Tuesday, June 9, 2015

Is wearing Tzitzit an obligation?

"The Gemara in Masechet Pesachim (113b) states that there are seven kinds of individuals that are excommunicated in Heaven and among them is one who does not don Tefillin on his arm and head, tie tzitzit to his garment, and place a Mezuzah on his doorpost. The Tosafot (ibid.) write that it seems that one must purchase a garment to tie tzitzit onto so as to obligate one’s self in the Mitzvah of tzitzit, just as we find in the Gemara in Masechet Sotah (14a) that Moshe Rabbeinu longed to enter Eretz Yisrael in order to be able to perform the Mitzvot that are specific to the land of Israel."
http://halachayomit.co.il/EnglishDisplayRead.asp?readID=2339&txtSearch=tzitzit

Saturday, June 6, 2015

To tuck or not to tuck Tzitzit? it depends...

"...Sepharadim, who generally follow the laws and customs of the Kabbalists, should keep their Tzitzit tucked into their garments. Chacham Bentzion Abba Shaul Z”L (Jerusalem, 1924-1998) cited his mentor, Chacham Ezra Attia Z”L (head of the renowned Yeshivat Porat Yosef in Jerusalem), as remarking that any Sepharadi that exposes his Tzitzit denigrates and casts aspersions on the previous generations of Sepharadim, who followed the practice of keeping the Tzitzit concealed. Rabbi Yehuda Tzadka Z”L (who served as Rosh Yeshiva along with Chacham Ezra Attia Z”L) testified that the esteemed Rabbi Yaakov Chaim Sofer (1870-1939), author of Kaf Ha'chayim Sofer, likewise kept his Tzitzit inside his clothing. The same is said about the prominent Kabbalist Rabbi Efrayim Cohen Z”L, and this is the ruling of Chacham Ovadia Yosef, in his work Yechaveh Da'at (2:1)."
https://www.dailyhalacha.com/Display.asp?ClipDate=6/19/2011