Making a New Bracha on Tzitzit

From Halachipedia

Intention

  1. The Shulchan Aruch holds that if one's Tallit is removed for any period of time, even if one intended to put it back on again immediately, one has to make a new bracha [1]
  2. The Rema disagrees and holds that if you remove a Tallit with the intention to put it back on within “a short period of time” one does not make a new bracha upon putting the Tallit back on, as long as it is within that short period of time. [2]
  3. If one removes the Tallit intending to put it back on right away and then does not put it on right away but rather tarries, a new bracha is needed. [3]

Measurement of “A Short Period of Time”

  1. It is unclear what the poskim exactly mean by "a short period of time". Many authorities define it as a unit of time, opinions range from a half hour to three hours, while other authorities define it as the time it takes to do a certain activity. Some say said activity has to be a significant activity and some say it has to be an activity without a definite time limit. (See footnote for clarification).[4]
  2. Sephardim follow the opinion of this short time being half an hour. [5]

Example of Momentarily Removing One's Tzitzit

  1. If one sees that one's Tzitzit are inside out, one may take them off, flip them and then put them back on without having to make a new bracha. [6]

Change of Location

  1. When changing one’s location there is no obligation to make a new bracha on one's Tzitzit. [7]

Lending One’s Tallit to Perform a Mitzvah

  1. If one removed one’s Tallit to give to someone who is getting an aliyah (or duchaning), no new bracha is needed when putting on the Tallit after getting it back. [8]
    1. For example, a person who gave his Tallit to someone for an aliyah and instead it gets used for all the olim and is only returned after a half hour, a new bracha is needed when putting it back on. [9]
    2. Similarly, if someone took the Tallit from a person's shoulders without asking, the owner does not need to make a new bracha when they get it back, unless the owner feared not getting the Tallit back at all. [10]
  2. If one gave a Tallit to someone in order for the borrower to fulfill the mitzvah and make a bracha on it, the Tallit is considered to have been a gift on the condition the person give it back to the owner when done(Mattana Al Menat Lehachzir), there is a dispute whether the owner is required to make a new bracha when the Tallit is returned. [11]

Going to the bathroom

  1. If one goes to the bathroom, one does not make a new bracha on the Tallit upon exiting the bathroom [12] even if it were to take a half hour. [13]
    1. If one has a Tallit with a פסוק written on the crown, one must make a new bracha after returning and when putting the Tallit back on, since it would be forbidden to bring that Tallit into a bathroom. [14]

Bathing, Showering, Tevilah, Swimming

  1. One doesn’t need to make a new Bracha after bathing. However, it’s preferable to have in mind while making the Bracha in the morning only to cover the Tzitzit until that point in time and then after bathing a new Bracha would be required. [15] However, if one bathed for a long time (and removed one’s mind from tzitzit) one should make a new Bracha. [16]
    1. If one didn’t have this kavana but usually does, it’s assumed that your kavana was your normal practice [17]
  2. After taking a shower, no new Bracha is needed (unless an exceptionally long time is taken and one removed his mind from Tzitzit). [18]
  3. After Tevilah no new Bracha is needed. [19]
  4. However, after going swimming a new Bracha is needed (unless it was short and one kept one’s mind on Tzitzit). [20]

Kiddish in middle of Davening

  1. If one removed one’s tallit for Kiddish before Mussaf no new Bracha is needed. [21]

Going to sleep without tzitzit

  1. There’s a dispute if one slept during the day without wearing one’s tzitizit whether a new Bracha is needed upon waking up. Therefore, it’s preferable to wear them to sleep or have them cover you as you sleep. [22]
  2. If one sleeps at night in Tzitzit, there’s a dispute in poskim and so one shouldn’t make a new Bracha on them upon waking up, rather one should exempt it by making a Bracha on the tallit (or listening to someone else make the Bracha on the tallit). Additionally, one shouldn’t remove the tzitzit with intent not to put it back on and then put it back on since according to some that’s causes an unnecessary Bracha. [23]

Intent not to put it back on

  1. If one removes the tallit with explicit intent not to put it back on for a while or not at all, a new Bracha is needed even if one put it back on right away. [24]
    1. If one removes one’s tallit in order to put on another tallit and then changes his mind, a new Bracha is needed [25]
    2. If one changes tallit’s a new Bracha is needed if one didn’t have that new one in mind when one made the Bracha in the morning. [26]
    3. Therefore, when switching Tzitzit’s on Friday for Shabbat, if when donning the weekday pair in the morning that it should cover the Shabbat pair, one doesn’t need a new Bracha, however if one didn’t have this intent, a new Bracha is needed. If one’s normal practice is to switch into a Shabbat pair, even stam intent is enough to cover that pair, and no new Bracha is needed. [27]
    4. If one removed a tallit in Davening by accident thinking that Davening was over, a new Bracha is needed. [28]

If the Talit was Removed without any Intention

  1. If one removed the tallit without any particular intent, it depends on one’s actions:
  • If one was still wearing one’s Tzitzit when one removed the tallit, no new Bracha is made. [29]
  • If one folded the tallit and put it in it’s case since you display the fact that one doesn’t plan on putting it back on, a new Bracha is needed. [30]
  • If one folded the tallit without any intent in middle of Davening, no new Bracha is needed. [31]

Sources

  1. ↑ Aruch Hashulchan 8:19
  2. ↑ Rama 8:14 writes that if one removes the Tallit with intent to put it back on one does not make a bracha. This is explained by the achronim based on the language of the Tur who writes that if one intends to put it back on immediately (מיד) then there is no need for a new bracha. This is also the opinion of Mishna Brurah 8:37 and Ezor Yisrael 8:14.
  3. ↑ S”A HaRav 8:24, Mishna Brurah 8:37, Ezor Yisrael 8:14
  4. ↑
    • Rav Hershel Schachter (Hilchot Tzitzit min 43), Hilchot Gra Veminhagim 1:17 (pg 20), Netivot Hachaim (3 pg 222), Or Torah (vol 23, 5751 Av, pg 714), and Tzitzit Halacha Pesukah (Rabbi Tzvi Kohen, 8:72 in the note) hold a half hour of removing the Tzitzit requires one to make a new bracha.
    • Rav Shlomo Zalman in Halichot Shlomo 3:7 writes that one should only make a new bracha if the Tzitzit were removed for 3 hours. However, Rav Shlomo Zalman there clarifies in the footnote that this number is not exact. See also Rav Moshe Sternbuch in Teshuvot VeHanhagot 1:32 who writes that one should make a new bracha only after having not worn it for an hour or two and one also left the house or building one was in.
    • Ezor Yisrael (pg 39) writes that if one does a significant activity after having taken off one's Tzitzit one should make a new bracha when putting them back on, but if it is a transitory activity, no new bracha is required. Similarly, Piskei Teshuvot 8:23 concludes that if it is an activity with a defined time limit, then no new bracha is required, however if the activity does not have a definite time limit or one tarries after that activity, a new bracha will be required.
  5. ↑ Sh”t Yabia Omer 8:2(4), Yalkut Yosef (Tzitzit pg 222), Sh”t Or Letzion 2:44(10), Sh”t Otzrot Yosef 1:28
  6. ↑ Sh”t Bear Moshe 6:3(9)
  7. ↑ Magen Avraham 8:18, Mishna Brurah 8:34, 37, Piskei Teshuvot 8:23(6), Ezor Yisrael 8:14, Tzitizit Halacha Pesuka (by Rav Tzvi Kohen) 8:73
  8. ↑ Bet Baruch 12:39, Tzitizit Halacha Pesuka (by Rav Tzvi Kohen) 8:77, Halichot Shlomo (3:7 in the notes), Rav Hershel Schachter (Hilchot Tzitzit min 43). However, Sh”t Rivivot Efraim 5:14 writes that this is a certain hesech hadaat.
  9. ↑ Rabbi Hershel Schachter (Hilchot Tzitzit min 43) as an example
  10. ↑ Mishneh Halachot 15:7 who says that if a person took one's Tallit for an aliyah on does not need to make a new bracha when putting it back on, unless one thought you would not get one's Tallit back.
  11. ↑ Sh”t bear Moshe 6:5 and Bet Baruch 12:39 hold that you need a new bracha, while Sh”t Hillel Omer 4 writes that no new bracha is necessary.
  12. ↑ Darkei Moshe 8:6, Mishna Brurah 8:37, Ezor Yisrael 8:14 pg 40
  13. ↑ Halichot Yisrael (Siman 4 pg 20) quotes Rav Gustman as saying that going to the bathroom does not require a new bracha even if takes a half hour.
  14. ↑ Artzot HaChaim (Meir HaAretz) 8:79, Beer Moshe 6:2(5), and seemingly Piskei Teshuvot 8:23.
  15. ↑ Beiur Halacha s.v. VeYesh quotes Artzot HaChaim 8:86 in name of the Kol Eliyahu 2:2 to say that a new Bracha is needed for bathing, however, Beiur Halacha writes that the minhag is not to make a new bracha, and concludes that it’s better to have in mind not to cover the wearing of Tzitzit after bathing and then one can make the Bracha afterwards. So writes Tzitzit Halacha Pesuka by Rav Tzvi Kohen 8:80.
  16. ↑ Sh”t Tzitz Eliezer 13:4, Sh”t Bear Moshe 6:4(11), Ben Ish Chai Beresheet 10, and Kaf HaChaim 8:56 hold that for bathing which takes a long time requires a new Bracha, whereas, tevilah, which is short doesn’t require a new Bracha. See Torat Chaim Sofer 8:23.
  17. ↑ Sharei Teshuva 8:15, Tzitzit by Rav tzvi Kohen 8:80
  18. ↑ Ezor Yisrael pg 40
  19. ↑ Kaf HaChaim 8:56, Sh”t Bear Moshe 6:4(11-2)
  20. ↑ Ezor Yisrael pg 40
  21. ↑ Halichot Yisrael (Siman 4 pg 18-9) quotes Rav Gustman who says that if one took off a tallit to have kiddish before tekiyot shofar on ראש השנה shouldn’t make a new Bracha since he probably intended according to the minhag to put it back on after kiddish. This is also the opinion of Piskei Teshuvot 8:23(3). [Halichot Yisrael (pg 18) writes that Rav Aharon Kotler once made a new Bracha after a short kiddish, however there he gives many explanations for this incident.] See Sh”t Chelkat Yacov 1:105 who writes about a minhag to remove one’s tallit for a couple of hours in order to go home for kiddish and learn before Mussaf, and concludes that since there’s a doubt, one should fold one’s tallit before going home so that you can make a new Bracha upon returning. (Tzitzit Halacha Pesuka by Rav Tzvi Kohen 8:72 argues that it won’t work since you do plan to put it back on!).
  22. ↑ Mishna Brurah 8:42 records a dispute if one slept during the day without wearing one’s tzitizit whether a new Bracha is needed upon waking up. Therefore, he suggests to avoid this dispute one should wear them to sleep or have them cover you as you sleep. Sefer Tzitzit by Rav Tzvi Kohen 8:81 adds one should remove it to cover oneself without taking it off completely. See, however, Dirshu Edition of Mishna Brurah 8:42 who comments that according to the Mordechai (cited in 18:8) one is only obligated in Tzitzit if they are worn normally, it wouldn't help to cover oneself with the Tzitzit as one sleeps. Piskei Teshuvot 8:23(7) writes that if it’s only a temporary nap, shinat arraya, such as sleeping on one’s hands, on a bench, or in a weird position, no new Bracha is required according to everyone. Thus, one doesn’t need to cover’s one’s body with the tzitzit.
  23. ↑ Mishna Brurah 8:42.
  24. ↑ Magen Avraham 8:18, Mishna Brurah 8:37, Sh”t Bear Moshe 6:4(10), Piskei Teshuvot 8:23(4), Ezor Yisrael 8:14
  25. ↑ artzot hachaim, Tzitzit by Rav tzvi Kohen 8:71
  26. ↑ S”A 8:12 writes that if one has many pairs of clothes with Tzitzit one must make a Bracha on each one unless one had intention to where all of them. Mishna Brurah 8:32 explains that if one didn’t have explicit intention, one must make another Bracha for each one. Almost all achronim write this distinction of switching two pairs of Tzitzit (where one surely makes a new Bracha) and removing one and replacing it after time (where there’s a dispute) including Sh”t Divrei Shmuel 1, Sh”t Teshurat Shai 133, Pri HaSadeh 4:64 (it’s regarding Tefillin, but references Talit), Artzot HaChaim, Sh”t Yabia Omer Y”D 3:17(2), Tzitzit Halacha Pesuka (by Rav Tzvi Cohen 8:79), Piskei Teshuvot 8:23(8). See Sh”t Rivovot Efraim 1:23 and Sh”t Bear Moshe 6:4.
  27. ↑ See above note. Leket Kemach Hachadash 73, and Torat Chaim Sofer 23 write explicitly regarding this case that a new Bracha should be made. However, Tzitzit Halacha Pesuka (by Rav Tzvi Cohen 8:79 in the footnote) writes that the Chazon Ish didn’t make a new bracha, and he quotes Rav Chaim Kanievsky who explained that it was for the reason that the Chazon Ish didn’t want to make a Bracha on a tallit katan.
  28. ↑ Daat Torah, Tzitizit Halacha Pesuka by Rav tzvi Kohen 8:76
  29. ↑ Mishna Brurah 8:38, Piskei Teshuvot 8:23(5)
  30. ↑ Mishna Brurah 8:38, Piskei Teshuvot 8:23(5)
  31. ↑ Mishna Brurah 8:38.
Retrieved from "http://localhost:80/index.php?title=Making_a_New_Bracha_on_Tzitzit&oldid=17036"