Is the Hazzan required to wear a Tallit during the Minhah and Ma’ariv services?

Responsa in a Moment

Volume 20, Number 4

May 2026

Is the Hazzan required to wear a Tallit during the Minhah and Ma’ariv services?⁽¹⁾

(Orah Hayyim 18:1, Magen Avraham subparagraph 2)

By Rabbi David Golinkin

Question: Is the Hazzan required to wear a Tallit during the Minhah and Ma’ariv services?

Responsum:

I. The basic halakhah – the mitzvah of tzitzit is observed during the day and not at night

There is a dispute among the Tannaim (Menahot 43a; cf. the parallel sources cited in Torah Sheleimah, vol. 39, p. 237, paragraph 259) regarding the proper time for the mitzvah of tzitzit. One Tanna maintains that the mitzvah of tzitzit applies during the day and not at night, based on the verse (Numbers 15:39), “And you shall see it and remember all the commandments of the Lord,” while another Tanna explains that “and you shall see it” comes to exclude a blind person’s garment. The Talmudic passage determines that the first opinion reflects the view of Rabbi Shimon bar Yohai, as taught in another baraita (ibid.), that women are exempt from tzitzit because it’s a positive, time-bound commandment.

Maimonides (Egypt, 1135–1204; Laws of Tzitzit 3:7-8) and Rabbi Yosef Karo (Safed, 1488-1575; Orah Hayyim 17:2, 18:1) ruled in accordance with Rabbi Shimon that tzitzit is a positive time-bound commandment. In the words of Maimonides: “The obligation of tzitzit applies during the day and not at night, as it is stated, ‘And you shall see it’ — at a time of seeing… A person is permitted to wear tzitzit at night, whether on a weekday or on Shabbat; although it is not its time, provided that he does not recite a blessing.”

However, the halakhic ruling became more complicated because the Rosh ruled differently: what determines the obligation is not when one wears the tzitzit, but rather the type of garment — whether it’s a daytime garment or a nighttime garment. The dispute was summarized by Rabbi Jacob ben Asher (Toledo, c. 1240; Tur Orah Hayyim 18) and again by Rabbi Yosef Karo and Rabbi Moses Isserles in Shulhan Arukh, Orah Hayyim 18:1:

Night is not the time for tzitzit, as it is excluded by “and you shall see it.” According to Maimonides, anything worn at night is exempt, even if it is designated for daytime use; and anything worn during the day is obligated, even if it is designated for nighttime use. According to the Rosh, a garment designated for nighttime is exempt even if it is worn during the day, while a garment designated for both day and night is obligated even if it is worn at night.

Gloss [=Rema]: Since in cases of doubt regarding blessings we are lenient, one should not recite a blessing on it unless he wears it during the day and it is also designated for daytime use (Bet Yosef)… And on Yom Kippur eve, one should wrap himself [in the tallit] while it is still day and recite the blessing (Tashbetz).

Indeed, this dispute led to numerous interpretations of Maimonides, the Rosh, and the Tur. (2)

In any case, the practice accepted by klal yisrael [the collective Jewish people] is to wear a tallit gedolah primarily during Shaharit and, in general, only during the day. Therefore, when the custom began in the thirteenth century to wear a tallit on Yom Kippur eve before Kol Nidrei, care was taken to don the tallit and to recite the blessing while it was still daytime.(3)

From the thirteenth century onward, a custom developed for the Hazzan to also wear a tallit during Selihot before dawn, during Minhah, and during Arvit after nightfall — but some halakhic authorities opposed this practice. Likewise, a dispute arose as to whether the Hazzan is obligated to recite a blessing over the tallit worn for these services. In this responsum, we will trace the development of the various customs in different places over the course of 750 years and then render a halakhic ruling. Since there are many sources, we will summarize most of the approaches without citing them verbatim.

II. Three important sources from the thirteenth century

Three relatively early sources discuss our topic, but two of them were not cited by most halakhic authorities because they were only published from manuscripts in the twentieth century.

1. Rabbeinu Hayyim Paltiel ben Yaakov of Magdeburg, was a student or contemporary of the Maharam of Rothenburg (d. 1293) (4), and the Customs of Rabbeinu Hayyim Paltiel served as the basis for the Customs of Rabbi Avraham Klausner (d. 1409). Nevertheless, the Customs of Rabbeinu Hayyim Paltiel were first published by Dr. Daniel Goldschmidt in 1947-1948 from a manuscript copied in 1305. And so writes Rabbeinu Ḥayyim Paltiel at the beginning of his work (Daniel Goldschmidt, Mehkirei Tefillah U’piyyut, second edition, Jerusalem, 1980, pp. 39–40):

It is customary to rise for Selihot from the Saturday night before [Rosh Hashanah], prior to dawn… At the beginning, the Hazzan wraps himself in a tallit even though it’s not the time for tzitzit. One can say that since it is stated (Rosh Hashanah 17b) that the Holy One, blessed be He, wrapped Himself like a Hazzan [and taught] Moses the Thirteen Attributes, therefore when one recites the Thirteen Attributes, one wraps oneself in tzitzit. And it seems to me that one must recite the blessing ‘to wrap oneself in tzitzit’… Therefore, also on Yom Kippur eve, one should recite the blessing [when putting on a tallit before Yom Kippur – D.G.] Hayyim Paltiel.

In other words, according to Rabbi Hayyim Paltiel in Ashkenaz at the end of the thirteenth century, the Hazzan would wrap himself in a tallit during Selihot before the time for tzitzit and would also recite a blessing; the same applied on the eve of Yom Kippur before Kol Nidrei/Arvit. This ruling of Rabbeinu Hayyim Paltiel was incorporated into all the classic Custom Books of Ashkenazic Jewry. (5)

2. On the other hand, Rabbi Isaiah di Trani (Ri”d, Italy, ca. 1165-1240) ruled in a responsum published only in 1967 (Teshuvot Hari”d, ed. Wertheimer, Jerusalem, 1967, No. 118; cited in abbreviated form by the Hida in Birkei Yosef on Orah Hayyim 18 from a manuscript) that “it’s forbidden to wrap oneself in tzitzit, even without a blessing, from sunset.” He argues that since the Talmud forbids putting on tefillin at night (Menahot 36b), and since the Talmud establishes that nighttime is not the proper time for tzitzit (Menahot 43a and elsewhere), “if he wraps himself at night, he violates a positive commandment, as Rabbi Elazar said regarding tefillin.” In other words, tzitzit is forbidden at night because tefillin are forbidden at night. This responsum did not have an impact on subsequent halakhic literature because it was only published sixty years ago. (6) 

3. Rabbi Wertheimer emphasizes in note 15 to the above responsum, “I have not found any other authority who agrees with [the Ri”d] in this ruling,” but he himself cites Bet David on the Tur, Orah Hayyim, 9, by Rabbi Yosef David (Salonika, 1660-1736; published Salonika, 1740). The latter quotes Rabbi Yosef ibn Gikatilla at length (Spain, 1248 – after 1305; cf. a brief summary in the above-mentioned Hida). And here is a partial quotation of the words of Rabbi Yosef ibn Gikatilla:

“Those places where it is customary to wrap themselves [in a tallit] on Sabbath and festival eve have no support either from the Talmud or from any other source… for the halakhic authorities did not mention this matter, and whoever among the authorities did mention it did not go in the path of light at all. Whether one wraps himself in it with a blessing or without a blessing, it’s a complete prohibition for several reasons.” He then relies on the “Sages of Truth” [i.e., Kabbalah], that “tzitzit alludes to the attribute of night, and therefore one who wraps himself in it at that time causes various severe matters and judgments, etc.; and such is also the view of the Sages of the Zohar… and those authorities who permit it did not know the straight path… And I am astonished at those who permit it, where did they find support? For the Talmud did not mention this, that the Zohar forbids and the Sages of Truth forbid… Therefore, it is proper to rebuke one who does so; and such is the opinion of the Ramban and the Ra’avad.”

Thus, Rabbeinu Hayyim Paltiel ruled in Ashkenaz at the end of the thirteenth century that the Hazzan for Selihot wears a tallit with a blessing before the proper time for tzitzit. In contrast, the Ri”d in Italy and Rabbi Yosef ibn Gikatilla in Spain ruled in the thirteenth century that it’s forbidden to wear a tallit at night, the Ri”d based on halakhic reasoning, and Rabbi Yosef based both on halakhah and on the teachings of the “Sages of Truth” and the Zohar.

III. A wide range of customs from the fifteenth century to the present

1. The Hazzan does not wrap himself in a tallit at Minhah and Arvit

Rabbi Yosef b. Moshe, the devoted disciple of Rabbi Yisrael Isserlein, wrote his book Leket Yosher describing his teacher’s customs in Austria between 1463-1470. He reports (ed. Freimann, p. 115 = ed. Kinarti, p. 262): “And I saw that the Hazzan wraps himself [in a tallit] at Minhah” on a public fast day. From this it may be inferred that he did not wrap himself at Minhah during the rest of the year.

Rabbi Ya’akov Emden (Ashkenaz, 1698-1776; Mor U’ketziah on Tur Orah Hayyim 24, ed. Makhon Yerushalayim, 1996, p. 56) ruled for himself that the Hazzan should not wear a tallit at Minhah, since he is already wearing a tallit katan. However, if there is a Torah reading at Minhah, he wraps himself [in a tallit] out of respect for the Torah, but without a blessing (cf. below). But if a Hazzan wraps himself [in a tallit] for Arvit, “it seems to me clearly that this is a custom born out of ignorance.”

According to Rabbi Dobrinsky (p. 115), among Syrian Jews in the United States, the Hazzan does not wear a tallit at Minhah (and presumably not at Arvit as well).

According to Rabbi Fuchs (note 58), “among some Hasidic communities, the Hazzan does not wrap himself in a tallit at Minhah and Arvit. This is also the custom of the Lubavitcher Rebbes, both on weekdays and on Shabbat and festivals, and even on Rosh Hashanah.” Others say that “among all the Tzaddikim [Hassidic Rebbes] the Hazzan does not lead the Minhah service on weekdays while wearing a tallit” (Hamburger, p. 116).

2. The Hazzan wears a tallit at Minhah, but not at Arvit

Rabbi Hayyim Vital reports (Sha‘ar Hakavanot, Inyan Tefillat Minhah, Jerusalem, 1873, fols. 52a–b) that the Ari, Rabbi Isaac Luria (Jerusalem and Safed, 1534-1572), “was very careful to recite it [Minhah] wearing a tallit and tefillin… and he was very careful not to be wrapped in a tallit and tefillin after sunset; he would immediately remove them from his head, and he was very strict about this matter.”

The Hida (Rabbi Hayyim Yosef David Azulai, Eretz Yisrael and Italy, 1724-1806; Birkei Yosef cited above on Orah Hayyim 18, paragraph 1) quotes Sha’ar Hakavanot and adds: “And so it is proper to be careful.”

Rabbi Moshe ben Makhir, one of the kabbalists of Safed (16th century; Seder Hayom, Seder Tefillat Minhah, Jerusalem, 1996, p. 60), emphasized: “If he is a worthy and proper person, it is fitting that he wrap himself in tzitzit and put on tefillin also at Minhah.” Subsequently, he does not mention a tallit in the section on Arvit.

Rabbi Eliyahu de Vidas, a devoted disciple of Rabbi Moshe Cordovero, completed his book Reishit Hokhmah in Safed in 1575. He writes (Sha’ar Hakedushah, chapter 6, ed. Munkatch, 1942, fol. 144a): “And therefore it is fitting that every prayer be recited wrapped in tzitzit and wearing tefillin, except for the Arvit prayer. And already the custom has spread in Eretz Yisrael to wear tefillin even during Minhah, and so it is proper to practice.”

His words were cited by Rabbi Isaiah Horowitz (Shelah, Prague, Safed, and Tiberias, 1558-1630; Shenei Luhot Haberit, beginning of tractate Hullin, Inyan Tefillin, ed. Jerusalem, 1969, fol. 179b), and the words of the Shelah are paraphrased by Rabbi Yair Hayyim Bacharach (Ashkenaz, 1638-1702; Mekor  Hayyim on Orah Hayyim 36:2, p. 167).

The words of Reshit Hokhmah were also cited by Rabbi Yosef Yuzpa Hahn (Frankfurt am Main, 1570-1637; Yosef Ometz, No. 491, ed. Frankfurt am Main, 1928, p. 104 = ed. Kinarti, Shal’avim, 2016, p. 141).

Rabbi Shemtob Gaguine reports in 1934 (p. 5) that this is the custom of the kabbalists in the Land of Israel — to wrap themselves in a tallit and don tefillin every day at Minhah.

And this was the practice in the kabbalists’ yeshivah, Bet El, in Jerusalem at the beginning of the twentieth century. However, on Friday at Minhah, they would wrap themselves in a tallit and it would remain on them until the end of Kabbalat Shabbat, until Barekhu (Rabbi Ya’akov Hayyim Sofer, Baghdad and Jerusalem, 1869-1939; Kaf Hahayyim on Orah Hayyim 18, end of subparagraph 12).

Similarly, some of the Ashkenazic Perushim in Eretz Yisrael followed this practice –wearing a tallit and tefillin every day at Minhah, and a tallit at Minhah on Friday (Bezalel Landau, in Wassertil, p. 102). On the other hand, A. M. Luncz reports that in Jerusalem there was a custom to wrap oneself in a tallit and put on tefillin specifically on public fast days (A. M. Luncz, Jerusalem, vol. 1 [1882], p. 30).

For additional rabbis and communities that followed this practice, see Hamburger, pp. 130-131.

In addition, without any connection to tefillin, there is a custom to wrap oneself in a tallit at Minhah but not at Arvit:

Rabbi Yoel Sirkis (Poland, 1561-1640; Bayit Hadash on Tur Orah Hayyim, end of paragraph 18) ruled that “on a public fast day, when one wears a tallit at Minhah, when they reach Barekhu [in Arvit], he should remove the tallit from himself. [Otherwise,] since one wears a tallit only to fulfill the mitzvah of tzitzit, it would appear as though he thinks that nighttime is the time for tzitzit if he does not remove it…”. His ruling was followed by Rabbi Yisrael Meir Hakohen (Mishnah Berurah, Orah Hayyim 18, subparagraph 4).

Rabbi Shemtob Gaguine reports in 1934 (p. 5) that in Amsterdam the entire congregation wears a tallit at Minhah on Shabbat.

Rabbi Shlomo Ganzfried (Ungvar, Hungary = Uzhhorod, Ukraine, 1804-1886; Kitzur Shulhan Arukh 69:5) rules that the Hazzan should wrap himself [in a tallit] before Ashrei at Minhah, but he does not mention a tallit at Arvit.

In the old Bet Midrash in Berlin in 1937, the Hazzan would wrap himself in a tallit at Minhah, but not at Arvit (Hamburger, p. 115).

Rabbi Yitzhak Ya’akov Fuchs is of the opinion that the Hazzan wraps himself in a tallit at Minhah, but not at Arvit in most places.

3. The Hazzan wraps himself in a tallit at both Minhah and Arvit

Rabbi Yishaye Wiener (Bigdei Yeshah, Prague, 1777, No. 18 = Hamburger, p. 116) ruled: “The Hazzan also wears a tallit at night for the Arvit prayer, except that he does not recite a blessing.” It can be inferred from his words that, in his locale, the Hazzan wore a tallit at Minhah with a blessing, and at Arvit without a blessing.

Rabbi Avraham David Wahrman (Galicia, 1771-1840; Eshel Avraham, Lemberg, 1886, on Orah Hayyim 21, cited by Rabbi Avraham Yitzhak Sperling, Sefer Ta‘amei Haminhagim U’mekorei Hadinim, p. 112, paragraph 237) stated: “The reason one removes the tallit from his head at the time of Ma’ariv is so that people should not err and say that there is a definite mitzvah of tzitzit at night.” In other words, the Hazzan wraps himself in a tallit for the Arvit prayer, but removes it from his head in order to emphasize that there is no obligation to wear a tallit at night.

Rabbi Yitzhak Isaac Safrin of Komarno (1806-1874) recommended that every Hazzan should wrap himself in a tallit for every prayer, but admitted that “the world is lenient in this matter” (Hamburger, p. 116).

Rabbi Fuchs writes (note 59): “And in the (Lithuanian) yeshivot, the Hazzan wraps himself [in a tallit] even at Ma’ariv, and so it is in the customs of Frankfurt am Main.”

And so was the custom in the Berlin community in 1938 — at Minhah, apparently with a blessing, and at Arvit without a blessing (Hamburger, p. 115).

And this also seems to have been the practice in Yemen (Zohar Amar, Sefer Hahilukim Bein Benei Teiman L’vein Bnei Hatzafon, 2017, p. 33, paragraph 60): “The Hazzan wraps himself in a tallit gedolah also during the Arvit prayer,” and apparently all the more so at Minhah. (7)

4. Anyone who recites the Mourner’s Kaddish wears a tallit

As I have demonstrated elsewhere, the practice of reciting the Mourner’s Kaddish began in Germany and France in the twelfth century (Golinkin, pp. 246-248). Rabbi Hamburger proved that for many centuries — and even down to our own time among the Jews of Germany, Holland, Hungary, and elsewhere — only one mourner would recite the Mourner’s Kaddish, not in unison. That mourner would recite the Kaddish at the lectern or in front of the Ark as the Hazzan, or would stand next to the Hazzan and recite the Mourner’s Kaddish (Hamburger, pp. 122-126).

This custom enables us to understand the words of Rabbi Yom-Tov Lipmann Heller (Ashkenaz and Poland, 1579–1654) in Lehem Hamudot (Divrei Hamudot on the Laws of Tzitzit by the Rosh, middle of subparagraph 3): “In any case, it was customary to wrap oneself afterwards [after Arvit]… [the] one who recites the Mourner’s Kaddish, out of respect for the congregation.” In other words, since the one who recited Kaddish stood in the place of the Hazzan, it was natural for him to wrap himself in a tallit like the Hazzan. This ruling was cited by many halakhic authorities, such as the author of Magen Avraham, Sheyarei Knesset Hagedolah, Eliyah Rabbah, Kitzur Shelah, Ba’er Heitev, and others (Hamburger, pp. 119-120). But by the time of Rabbi Yehiel Michel Epstein (Novaradok, 1829-1908; Arukh Hashulhan 18:7), this was no longer the custom, presumably because the Mourner’s Kaddish was by then recited in unison.

5. Every Hazzan wears a tallit

Rabbi Yair Hayyim Bacharach (Ashkenaz, 1638-1702; Mekor Hayyim 53:1, p. 219) testifies: “That which is customary, that the Hazzan always prays wrapped in a tallit, is not because of the mitzvah of tzitzit, but rather because of the wrapping which conveys awe and reverence, and in the language of the Sages (Rosh Hashanah 17b, cited above): ‘This teaches that the Holy One, blessed be He, wrapped Himself like a prayer leader’… And so is the custom for anyone who leads a service, even for the recitation of Psalms and Shir Hayihud, to wrap himself, and likewise at Kabbalat Shabbat…”. This book was only published from a manuscript in 1982 and therefore did not influence most halakhic authorities. Nevertheless, this was the practice of German Jewry both in the nineteenth century (Yitzhak Baer, Seder Avodat Yisrael, Rödelheim, 1868, pp. 5, 18) and in the twentieth century (Rabbi Avigdor Unna, in Wassertil, p. 66).

And so ruled Rabbi Avraham Gombiner (Poland, 1637-1682; Magen Avraham on Orah Hayyim 18, subparagraph 2): “It seems to me that anyone who serves as a Hazzan must wrap himself [in a tallit], as we say (Rosh Hashanah 17b, cited above): ‘This teaches that the Holy One, blessed be He, wrapped Himself like a prayer leader.’” In other words, he understood that this midrash refers to every prayer leader, and not only to one who recites the Thirteen Attributes of God.

This ruling was copied by many halakhic authorities, including Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi (1746-1812; Shulhan Arukh Harav 18:4); Rabbi Yisrael Meir Hakohen (Radin, 1838-1933; Mishnah Berurah on Orah Hayyim 18, subparagraph 5); Rabbi Yeḥiel Michel Epstein (Arukh Hashulhan 18:7); Rabbi Gedalia Felder, Yesodei Yeshurun, Vol. 1, Toronto, 1954, p. 71; Rabbi Cohen in his responsum in English; and so ruled Rabbi Walter Jacob for Reform rabbis.

Indeed, Rabbi Raphael Aharon ben Shimon testified in 1908 (Egypt, 1848-1929; Sha‘ar Hamifkad, Alexandria, 1908, fol. 1b): “In the lands of France and Ashkenaz, which I saw with my own eyes, no one approaches to perform sacred service — to go before the Ark to lead the prayers or to have an Aliyah — without wearing a tallit. And the established Hazzan for all the Shemoneh Esreh prayers must be dignified in his attire by wearing a tallit.”

6. Anyone who is called up to the Torah or takes part in a ritual connected to the Torah reading at Minhah on Shabbat or on a public fast day wraps himself in a tallit

It was a widespread custom that anyone called up to the Torah or performing various functions connected with the Torah reading at Shaharit would wrap himself in a tallit out of respect for the congregation (see Hamburger, pp. 126-129).

Therefore, it’s not surprising that the same practice was followed when the Torah was read at Minhah on Shabbat and on public fast days: anyone involved in the Torah reading — the person called up, the one who takes the scroll from the Ark, the one who lifts it, and the one who rolls it — would wrap himself in a tallit and remain wrapped until after the Kedushah. Rabbi Hamburger collected testimonies about this practice from Ashkenaz beginning in the time of Rabbi Yair Hayyim Bacharach (1638-1702), as well as from Hungary, Holland, and Ashkenazic synagogues in Eretz Yisrael (Hamburger, pp. 130, 134).

Rabbi Avigdor Unna also testified that this was the custom of German Jewry (Wassertil, p. 66).

And so was the practice among the Sephardim in London according to Rabbi Shemtob Gaguine (p. 5).

According to Rabbi Dobrinsky (p. 120), among the Ladino-speaking Balkan Jews in the United States, the Hazzan who reads the Torah at Minhah on Shabbat wears a tallit.

According to the aforementioned testimony of Rabbi Raphael Aharon ben Shimon from 1908 (Sha‘ar Hamifkad cited above), anyone who was called up to the Torah in Jerusalem would wrap himself in a tallit, even at Minhah.     

IV. Does one recite the blessing over the tallit worn for Minhah or Ma’ariv or for reading the Torah or reciting the Mourner’s Kaddish?

Rabbi Hamburger has already summarized many opinions (pp. 134–139) regarding the above question.

Rabbi Yair Hayyim Bacharach emphasized in the seventeenth century (Mekor Hayyim 18:1, p. 98, Kitzur Halakhot) that one who wraps himself in a tallit on Friday evening in public or in order to recite the Mourner’s Kaddish “should not recite a blessing unless he wraps himself while it is still clearly daytime.” Most authorities who dealt with wearing a tallit on Yom Kippur eve before Kol Nidrei agree with this approach.

Yitzḥak Baer (Seder Avodat Yisrael cited above, p. 5) likewise emphasized in 1868 that at Arvit or during Selihot before the time for tzitzit one should not recite a blessing.

Regarding wrapping oneself in a tallit for the Mourner’s Kaddish, as discussed above, some halakhic authorities ruled that one should not recite a blessing over it.

Others emphasized that the determining factor is the length of time: if one wraps himself in order to serve as the Hazzan, he recites a blessing; but if he wraps himself only briefly in order to be called up to the Torah, he does not recite a blessing.

Others said that what is decisive is not the duration but hibuv mitzvah [affection for a mitzvah]. Therefore, a sandek at a circumcision recites a blessing over the tallit out of affection for the mitzvah, even though the act itself is brief.

Also regarding wrapping oneself in a tallit for an aliyah to the Torah at Minhah on Shabbat as discussed above — some recited a blessing and some did not.

There are those who say that when a Hazzan wraps himself in a congregational tallit, he is obligated to recite a blessing, because such a tallit was originally acquired for this very purpose, that whoever wears it should be considered its owner, similar to a communal etrog.

Finally, some say that the matter depends on the intention of the one wrapping himself. If they wrap themselves for the sake of fulfilling the mitzvah of tzitzit, they recite a blessing; but if they wrap themselves out of respect for the congregation, they do not recite a blessing.

With all due respect, most of these distinctions do not seem relevant to me. If someone wraps himself in a tallit during the day, he should recite a blessing, since the mitzvah of tzitzit applies throughout the day. However, if he wraps himself for Arvit when it’s clearly nighttime or early in the morning for Selihot before the time for tzitzit, it’s forbidden to recite a blessing, since it is nighttime.

V. Additional reasons for the custom

The most common explanation for the Hazzan wrapping himself in a tallit gedolah is the above-mentioned midrash (Rosh Hashanah 17b) that the Holy One, blessed be He, wrapped Himself like a prayer leader. However, halakhic authorities have added additional explanations for this custom.

Rabbi David Halevi (Poland, 1586-1667; Turei Zahav on Orah Hayyim 581, subparagraph 2) offered an additional explanation: “because of the honor of the Divine Presence (Kevod Hashekhinah).”

Rabbi Yair Hayyim Bacharach, cited above (Mekor Hayyim 53:1, p. 219), wrote: “The reason for the custom that the Hazzan always prays wrapped in a tallit is not because of the mitzvah of tzitzit, but rather because of the act of wrapping, which conveys awe and reverence…”. Rabbi Bacharach is alluding to the fact that the Sages would wrap themselves in their cloaks before every significant occasion, such as the study of Ma‘aseh Merkavah (Hagigah 14b); welcoming the Sabbath Queen (Shabbat 119a); judges at the beginning of a court session (Shabbat 10a); annulment of vows (Nedarim 77b); reciting Birkat Hamazon (Talmud Yerushalmi, Berakhot, end of chapter 7); visiting the sick (Shabbat 43b and Nedarim 40b); prayer (Shabbat 10a); and more. In other words, in his view, the primary element is not the tzitzit, but rather the act of wrapping oneself in a tallit gedolah.

VI. Summary and Practical Halakhah

1. Klal Yisrael [the collective Jewish people] decided, on the basis of Menahot 43a, that the mitzvah of tzitzit is observed during the day and not at night.
2. From the thirteenth century onward, there has been a widespread custom for the Hazzan to wrap himself in a tallit for Selihot before dawn, for Minhah, and for Arvit, but there are halakhic authorities and communities that opposed these customs.
3. Since the mitzvah of tzitzit is observed during the day, a Hazzan for the Minhah service is permitted to wrap himself in a tallit and if he does so, he should recite a blessing.
4. Likewise, Torah readers and those involved in the Torah reading at Minhah on Shabbat or on a public fast day are permitted to wrap themselves in a tallit and if they do so, they should recite a blessing.
5. A Hazzan for Selihot before the time for tzitzit, or for Arvit at nighttime is permitted, according to Maimonides and others, to wrap himself in a tallit. If such a Hazzan wraps himself when it is daytime, he may recite a blessing; if it is clearly nighttime, then he may not recite a blessing.

David Golinkin
Jerusalem
Rosh Hodesh Sivan 5786

Notes

1. This responsum is based on a brief responsum that I wrote for Rabbi Eli Havivi on the 14th of Tevet 5749 (1989). When my student Micah Simons decided to teach this topic in a workshop on the responsa literature a few weeks ago, I returned to the subject and found many additional sources, and he added two sources during the class. The most important discussion on this topic is that of Rabbi Hamburger (see the Bibliography below; his book appeared after my original responsum), but he is primarily concerned with Ashkenazic customs. I examined every source he cited, added many additional sources, and organized the material in a different fashion.
2. See Tur Orah Hayyim 18 with the Bet Yosef, Darkhei Moshe, and Bah; Shulhan Arukh 18:1 with its commentaries; Sheyarei Knesset Hagedolah on Orah Hayyim 18 regarding the words of the Bet Yosef; Rabbi Amram Aburabia, Netivei Am, second edition, Petah Tikvah, 1969, p. 42. Many additional halakhic authorities could be
3. See, for example: Rabbi Shimshon bar Tzadok, Sefer Tashbetz, No. 132, cited in Bet Yosef on Tur Orah Hayyim 18 and in the Rema on Shulhan Arukh, Orah Hayyim  18; Knesset Hagedolah on Orah Hayyim 18, in his comments on the Bet Yosef; Rabbi Yosef Mashash, Mayim Hayyim, Orah Hayyim, Jerusalem, 2000, No. 15; Rabbi Moshe Hakohen, Berit Kehunah Hashalem … Customs of Djerba, fourth edition., Bnei Brak, 1990, p. 65; and Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef, Yalkut Yosef, She’erit Yosef, Vol. 1, Jerusalem, 1995, p. 264.
4. Regarding the time and place of Rabbeinu Paltiel, see H”Y Ehrenreich, Sefer Minhagim L’rabi Avraham Klausner, Deva (Romania), 1929, p. IV and Rabbi Zvi Ya’akov Zimmels, p. XVI; Goldschmidt mentioned above in the responsum, pp. 38-39; Encyclopaedia Judaica, vol. 7, cols. 1511–1512; Yonah Yosef Dissin, Sefer Minhagim L’rabbeinu Avraham Klausner, Jerusalem, 1978, pp. 10-14; E. E. Urbach, Ba‘alei Hatosafot, fourth edition, Jerusalem, 1980, p. 582 and note 58; Yitzhak S. Lange, Alei Sefer 8 (5740), pp. 140-146.
5. Rabbi Avraham Klausner (ed. Dissin, p. 2; the word in brackets was added from there), and from there in Minhagei Maharil (d. 1427; ed. Spitzer, Jerusalem, 1989, pp. 259-260); Minhagei Rabbeinu Isaac Tyrnau (d. circa 1449; ed. Spitzer, Jerusalem, 1979, p. 87); and in abbreviated form by Rabbi Mordechai Yaffe (d. 1612; Levush Hahur, Orah Hayyim 581:1). See the summary in Hamburger, pp. 112-113.
6. It’s worth noting that Rabbi Yisrael Isserlein (Austria, d. 1460), in Pesakim U’ketavim, 121, rules exactly the opposite: it’s permitted to wrap oneself in tzitzit at night without a blessing, but it’s forbidden to put on tefillin at night, since the Sages prohibited it.
7. Rabbi Menaḥem Mendel Reisher Nussbaum immigrated to Jerusalem with his parents in 1764, but his book Sha‘arei Yerushalayim on the customs of Jerusalem was published only about a century later. And so we read in the Lemberg edition, 1869, fol. 49a: “In Eretz Yisrael, they pray on Friday nights and on Festival nights wearing tallitot.” In other words, the entire congregation would wear tallitot. For additional sources regarding wearing a tallit on Friday night, see Rabbi Daniel Sperber, Minhagei Yisrael, vol. 3, Jerusalem, 1994, pp. 208-209, though the sources cited there require further study.

Bibliography

(This list contains works in English and books that are cited frequently above.)

Berkowitz — Rabbi Miriam Berkovitz, CJLS Website, OH 17:2
Cohen — Rabbi J. Simcha Cohen, Timely Jewish Questions, Timeless Rabbinic Answers, Northvale, NJ and London, 1991, pp. 193-196
Dobrinsky — Rabbi Herbert Dobrinsky, A Treasury of Sephardic Laws and Customs, New Jersey and New York, 1986
Fuchs — הרב יצחק יעקב פוקס, תפילה כהלכתה, ירושלים, תשמ”ט, פרק כ”ו:י”ט, עמ’ תק”ט
Gaguine — הרב שם טוב גאגין, כתר שם טוב, קיידאן, תרצ”ד
Golinkin — Rabbi David Golinkin, Responsa in a Moment, Vol. III, Jerusalem, 2014
Hamburger — הרב בנימין שלמה המבורגר, שרשי מנהג אשכנז, כרך א’, בני ברק, תשנ”ה, עמ’ 140-112
Jacob — Rabbi Walter Jacob, Contemporary American Reform Responsa, New York, 1987, No. 131
Wassertil — אשר וסרטיל, עורך, ילקוט מנהגים: ממנהגיהם של שבטי ישראל, מהדורה שלישית מורחבת, ירושלים, תשנ”ו

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