Checking Tzitzis Strings

Q. Must one check the strings of tzizis every morning before reciting a bracha to make sure they are kosher?

A. Shulchan Aruch (OC 8:9) writes that before reciting the beracha on tzizis, the strings should be checked to make sure they are kosher. The poskim pose the following question. There is a general halachic principal of chazaka (we presume the status quo remains unchanged). If so, why is it necessary to check the tzizis every day? Why can’t we rely on the chazaka?

The Taz (8:8) responds that with respect to tzizis we are particularly stringent and do not rely on chazaka. This is because we seek to avoid the possibility of reciting a beracha livatala (a bracha made in vain), which is a particularly serious aveira. Under certain circumstances, if the strings are torn, the mitzvah of tzizis may be unfulfilled and the beracha would be livatala. The Magen Avrohom (8:11) responds differently and says that we do not rely on chazaka when independent verification is possible. (In Talmudic literature, this is known as efsher livruri.) Furthermore, a chazaka is not valid for a situation that naturally changes over the course of time, and tzizis tend to become frayed and tear through normal use.

The Mishnah Berurah and many other poskim maintain that checking the strings before the beracha is a halachic imperative. However, the Aruch Hashulchan (8:15), based on the wording of the Rosh, writes that checking the strings is not obligatory, but rather a midas chasidus (exemplary conduct). Rav Ovadya Yosef zt”l (Yechave Daas 6:1), as well, concludes that checking the strings is a midas chasidus and not an absolute requirement. Nonetheless, all agree that if a person is running late, he should forgo checking his tzizis that day in order to daven with a minyan. (To be continued…)

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The Gerald & Karin Feldhamer OU Kosher Halacha Yomis is dedicated to the memory of Rav Yisroel Belsky, zt"l, who served as halachic consultant for OU Kosher for more than 28 years; many of the responses in Halacha Yomis are based on the rulings of Rabbi Belsky. Subscribe to the Halacha Yomis daily email here.