40. Putting on the Tallis

9:7 Before wrapping oneself in the tallis, a person should examine the tzitzis in order to ensure that they are in order. However, if examining the threads will cause him to fall behind the minyan to the point that he will not be davening with the congregation, then he need not take the time to examine them. 9:8 Since a person says the appropriate blessing immediately before performing a mitzvah, he should therefore take his tallis with both hands, think about the fact that he is about to wear it to fulfill the obligation to recall all of God’s mitzvos in order to perform them, then make the bracha l’hisateif batzitzis, that God commanded us to wrap ourselves in tzitzis. He then covers his head and face with his tallis and wraps the corners around his neck. He should remain in place momentarily while he recites the verses of “mah yakar chasd’cha” (“how precious is Your kindness – Psalms 36:8-11), after which he may remove the tallis from his head. All of this is done standing. A person should attempt to keep his tzitzis from dragging on the floor as this is considered disrespectful to the mitzvah.