Saturday 1 September 2012

Mussar from the Mishnah B'rurah on Tzitzit.

About 3 decades ago R Hecht and I had a conversation over bout the M"B's tendency to mix in Mussar into his Halachic commentary...

In a recent M"B Yomit (8:26) the M"B stresses the Mussar of wearing Tzitzit out. He cites no sources in Sha'ar Hatziyyun, though he does cite several ma'amarei Hazal that might lend support to his thesis. WADR, I would choose to see these supporting the importance of treating Tzitzit with respect and even mindfulness, and not necessarily requiring them to be worn outside at least when wearing a Tallit Koton.

BE"H, I will try to find other specific examples of the same while going through the Sefer.

Shanah Tovah,
Best Wishes for 5773!

1 comment:

Ben of Ben's Tallit Shop said...

The problem with that is that the Torah specifically says, "and you shall see them." If, according to kabbalah, you don't see them, you have a bit of a quandry on your hands.

In any case, regarding mindfulness, Rabbi Binyamin Zilber zt"l, in his responsa, Az Nidberu, writes that during Krias Shema "we don't pay attention to what we are saying and what the tzitzit demand of us. All day long we forget about the tzitzit entirely. We do not look at the tzitzit and do not contemplate the tzitzit. We simply do not take the time [to think about the mitzvah]" (Vol. 3, 43).