Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Okay, good afternoon everybody.
Chapter 2: What are the different scenarios of unmarried individuals wearing a talus?
So recently I got the same question in different forms a number of times, and that is about a person who is not yet married wearing a talus for davening. It came up in the following three instances. In one case it was a bacher in Eretz Yisrael who happens to be a Kohen, so he got himself his own talus for duchne, because he's going to need to duchne every day.
He said, once I have a talus, I'm putting it on every day. Should I just put it on for the whole davening? Another case was Balchuvah, who grew up in a conservative shul. And in the conservative shul, everybody wore a talus, the whole davening. Men, women, children, everybody wore a talus, the entire davening. Now he's davening in an Orthodox shul. Now he's wrong.
So should he stop wearing a talus now that he became Orthodox? And in the third case, it was an assistant rabbi at a shul who just feels uncomfortable that he's the rabbi of a shul and he's not wearing a talus. for a davening. So the shayla is, is there any reason not to? Is there anything, what's the basis of this practice that people only put on a talus gadol once they get married?
So to answer that question, we have to back up a little bit. Why do we only wear a talus during davening? Why don't we wear a talus gadol all day long? that even if you're not going to wear tzitzis all day long, at the very least, you should wear tzitzis, you should wear a beggar of Dalet Kanfos to make yourself obligated in tzitzis during davening.
The Dark Emotion, Simen Ches, Sivkat and Gimel, says that many pairs of talus katan are not really large enough and are otherwise not necessarily kasher.
So he says, Therefore, you want to have a Talas Gadol so that you know it's for sure Chayiv and Tzitzis, and you wear that during Chachris, and you wear a Talas Katon throughout the day so that you're never without Tzitzis at all, but at least when you're going to say a bracha, and when you're davening, you should have a Talas Gadol. Davening is also a time of extra Yerushalayim.
The Beis Yosef in Simuchas writes that covering our heads... humbles us and makes clear when it describes that his mother insisted that he have a head covering in order to generate so the talus is used for Natifa to wrap one's head and that generates an extra sense of Yerushalayim. and which seems entirely appropriate for tefillah.
And there are also times during davening when tzitzit comes in very handy, that tzitzit plays a particular role at different times during davening. The Gemara in Bracha, Stavya Dalet says, that a person who says kriyashma without tefillin, it's as if he's being made a shaker on himself. But the Zohar in Parsha Shalach writes,
that if you say that it's so in that context that when people are traveling they just think it's too much to slurp along their talus gadol not right you should daven with the talus gadol Because you're going to be Korah Kriyashma, so you should have a talis kadol, you should have a talis when you do so.
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Chapter 3: Why do some people believe a talus should only be worn after marriage?
One psalm teaches about tzitzis. The next psalm is Ki Ikach Ish Isha. that might imply some connection with Yikach Esh Esha and Tzitzis. In fact, the parash harash ala Torah, ki yikach esh Esha, maksiv l'mayla, g'dilim ta'selcha, mikant smach l'min ha'golam, shalokhen talus l'chassan k'shi esi Esha. And this is a smach for the min ha'golam that we buy a talus for a chassan when he gets married.
Now, he does not say that we do not buy one for him before he gets married. Maybe we just get him a new one. when he gets married, that it's a smach for that minach. It doesn't say that it's his first talis.
The Sefer HaManik takes this as a real source to first start wearing a talis when getting married, and he quotes Kiddush and Chavtas, that one Amorah met another, and he said, how come you're not wearing a talis?
Chapter 4: What is the significance of wearing a talus during davening?
And he said, because I'm not married, that's why I'm not wearing tzitzis.
I don't think that's our Gersen HaGemara. I think in our Gersen HaGemara, He was asking him about a head covering, not Ramis Achuti, not about the chutim of Tzitzis. Anyway, what else might the explanation for this minhag be of waiting until one gets married?
The Drash Asmaril in Hilchas Nisuan records the minhag. and he attributes it to the smichas ha-psukim that we mentioned before. Now, some think that the mar'il was saying that the minug was to not even wear a talus katan, but Tzitzal Yezer has a chuv in Chedek Chaf, Simul Chas, where he says, no, no, no one ever had that minug, to not wear a talus katan.
Talus katan you for sure wear before you get married. The mar'il is referring to the minug not to wear a talus gadol until you get married. But what would the basis for such a minug be other than this smichas ha-psukim? So in the Tameyam in Hagim, he says in the Oztav Tavkuf Samech Zayin, that before getting married, a young man does not have an or hamakif.
And when he gets married, he earns this all-encompassing or that's symbolized by the kala walking around the chasin under the chuppah. So that's also symbolized by wrapping one's body entirely in the talis. Okay, the Radvaz in Chedek Aleph, Shemim Gimel, says that the entire purpose of a talis gandul is to be able to be mesateif and to cover your head.
And we know that Magan Avram writes in Siman Chas of Katan Gimel that a bacher doesn't cover his head, doesn't do an atifa with a talus over his head. So the whole purpose of a talus gadol is to be able to do an atifa over your head. And we're going to tell a bacher that he's not supposed to do an atifa over his head. So there's no reason for a bacher to have a talus gadol.
Now it's notable that that Magan Avram that says that you should not have an atifa when you're a bacher, that you don't wrap a talus over your head when you're a bacher,
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Chapter 5: How does the practice of wearing tzitzis vary among different communities?
is not necessarily universally agreed upon. I think Rav Shachta tells people when they get an aliyah here that they should put the towels over their head, even if they're a bachar, because having an atifa for Dvar Misha B'Kedusha overrides whatever that minag may be.
In fact, in the Chuvah Slavushay Mordechai, Arachayim Tinyan Asim and Beis, he says, V'Shamati Mipi Talmidei Hagon Bal Imrei Eish Tzatzal, Ki Bebeis Midrashu Gamabachrim Oyim Esadfim Al Roshayem. There are many people that have such a minag, that are not necessarily like the Magan Havav.
Another possible basis is that same Chuvah Slavu She Mordechai, where he says that So you know where the minag came from? That a person doesn't have a talus until he gets married? They used to get married around the Bar Mitzvah, so they became chayiv and mitzvahs. That's what they were going to tell us. They came from places that had such a minach.
Kleisenberger has a tshuva in Divrei Yatziv Chalek Or Chayim Simimem Dalid where he quotes several other reasons for the minach. He says the tzitzis carry reminders of all Taryag mitzvahs. Like Rashi says, the gematria of tzitzis is Tafresh and then the eight strings and the five knots. So it's a reminder for all Taryug mitzvos.
So before you're able to do the biggest mitzvah, Puruvu, it doesn't make sense to wear them because you're missing something too big in the world of mitzvos. That's especially true since the Gemara says in Yivam Estaf Samach Beis that a man who's shari below Isha is below Torah. So how could you be with Taryug mitzvos when shari below Isha?
Then the Kleisenberger says that the tzitzis represents lo sasuru achrei eineichem. And that is why the Gemara Menachas, Tav Mem Dalet, says that when someone was a Nixal in this area, the Dalet Tzitzios came and slapped him. Because the Tzitzis represents protection of Los HaSuru Ach Reinechem.
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Chapter 6: What are the sources that discuss the minhag of wearing a talus?
But before a person is married, the Gemara Kiddushim says that he's Kol Yomav Ba'avera. So we don't allow fulfilling Mitzvot Tzitzis Beshlemos Ad She'isa Isha. Then the Klaizen Magor suggests, the Gemara Menachas, Mem Gimelem Be'ez, is quoting Shulchan Aruch Simuchav Dalet, that Kol Azor is B'mitzvot Zu Zohar Mekabel P'Neshchina.
That if you're careful about tzitzis, you'll have kabbalahs p'nei shechina. And so, Tadaf Yitzhayan tells us, So that it all aligns to have this sense of kabbalahs ha-shechina. Then the Kleisenberger says, fascinatingly, He says, this way people will stop dragging their feet about getting married because it will be embarrassing not to wear a talus.
So God let them be embarrassed into getting married so that they'll wear a talus. Okay, those are the reasons that are suggested that I was able to find in the postcard. Not surprisingly, he says, what are you talking about? Wear a talus. You should wear a talus from the youngest age. When you're six years old, you should get the kid a talus already.
He says that, he quotes the Sefer Chassidim in Simitav Me'am Vav, that someone had a dream that he was about to die and that they decided up in Shemaim that he's going to get to live. And he said, what did I do that I get to live? And they said that you wore a talus even as a bachar and that you took care of poor people. So those were the two big Zuchlias. So apparently, that was one reason.
Ravadia says, From the age of six, he says, I don't see why not. And he therefore suggested that everyone should wear one. Rav Solveitchik would require Bachram to wear a talus in Maimonides. I have a friend, Joel Mayle, who grew up in Boston, going to Maimonides, and he said that Rav Solveitchik would tell the kids, I think starting from Bar Mitzvah,
that they should wear a talus, a talus gadol. Rav Shechter writes, that even a single person should wear a talus, because we have to be khoshish for the shitos, that you're not yotzei tzitzis without a tifa. Dr. Grech was knowing this way as a child.
Barav Selvage said, if you know that you have a strong family minag, dafka not do okay, so I'm not going to get in the way of such a strong family minag. I asked Rav Asher Weiss about the case of the guy who grew up in the conservative movement and is now davening an orthodox shul, if he should continue to wear a talus.
He said, rule number one of Kiruv, don't tell people not to do mitzvahs, tell people to do mitzvahs. You want to get them doing more mitzvahs. So you're going to tell that the guy's been doing this mitzvah his whole life. Now stop with that mitzvah. That's probably not a great strategy in Kiruch. So he thought that the fellow should continue to wear the talus.
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