Tzitzit / Tzitzis and Tallit - Historical Origin

Tzitzit (Ashkenazi Hebrew: tzitzis) are "fringes" or "tassels" found on a tallit worn by observant Jews as part of the practice of Judaism. In Orthodox Judaism it is worn only by males. The Torah states in Numbers 15:38: "Speak to the children of Israel and you shall say to them that they shall make for themselves fringes on the corners of their garments, throughout their generations, and they shall affix a thread of blue on the fringe of each corner".

Beginning when Moses received the Torah on Mount Sinai, the Jewish People were commanded to place tzitzis on the corners of their four-cornered garments. The purpose of such a commandment is so that the Jews should glance at the strings and remember all of the 613 commandments.

Most people at the time (both Jews as well as non-Jews) wore clothing that bears little resemblance to modern apparel. Most clothing consisted of a sheet-like item wrapped around the body following the local customs of the time. This can perhaps be compared to the "'abayah," or blanket, worn by the Bedouins for protection from sun and rain, or the stola/toga of ancient Greece and Rome. As sheets, these garments had four corners and were thus subsequently (from Sinai, onwards) required to possess these tzitzis. These were sometimes worn partly doubled, and sometimes with the ends thrown over the shoulders.

As modern day dawned and people began wearing the apparel with which we are all quite familiar (shirts and slacks, etc.), the four-cornered sheet-like cloth fell out of style and practicality, and to this end, the Biblical commandment to attach tsitsis to one's garments effectively became obsolete. However, in a demonstration of love for the Almighty, the Rabbis ordained that Jews should purposely wear four-cornered garments to necessitate the attachment of the tsitsis.