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If I wear a mesh garment with Tzitzis, will I fulfill the mitzvah of Tzitzis? Can I say a blessing when I put it on?

If I wear a synthetic garment with Tzitzis, will I fulfill the mitzvah of Tzitzis? Can I say a blessing when I put it on?

And then what about one garment with both issues? That is, if I wear a synthetic mesh garment with Tzitzis, will I fulfill the mitzvah of Tzitzis? Can I say a blessing when I put it on?

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  • What do you mean by "net"?
    – Shalom
    Commented Sep 2, 2010 at 12:11
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    I think he means "mesh."
    – Isaac Moses ♦
    Commented Sep 2, 2010 at 15:13
  • They make plastic tzitzit?
    – Adam Mosheh
    Commented Apr 27, 2012 at 16:09
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    "Part 1" of the question asked about a mesh tallit katan. "Part 2" asked about a "plastic" tallit katan. "Part 3" asked about a "combination" of Parts 1 and 2: a synthetic mesh tallit katan. Since Part 3 discussed a synthetic garment, and since Part 3 is discussed a combination of Part 1 and Part 2, therefore I assume that when SimchasTorah wrote the word "plastic" in Part 2, s/he must have meant "synthetic". I've just submitted a suggested edit accordingly. Dear SimchasTorah: Please try to write more clearly next time.
    – unforgettableidSupportsMonica
    Commented Jun 25, 2013 at 23:02

4 Answers 4

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Rav BenTzion Aba Shaul (Or Lesion vol. 2 ch. 2) said not to make a Beracha on mesh begadim.

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Do you mean tzitzis on a mesh garment? I don't see the problem, why should we care what kind of weave it is? The majority of coverage is cloth not air.

As for synthetics, here's a piece from Rabbi Heinemann's Star-K article:

... it is the opinion of a leading Torah authority that garments woven with synthetic fibers do not require tzitzis. This means that a polyester or rayon garment does not require tzitzis. What about a wool-rayon blend, which is a blend of natural and synthetic fibers? The criteria for determining tzitzis obligation is which of the two fabrics covers the majority of fabric area. If, for example, the fabric is a 50-50 blend of natural and synthetic fibers, but the synthetic thread is thicker than the natural, then the garment would not require tzitzis. Wearing an Arba Kanfos (beged with tzitzis) made of synthetic fabric would present the problems stated earlier: 1) non-fulfillment of the mitzvah, 2) uttering a blessing in vain, 3) carrying on Shabbos.

I think most of the cotton-poly blends I've seen are something like 75% cotton, so they should be the same halachically as 100% cotton. (Is polyester thread usually thicker than cotton thread? Anyone here a textile maven?)

R' Moshe Feinstein's responsum concerning cotton tzitzis addresses the question of synthetics as well; if I recall, he points to the Rambam who says there's no mitzva of tzitzis on leather garments. Usually a leather garment isn't woven; now you could cut strands of leather and weave them, but I think R' Moshe says it's likely that because leather starts off as a sheet and not fibers, there's no mitzva even if you do weave it. I think R' Moshe argues the same for synthetics (don't recall if he leaves it as a question, or concludes stringently); if R' Moshe is stringent, that's most likely the "leading Torah authority" cited by R' Heinemann.

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  • Certain ones are very much more holes the garment and there is a requirement that you be able to walk out into the street and wear it as a covering independently meaning it has to serve as a shirt something with that many holes is not a shirt but it sure is cooler. in the summer
    – SimchasTorah
    Commented Sep 2, 2010 at 23:54
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    TBDE, that statement is referring to the length and width of the garment. If it referred to the style of the garment, you would pasul a regular talis katan, too.
    – YDK
    Commented Sep 3, 2010 at 0:50
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I think you can't make a mesh tallis katan according to the tshuva by Rav Moshe cited by Shalom because what material there is does not require tzitzis.

And I'm wondering, since the Gemara says a garment that's so small you would be embarrassed to walk around in it outside does not require tzitzis, wouldn't that apply to one of these mesh tzitzis garments?

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  • Ben, your question would best be expressed as a comment on the original question, or possibly as a question in its own right if you provide more specific information about the sources to which you refer.
    – WAF
    Commented May 11, 2011 at 15:13
  • Ben, see my comment to [TBDE] SimchasTorah above.
    – YDK
    Commented May 11, 2011 at 15:51
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Rav Belsky in sefer Shulchan Halevi writes that a mesh pair of tzitzs is patur from tzitzs.see inside for his savorahs.

If I remember correctly Rav Sternbuch in Tshuvos v'hanhagos chelek 5 holds that it could be mechuyav in tzitzs(read it a while ago).

Igros Moshe OC 2:1 I believe he holds one does not make a bracha and it is patur from tzits.The reason being it is like leather(does not need to be woven together).

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