Should tzitzit be worn out or tucked in?

The mitzvah

The Torah commands fringes on the corners of a four-cornered garment, “so that you shall see it and remember all the commandments of the Lord” (Numbers 15:39). Since ordinary clothes no longer have four corners, men wear a tallit katan, a small four-cornered garment, all day, and a large tallit for morning prayer.

The views

The Mishnah Berurah emphasises that the strings should be visible, so that one sees them and remembers, and criticises tucking them in. The Ari and Sephardi practice wear them inside, with the garment itself also under the shirt. Some wear the strings out but tuck them in in places where they could cause embarrassment or danger.

Practical

Follow your community’s custom. Either way, the garment is put on in the morning with its blessing, and the strings are held and kissed during the third paragraph of the Shema.

The garment and the strings

Each corner has four strings folded to make eight, with five double knots and windings between them. Ashkenazim wind 7–8–11–13; Sephardim often wind in groups of 10–5–6–5, spelling the name of God. A tallit katan should be big enough to be called a garment; common measures are roughly half a metre square on each side.

Who wears them

Men are obligated; women are exempt because it is a time-bound positive commandment (it applies to daytime garments). Boys usually begin at age three. In Orthodox practice women do not wear tzitzit.

Checking

Before saying the blessing, one checks that the strings are intact; a torn string may invalidate the corner.