[Avodah] Hanging Tzitzis to fulfil all opinions -- can it be done?

Micha Berger micha at aishdas.org
Wed Jul 17 09:39:40 PDT 2019


AhS OC 11:13-15 discusses where to thread the tzitzis strings through
the beged. Too far from the edge, and it's not being put al qanfei
bigdeihem. Too close to the edge, and the string is itself part of the
qanaf, and not "al". (Although the Tur says only the bottom edges have a
"too close", there is no too close to the side. But the SA s' 10 says
the shiur is in both directions.)

So, the maximum is 3 godlim, and the minimum is qesher agodel, which
the AhS (citing SA hArav, "haGR"Z") says is 2 godlim.

So, tzitzis has to be hung between 2 and 3 godlim from the edges of
the beged.

2 godlin is 4 cm (R C Naeh) to 5 cm (CI).
3 godlin would be 6 cm to 7.5cm

So the only way to be machmir would be hanging one's tzitzis between 5
and 6 cm from the edges. Closer to 5, since the Rambam's amma (and thus
all units of length) is shorter than RCN's.

I'm just saying, it's a very small window.

OTOH, you don't need to worry about a measure for that minimum 2 godlin
from the corner that is so large that it implies your tallis qatan isn't
chayav in tzitzis. Because then, if you're too close to the corner,
who cares -- the garment doesn't need kosher tzitzis anyway!

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger                 The Maharal of Prague created a golem, and
http://www.aishdas.org/asp   this was a great wonder. But it is much more
Author: Widen Your Tent      wonderful to transform a corporeal person into a
- https://amzn.to/2JRxnDF    "mensch"!     -Rav Yisrael Salanter


More information about the Avodah mailing list