42. Borrowing a Tallis

9:11 It is permissible to borrow another person’s tallis occasionally, even without his knowledge, based on the assumption that the owner would be happy to facilitate the performance of a mitzvah, especially since it costs him nothing. (If the owner is present, of course, he should be asked. See Mishnah Brurah 14:13.) The borrower, however, must not remove the tallis from its place, because the owner might object to that. If the borrower found the tallis folded, he must re-fold it when he’s finished with it. On Shabbos, when many do not fold their tallis, the borrower does not fold it (or does not fold it exactly as he found it – MB 14:15) and the owner will understand. If a person borrows a tallis just for an aliyah (or to daven or duchen – MB 14:11), there is a doubt as to whether or not he recites a blessing over it. To avoid the question, he should have the intention not to acquire the tallis, which removes all doubt. If it’s a communal tallis, one must bless over it, even if just using it for an aliyah, because it’s as if it’s his own.

9:12 When the Torah says “wool,” it refers to a sheep or ram’s wool. If a tallis is made partially of wool and partially of another material, such as cotton, it would be preferable not to recite a blessing over it. This is because some authorities maintain that wool strings are only efficacious on a garment of the same material. Therefore, if one has a tallis of silk with wool threads, he should first put on a tallis of wool and recite the blessing on that one, then change into his silk tallis. (The Mishnah Brurah – 9:6 – writes that the accepted practice is to place wool tzitzis even on garments of other materials and that there is reason to be lenient in this matter.) If a silk tallis had silk threads, he could bless on it, but it is uncommon to have the strings made of silk. One should avoid having some strings of wool and some of silk; the tzitzis strings of any garment should always be all of the same material.