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If I remove my tallit and wish to put it back on, do I have to recite the blessing again?

by Rabbi Naftali Silberberg

  

Library » Mitzvot » Tallit and Tzitzit | Subscribe | What is RSS?

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If one removes the Tallit or Tzitzit (for instance, if one needs to use the restroom during prayers*), with the intention of donning the same tallit or tzitzit afterwards, then it is not necessary to recite the blessing again when putting it back on. If, however, when taking it off there was no intention of putting it back on, or if a person wants to put on another tallit or tzitzit, then the blessing must be repeated.

If the tallit inadvertently falls off, then the blessing must be repeated when putting it back on, unless at least part of the tallit remained on the body (catching it with your hand doesn’t count!). If the person is in the midst of a section of the prayers where he may not interrupt, then he should put the tallit back on without reciting the blessing, and when he reaches a point where it is permissible to talk he should take the fringes of the tallit in his hands and recite the blessing.

If one puts on tzitzit in the morning before the morning hand-washing, then the tzitzit blessing should be recited afterwards, while grasping the fringes with his hands. 

* It is permitted to enter a restroom while wearing tzitzit – unlike Tefillin or holy books, which may not be brought into a lavatory – for although a Mitzvah is performed through wearing them, they themselves are not considered holy objects. However, it is customary to refrain from entering a bathroom while wearing a tallit (prayer shawl), in deference to the fact that it is a garment associated with prayer. The same is true for a kittel or Gartel, which are designated for prayer.

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COMMENTS

Tallit Gadol Atarah

Posted by: Caleb Fischer, Columbus, Ohio on Aug 22, 2005

Isn't the real problem with bringing a Tallit Gadol into the bathroom is that, more often than not, it has the blessing written on the Atarah? Or is that simply an additional problem?

Editor's Comment

An additional problem.

RELATED CATEGORIES

Daily Life » Clothing » Tallit and Tzitzit
Mitzvah
(pl. Mitzvot). A commandment from G-d. Mitzvah also means a connection, for a Jew connects with G–d through fulfilling His commandments.
Tefillin
Black leather boxes containing small scrolls with passages of the Bible written on them. Every day, aside for Sabbath and Jewish holidays, the adult Jewish male is required to wrap the Tefillin--by means of black leather straps--around the weaker arm and atop the forehead.
Tallit
A prayer shawl. A large four-cornered woolen garment with fringes attached to its corners in a specific manner. This garment is worn by males during the morning prayers, fulfilling the Biblical obligation of attaching fringes to four-cornered garments.
Tzitzit
Literally: the fringes which are attached to four cornered garments, as Biblically mandated. Normally this word refers to a t-shirt sized four cornered garment which contains such fringes, and is usually worn beneath the shirt.
kittel
(Yiddish) A long white garment, normally made of cotton or linen, customarily worn by Ashkenazi married men on Yom Kippur. A kittel is also worn by Ashkenazi men beneath the wedding canopy.
Gartel
(Yiddish) A black cloth belt customarily worn by chassidic men while praying.