Observant Jewish men wear an undershirt that has knotted strings attached to the four corners. The strings or the garment are called Tzitzis or Tzitzis Katan. The obligation to wear Tzitzis is found in several places in the Bible, including Numbers 15:38 (“Speak to the Israelite people and instruct them to make for themselves fringes on the corners of their garments throughout the ages; let them attach a cord of blue to the fringe at each corner.”) The very next verse presents a dilemma in today’s Daf. Numbers 15:39 states, “That shall be your fringe; look at it and recall all the commandments of the Lord and observe them, so that you do not follow your heart and eyes in your lustful urge.”

The Talmud wants to know what should blind people do? They cannot look at the Tzitzis. Do blind people have to wear Tzitzis? If so, why? Ultimately, we conclude that blind people need to wear Tzitzis. The Rabbis rely on Deuteronomy 22:12, which states, “You shall make tassles on the four corners of the garment with which you cover yourself.” The use of “with which you cover yourself” is superfluous unless it means any garment requires Tzitzis, including the garments of the blind. Besides, the “you” who looks at the Tzitzis does not have to be the wearer of the garment. The “you” may refer to anyone in the street.

I have only personally worn Tzitzis a few times in my life. I think the Rabbis ignore an important part of the experience – the touch of the Tzitzis. When I wore them, I constantly felt the strings and knots running through my hands. I was reminded of their purpose not from looking at Tzitzis, but from fidgeting with them. Perhaps that is just me. I am hyperactive and drink way too much coffee. I can’t sit still and the Tzitzis were a good distraction.

To be honest, much of this Daf was difficult to follow and about an obscure topic. We read much about which garments are susceptible to which kinds of impurity – impurity transmitted by bugs or impurity of the spiritual disease called Tzaraas and described in Leviticus chapeters 13 and 14. Which garments require Tzitzis and what the Tzitzis must be made of. There are many seemingly inconsistent opinions that must be reconciled.

We end the Daf with a new Mishnah. We return to our topic of what materials may be used for the Shabbat lights. We learn that anything that comes from a tree cannot be used as a wick, except for flax. This is an odd statement because flax does not come from a tree. Flax is a plant, more like wheat or corn than a tree. To understand why flax is included with trees, the Talmud turns to the story of the spies sent by Joshua who were hidden by a Rachav in Jericho. Joshua 2:6 states, ” Now she had taken them up to the roof and hidden them under some stalks of flax which she had lying on the roof.” The Talmud interprets “stalks” as “trees”. Therefore, flax is a tree!

The Mishnah also discusses impurity transmitted by a corpse. If you remember, one way a corpse transmits impurity is to anything under the same roof as a corspse. The Mishnah notes that if the roof is made of something from a tree, then the actual roof does not become impure, even though everything under the roof does become impure. Again, flax is the exception. If the roof is made of flax, then the roof and everything under it become impure.