("fringes"; also known as arba kanfot, "four corners"). Four-cornered fringed undergarment worn by observant Jewish males, based on the commandment, "They shall make for themselves fringes on the corners of their garments for all generations ..." (Num. 15:38). It became customary for Jewish boys to begin wearing tsitsit at age three to accustom them to this mitsvah. Part of this commandment is to put a blue thread on each fringe (see Tallit). The tsitsit is commonly made of wool or linen.
Until the 13th century, Jews traditionally wore a four-cornered garment on which the tsitsit was attached, and from then on they wore a special garment called the tallit katan ("little prayer shawl") under the shirt. The fringes are prepared as on the tallit gadol ("large prayer shawl").
The obligation to wear tsitsit applies only to the daytime and women are exempt. In the reading of the Shema it is customary to take out the tsitsit at the relevant paragraph and to kiss the fringes at every mention of the word tsitsit.
