People sometimes ask why I wear tassels. The answer is that God said to wear them. The tassels can be any size or color, but they must have a "ribband of blue", and they must be on your main garment, the one that is most visible to other people. When the Book talks about putting the tassels on the "quarters" or "four corners" of the garment, it is not talking about literal corners, but indicating that the tassels should be visible no matter what angle you look at the person from. My daughter wears pink yellow and green ones on the hem of her skirt; I wear white and blue ones on them of my untucked t-shirts. I made pastel and navy blue ones for a friend. Others wear them in their belt loops or attach them to their shoulders. This is all fine; the intent is that the tassels be visible. If they are visible, you are doing it correctly. Jewish style tzitziyot tend to be long, skinny, and quite ugly looking. Maybe that is why most Jews refuse to wear them. I've developed some small tassels that look nicer. The Jewish tzitziyot do have one advantage, which is that it is easy to securely attach them through a belt loop or buttonhole.
There is an important caveat to wearing tzitziyot, based on Jesus words here:
Matthew 23:1-5 Then spake Jesus to the multitude, and to his disciples, Saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat: All therefore whatsoever he bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not. For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers. But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments,
Tassels (tzitzis) are NOT meant to be used as a marker of social status. They served quite a different function which would be made powerless if people made them into fashion statements and markers of status. Therefore Jesus recommends that the tassels be small and discrete, although still visible. I feel that the Jewish tzitziyot of today are the very "enlarged borders" that Jesus condemned. Jewish tzitziyot are certainly impractical for any sort of physical labor, whereas small tassels are very practical. The tassels I use are about an inch long; Pharisee (Rabbinic Judaism) tassels are often at least ten inches long. Use your own judgement in the matter.
Numbers 15:37-40 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and bid them that they make them fringes in the borders of their garments throughout their generations, and that they put upon the fringe of the borders a ribband of blue: And it shall be unto you for a fringe, that ye may look upon it, and remember all the commandments of the LORD, and do them; and that ye seek not after your own heart and your own eyes, after which ye use to go a whoring: That ye may remember, and do all my commandments, and be holy unto your God.
Deuteronomy 22:12 Thou shalt make thee fringes upon the four quarters of thy vesture, wherewith thou coverest thyself.
This isn't good enough for most people though; they say "Jesus did away with all those ancient commandments. We are modern now, and we have televisions and flush toilets. God's commandments are no good today, because we can do better!"
Did you know that Jesus wore the tassels? In fact, a widow was healed of her sickness by touching Jesus tassels, as was prophesied. Now, in English, it is hard to see this. I will quote the verses for you. If you use your Strong's Concordance to study all the verses presented in this article today, or if you are blessed enough to know Hebrew, you will see the truth clearly. Look especially at the words for "borders", "wings", "hem", and "quarters". They are all the same word in Hebrew.
Malachi 4:2 But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of justice arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.
Matthew 9:20-22 And, behold, a woman, which was diseased with an issue of blood twelve years, came behind him, and touched the hem of his garment: For she said within herself, If I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole. But Jesus turned him about, and when he saw her, he said, Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole. And the woman was made whole from that hour.
Matthew 14:35,36 And when the men of that place had knowledge of him, they sent out into all that country round about, and brought unto him all that were diseased; And besought him that they might only touch the hem of his garment: and as many as touched were made perfectly whole.
Mark 5:25-34 And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years, And had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse, When she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched his garment. For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole. And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague. And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the press, and said, Who touched my clothes? And his disciples said unto him, Thou seest the multitude thronging thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me? And he looked round about to see her that had done this thing. But the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before him, and told him all the truth. And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague.
Mark 6:55,56 And ran through that whole region round about, and began to carry about in beds those that were sick, where they heard he was. And whithersoever he entered, into villages, or cities, or country, they laid the sick in the streets, and besought him that they might touch if it were but the border of his garment: and as many as touched him were made whole.
Luke 8:43-48 And a woman having an issue of blood twelve years, which had spent all her living upon physicians, neither could be healed of any, Came behind him, and touched the border of his garment: and immediately her issue of blood stanched. And Jesus said, Who touched me? When all denied, Peter and they that were with him said, Master, the multitude throng thee and press thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me? And Jesus said, Somebody hath touched me: for I perceive that virtue is gone out of me. And when the woman saw that she was not hid, she came trembling, and falling down before him, she declared unto him before all the people for what cause she had touched him, and how she was healed immediately. And he said unto her, Daughter, be of good comfort: thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace.
Why should you wear the tassels today? As God said, so we can be holy, and remember to do all his commandments. There is also a secondary purpose; you should wear the tassels because Jesus wore them. A third purpose is to remember that miracles that Jesus performed; when you wear the tassels you are reminding yourself and others that Jesus has the power to heal all evil.
How do the tassels remind us to be holy? Quite simply. In a society where everyone obeys God, you will very quickly notice if a person refuses to wear the tassels. A principle of the Torah, highlighted by Jesus, is that "he who is faithful in little, is faithful in much". (Luke 16:10) If you refuse to wear the tassels, you are probably going to break even more important commands. Failure to wear the tassels in a Godly society is an instant warning sign to others that you are no longer playing by the rules. An ungodly stranger will be immediately identified by his failure to wear tassels. What about todays society where noone is obeying God's Laws? Isn't the Law only relevant when everyone is obeying it? Definitely NOT! The tassels benefit you even when you live in ungodly surroundings. For the simple reason, when you do see someone wearing a tassel, you know immediately you have met a fellow believer. It is a simple, direct way of finding out who your allies are without any spoken communication, without any introduction. The tassels are a sign of your covenant status with God. Wear them always.
If you have any Torah questions, feel free to write in to ted AT reactor-core DOT org.