#tzitzit

[weisswodka]

Outfit Check with tallit and tallit bag

[unsolicited-opinions]

So before I start, this is a genuine question, and if the answer is no then it's a no and I will take my disappointment and respect cultural boundaries. But I'm a Catholic and have felt a calling to wear tzittzit. I've discussed it with my Jewish friends and they said that it would be okay but don't be offended if I get mistaken as Jewish and also buy them from a Jewish owned business. But I also want an unbiased opinion. I tried to look up a Rabbi response but I couldn't find one when I googled my question, no matter how I worded it. Every time it's answered, it's by a Christian and it's very frustrating. The closest thing I found was an old response on a blog of a Jewish man discouraging it and suggested wearing rainbow tassels instead if a Christian REALLY wanted to wear them (rainbow to resemble the covenant G-d made with Noah). But I felt uneasy. So I hope you don't mind me asking you. So... is it allowed? Could I wear them? If no then would wearing non-kosher "tzittzit" be a good alternative or are they too similar? And are the rainbow tassels a good alternative? Again, no desire to be disrespectful to Jewish culture. I'm aware of the cultural significance and that's why I've been so hesitant. I'd just rather be safer than sorry, you know? Please forgive me if this is an ignorant or dumb question and may you have a wonderful timezone. :))

I believe you that you mean no disrespect, Anon - but I don't think you understand what tzitzit actually are.

Do you know how many strings there are, and how many knots? Do you know why 613 matters? These aren't trivia questions, the answers are the whole point of the garment. Tzitzit are a physical reminder of a specific covenantal obligation that observant Jewish men are bound to. That's not incidental to what they are - it's what they are.

If you look that up and really take it in, I think you'll see the problem yourself. You're Catholic. You weren't going to wear them to fulfill that obligation. Your religious beliefs are not built on 613 mitzvot. They're built on not just different beliefs, but different frameworks of belief.

"Cultural significance" tries to make this feel like a matter of cultural etiquette, and I'm choosing to believe that's from ignorance, not dishonesty.

Tzitzit aren't a cultural practice, they're a mitzvah - a commandment. They have a specific legal architecture governing how they're made, tied, and worn, and they exist because of and within a covenantal relationship between G-d and the Jewish people...to which you are not a party.

The research trail you describe also isn't reassuring. You consulted (non-observant) Jewish friends who said yes, found a blogger who said no, and are now asking an internet stranger who has repeatedly described himself as a secular atheist.

I don't know what's in your heart, Anon, but this doesn't seem like due diligence. It seems more like you're shopping for permission and were hoping a secular atheist wouldn't care.

The answer you kept not finding from Jews wasn't a gap in the literature or you just having difficulty locating it. There are no writings by Jews about non-Jews following such mitzvot because it is neither expected nor appropriate for them to do so. Jewish thought only hopes that non-Jews will follow the Noahide laws and believes that good people of every faith

"Non-kosher tzitzit" have a simpler name: tassels. The commandment isn't a dress code with a knockoff option. Wear tassels if you like, but please don't call them tzitzit.

Since you solicited my opinion:

"Seeing beauty in the custom," says Lutheran Reverand Kris Litman-Koon, "is not permission to appropriate it."

Your Catholic tradition has its own rich embodied prayer practices, including scapulars, rosaries, and hair shirts. The impulse to wear something that anchors you physically to your G-d is worth honoring, if you feel so moved - but not with tzitzit. They're not yours, and they're not for you to appropriate.

But I'm a Catholic and have felt a calling to wear tzittzit.

I'm trying to say this in the softest, most gentle way I can: You haven't felt a calling. If you understood what they are, you'd know that. The hesitance you're feeling is trying to tell you something important which you'll understand better if you study the Church's long, awful history of appropriation and supersessionism.

(@straynoahide, would you be up to recommending some reading as a Catholic of Jewish heritage who knows this history better than Anon? @sole-e-acqua, any reading you'd like to recommend as a Christian?)

If any frum Jews would be willing to share their views here, I'd appreciate it. Nobody in my family has worn tzitzit for at least a couple generations and your observant perspective might differ significantly from mine.

Please be kind and presume Anon is both sincere and asking without any unkind intent.

[furywren]

For my omer-counting project this year, i got some beautiful Awassi wool from Handmade Palestine and have been spinning it into these lovely tzitzit strings! :^)

The wool has a natural ivory color with flecks of warm reddish brown, and a wavy, energetic texture.

All proceeds(!!!) from these strings will go directly back to supporting Palestinians through The Sameer Project. To get yourself a set, send me a message, or head over to my website! :^)

[girlactionfigure]

Why do some tallitot have black stripes, some have blue, and some none at all?

The stripes are often symbolic — many believe they echo the ancient tekhelet (blue thread) once commanded in the Torah. Blue-striped tallitot recall this lost tradition, while black stripes (especially among Ashkenazi Jews) often represent mourning, humility, and memory.

At the center of it all are the tzitzit — ritual fringes tied with deep intention. Their knots and windings symbolize God’s oneness, the 613 mitzvot, and our eternal bond with the Divine.

Whether your tallit is blue, black, or plain, each one wraps you in thousands of years of tradition, identity, and faith.

[covington-shenanigans]

this is my best idea yet

a punk vest/battle jacket/whatever

with tzitzit

[askjumblr]

Tzitzit-wearers: do you use tkhelet (either Ptil Tkhelet or Radzyner)? Why or why not? And if so, which tying custom do you use?

.

[challahbeloved]

fashion tip to immediately elevate your look:

tzitzit strings out

[koenji]

Handwoven Yemenite Jewish prayer shawl, Southern Yemen, Early 20th century. 275 x 102 cm. Gift of Yihya Ovadya Gibli, Jaffa.

"In Yemen, the biblical commandment (Num. 15:38–39; Deut. 22:12) to attach tassels (tzitzit) to the four corners of one’s garment is fulfilled by attaching tzitzit to the four-cornered outer garment worn daily; in other communities, where daily attire is not four-cornered, special ritual garments—the prayer shawl (tallit) and the vest-like tallit katan—have come to be used for this purpose.

The Jews of Yemen wore several types of four-cornered garments to fulfill the tzitzit precept. In Sana'a and on the Central Plateau, an everyday black woolen shawl worn over the shoulders served as a tallit. This type of shawl was an integral part of the Jewish male’s dress in the region, and the indicative offwhite ritual tassels hung from its four corners. A more precious version made of highly refined black wool was worn in this region on the Sabbath.

The garment’s Yemeni Arabic name shamleh recalls the Hebrew word simlah, used in the Bible. Both words carry the idea of a wrapped outer garment that envelops the wearer, as does the tallit when worn during prayers. As a four-cornered garment, the shamleh was subject to the commandment to bear tzitzit, and wearing it allowed one to fulfill the commandment with an article of clothing that served daily functions. In addition to being an article of clothing, it served as a blanket when resting, or a bag for bundling and carrying goods.

In rural Yemen, all men, Muslims and Jews, slung a striped, brightly colored cotton shoulder-cloth around their upper body called a lih feh or masnaf, edged with a woven band and fringes. On the four corners Jews added the ritual tassels, identifying themselves as Jews.

In southern Yemen, the tallitot were woven in color schemes of green, red, and yellow on an off-white background. These were the standard outer garment in this region, either rectangular in shape, or poncho-like with a hole or slit in the middle for the head, similar to the tallit katan (a small, four-cornered garment worn to enable one to fulfill the tzitzit commandment if one’s regular outer garment was not four-cornered). Silk squares were sewn on to reinforce the four corners where the tassels were fixed.

Skilled Jewish weavers made these garments. Among Yemeni Jews, weaving was a widely practiced and highly respected profession, one that was considered to require special skills. In the poncho-like tallit, the edges around the head and neck opening were embroidered with stitches typical of the area. At the turn of the twentieth century, the Ashkenazi white rectangular tallit with its blue or black stripes along the shorter, fringed hems, called shal in Yemen, frequently replaced the traditional Yemenite prayer shawls." x