Tzitzis On A Blanket?
‘…to Exclude a Nighttime Garment’
(Menachos 43a)
R. Shimon on our daf derives from the words “u’re’eisem oso – you shall see [the tzitzis]” (Bamidbar 15:39) that one is only required to place tzitzis on a daytime garment. The halacha follows his ruling (Orach Chayim 18:1)
How does one define a “nighttime garment,” though? The Rosh (to Menachos, Hilchos Tzitzis, siman 1) maintains that “nighttime garment” means a garment designated exclusively for nighttime wear, such as a robe. The Rambam (Hilchos Tzitzis 3:7), in contrast, maintain that “nighttime garment” means any garment worn at night.
Thus, according to the Rosh, a daytime garment worn at night requires tzitzis and one fulfills a mitzvah by wearing such a garment with tzitzis. According to the Rambam, though, one does not fulfill a mitzvah by wearing such a garment. No garment at night, according to him, needs tzitzis.
A Blanket Mitzvah?
Hagahos Maimoniyos (op cit.) points out that according to the Rambam a person must place tzitzis on the four corners of his blanket if he uses it during the day. According to the Rosh, though, no tzitzis are necessary since blankets are primarily designated for nighttime use and thus are considered “nighttime garments.”
The Mechaber (infra 18:2) rules in accordance with the Rosh that blankets never need tzitzis regardless of when they are used.
An Early Tefillah
What should a person do if he puts on a tallis before dawn? Since it is a daytime garment, he may have to say a berachah on it. Even if one claims that he has no obligation to wear a tallis at that moment, surely there is such a requirement once dawn arrives. And yet, usually one cannot do a deed and then say a berachah for that deed afterward. It must be said before – “over le’asiyasan” (Mishnah Berurah, Orach Chayim 8:2).
The Rosh, taking into account this dilemma (op cit. Hilchos Tzitzis), cites an interesting Ashkenazic custom. He writes that when people start praying before dawn on the eve of Yom Kippur, the chazzan borrows a tallis from someone else in order to free himself of any requirement to say a berachah since wearing a borrowed tallis absolves one from having to say a berachah.
