Menachot 43 – Everybody Has to Wear Tzitzit – According to Rav Yehudah

Rav Yehudah would put tzitzit on his wife's garments, if they had four corners. He also said a blessing every morning when donning his own four-cornered cloak.

These two practices appear contradictory. If Rav Yehudah thinks that women have to wear tzitzit - and we know that women have to do only the commandments whose time is not fixed - then he must also think that tzitzit has no fixed time and applies both by day and by night. Why did he then say a blessing every morning? - Rav Yehudah recited a blessing every time he donned a garment, much like tefillin. Then let him say it more often! - True, but Rav Yehudah was modest and never undressed during the day, so that changing his night garment was the only time he could say a blessing.

Rabbi Shimon, however, does not require women to wear tzitzit. Since the Torah says “you will see them (tzitzit)” this applies only during the day. And what do his opponents say? - Some say that “them” means other commandments, some - that it means all commandments, and some - that it means "it" - God's presence.

Art: Rembrandt Van Rijn - The Mennonite Minister Cornelis Claesz Anslo In Conversation With His Wife Aal