing a tallit in general and the Halacha concerning women and tallitot in particular. First we have to distinguish between the tallit - the garment itself - which has no particular significance or holiness - and the tzitzit, the fringes, which are the basis of the entire mitzva. When we don the tallit, the blessing we recite ends with the words "and has commanded us to wrap ourselves in tzitzit." The commandment concerning tzitzit is well known, since it is recited as the third paragraph of the Shema -...These tzitziot are a reminder to observe all of the mitzvot so that Israel will be holy unto the Lord, as we read in Exodus, "You shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy people" (Exodus 19:6). It is a mitzva that leads to the observance of other mitzvot, an action symbol reminding us of our obligations and warning us against temptations. Jacob Milgrom, the well-known biblical scholar, has shown that wearing such elaborate fringes on hems of garments were a sign of a special status in the ancient Near East, while deep blue or purple was associated with the priestly status (Exodus 28:6). Wearing them is a sign that the entire people of Israel is elevated to the status of the servants of God.... Later, when styles of clothing changed, a special garment with four corners, the tallit, was made to accommodate the tzitzit. When that happened the sages also designated the exact way that the fringes would be wound, so that taken together the twsts and knots add up to 613, the traditional number of mitzvot. There is no reason to think that this commandment was intended only for men. The phrase "the children of Israel" in the Torah is a general one, indicating all Israelites.... Our rabbis taught: All must observe the law of tzitzit, priests, Levites and Israelites, converts, women and slaves. Rabbi Simeon exempts women because it is a positive mitzva dependent upon time, and women are exempted from all positive mitzvot dependent upon time (Menahot 43a). Similarly in the midrash (Sifre Numbers 115): "The Lord said to Moses... make for themselves tzitzit." Women are included in this. Rabbi Simeon exempts women from tzitzit because women are exempt from a positive mitzva dependent upon time. Rabbi Simeon's ruling is based on the fact that, according to the interpretation of the sages, since the Torah says "Look at it," the tzitzit are to be worn only when one can see them, namely in the daytime and not at night. This, according to Rabbi Simeon, puts them into the category of mitzvot from which women are exempt. The sages quoted in the Talmud did not agree with him and obligate women to wear tzitzit... There are many mitzvot from which women are exempt, yet they still perform them.... Does performing a mitzva from which one is exempt warrant an arrest? The Talmud, in the same place, records that one of the rabbis, Rabbi Judah, "attached tzitzit to the aprons of the women of his household." If those women had come to the Kotel, Rabbi Judah would have had to bail them out of jail! It is true that Rabbi Simeon's opinion was commonly followed and that it was not customary for women to wear a tallit during the Middle Ages and after, but if women today, following the ruling of the Tannaim, wish to wear tzitzit, why should they be prevented from doing so? The Spanish commentator on the Siddur, David Abudarham (14th century), reviewed the literature on women wearing tzitzit. He cited Maimonides, who ruled that women are permitted but not required to wear them, although not reciting a blessing. Rabbenu Tam (France, 12th century), however, permitted women to recite a blessing as well. As the Sifre put it, "Women are included in this," and even if it is only a voluntary act rather than a required one, is it not an act of piety that should be applauded rather than condemned? To be arrested in the Jewish state for performing a mitzva is indeed the ultimate absurdity. The writer is the head of the Rabbinical Court of the Masorti Movement and the author of several books, the most recent being Entering Torah.