Tzitzit

Q: Are we obligated to wear tzitzit throughout the day?  I see some Jews who have them dangling from beneath their shirts all day.

A: The biblical mitzvah for wearing tzitzit to be attached to the “corners of your garments.”  Modes of dress have radically changed throughout the centuries, certainly since the time of the Patriarchs.  Generally, people no longer wear four-cornered clothes.  Hence the obligation of wearing tzitzit all day long does not apply.

In its place Jews wrap themselves in a tallit each day in order to fulfill the mitzvah.

If one were to wear clothes that had four corners the law (halacha) was demand that we attach tzitzit to them.  There are many Jews who, eagerly wanting to fulfill God’s mitzvot, will put on a four cornered undershirt with tzitzit attached to them to both mete out God’s word as well as be reminded of God throughout the day.  This undergarment is called a tallit katan, literally a small tallit.