How The Custom Of Wearing Fringes Continued,
or Did Not Continue
After The Destruction Of The Second Temple

During this period, the wearing of fringes was still important:

• The son of a famous Rabbi was asked which of the commandments above all others his father had especially charged him to keep. His reply was: 'The law concerning the tzitzit. On descending a ladder my father stepped on one of the threads and tore it off. He refused to move from the spot until it was replaced.' (Talmud: Shabb. 188b)
• Abraham Ibn Ezra , the medieval Spanish commentator, indicated that the wearing of Tzitzit was more important when not praying, since during prayer one was unlikely to be tempted to sin."Hammer , p 250-254

Fringes as Identification -- Badges

Information about the detail of daily use of tzitzit in the Middle Ages is difficult to find. However, there is a lot of information about various governments requiring the use of badges to identify Jews and distinguish them from the rest of the population. One can infer from this that most Jews were not ordinarily wearing distinguishing outer clothing.

Here is an excerpt from the report of the Fourth Lateran Council summoned by Pope Innocent III (1198-1216 C.E. ) which declared that Jews must wear a mark on their clothing to separate them from Christians:

Women And Fringes

During the period of the second temple, women as well as men put fringes on their garments. However, later on many Rabbis felt that women should be exempt from wearing them. Their reasoning goes as follows:

• The Torah mentions that tzitzit should be seen
• AND THAT means tzitzit should be worn only in the daytime
• AND THAT makes it a time-based commandment
• AND the Talmud exempts women from time-based commandments.

One Rabbinical commentator stated: "While a woman may voluntarily assume such obligations, in this case it is held to be improper for a woman to observe the precept of tzitzit and wear a Tallit because of the appearance of overweening pride." Appel , p 39

Other medieval rabbis felt that women were required to wear tzitzit, the same as men.

Blue Thread

The blue thread was still important and much discussed in the period immediately after the destruction of the second temple. The Talmud asks: "Why blue?" The answer was, "Because this color resembles the sea, the sea resembles the sky and the sky resembles the 'Chair of Glory,' (Talmud: Men. 43b)

Since the second century C.E., the tassels have been pure white. The use of the blue thread was discontinued. Reasons for its discontinuance include:

• Lack of dye from murex snail.
• Cost of dye from the murex snail.
• Dislike of any alternative dyes
• Fear that the fringe was beginning to be thought of as talisman, something like a Saint Christopher medal.
• Concerns about comparing it with the actual color of heaven: "the Rabbis began to object to the use of the blue thread in connection with Tsitsis. Most likely they wished to avoid the anthropromorphic idea of the throne of glory being of a blue color." Cohon , p 27.)

GENERAL REFERENCES

Appel, Gersion, THE CONCISE CODE OF JEWISH LAW. Volume One, NY: Ktav, 1977

Cohon, Samuel. S., B'NAI B'RITH MANUAL. Cincinnati: 1926.

Encyclopedia Judaica

Fringes," in: Hastings, J. DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE. NY: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1902, pp. 68-70.

Hammer, Reuven, ENTERING JEWISH PRAYER: A GUIDE TO PERSONAL DEVOTION AND THE WORSHIP SERVICE. NY: Schocken Books, 1994.

Milgrom, Jacob, "Of hems and tassels: Rank, authority and holiness were expressed in antiquity by fringes on garments," BIBLICAL ARCHAEOLOGY REVIEW, v. IX, # 3, May/June 1983, pp. 61-65.

5/16/98

Rosemarie E. Falanga, Cy H. Silver