Parashat Shelach Lecha is full of exciting narrative: the twelve spies, Israelite rebellion and defeat by the Amalekites. Nestled among these dramatic episodes we find the third paragraph of the Shema, recited daily by Jews all over the world, the mitzvah of tzitzit.
The Torah teaches that tzitzit act as a constant reminder of our commitment to God’s commandments. But who is obligated in this law?
The sages initially understood the commandment to apply to everyone, including women. Later they classify the wearing of tzitzit as a positive time-bound commandment, making it part of the category of mitzvot from which women are exempt.
Yet exemption did not mean prohibition; women who wished to wear tzitzit could still do so. We are even given an example of a sage helping his wife to dress in the ritual garment.
In many communities today, however, women are actively discouraged from wearing the ritual garment of tallit. Some oppose the practice on the grounds that the tallit is viewed as a traditionally male garment, and that women wearing it therefore violates the biblical prohibition against cross-dressing.
But if we go back to the source, the commandment is addressed to the entire Israelite people. All are instructed to place fringes on the corners of their garments.
Wearing tallit can be profoundly powerful. It is a tangible reminder to walk in God’s path and a visible expression of our Jewish identity and belonging.
The experience of wearing tallit can feel like being wrapped in something holy, a way of creating a sacred space for prayer. The Torah instructs us to tie tzitzit onto the kanfei big’deihem, “the corners of [our] garments.” The word for corner, kanfei, shares its root with kanaf, meaning wings. To wrap oneself in a tallit is therefore not only to fulfil a commandment, but to shelter beneath the wings of the Divine Presence.
For many, the tallit is a vehicle for spirituality, a wrapping of comfort and protection, a thread tying us to generations past, while grounding us in prayer in the present. It is a mitzvah through which Jews have long expressed their devotion and belonging.
To wrap oneself in a tallit is to seek shelter beneath the wings of the Shechinah — and that shelter should be open to all Israel alike.
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