Question

I’d love to hear your perspective on tzitzit for young children.

I have three boys, two of whom already wear tzitzit daily. I constantly notice that their tzitzit are not kosher by normative halakhic standards. The boys are active, their tzitzit get dirty quickly, and I need to wash them very frequently, which I am sure contributes to the wear and tear.

So here are my questions:

1. Many have the custom to begin putting a boy in tzitzit around age three. Is that also the age at which the tzitzit need to be fully kosher? If not, when does that obligation begin?
2. Are tzitzit made for small children considered “real tzitzit” to begin with? Are they all tied by Jews? I do not know whether the manufacturing process for children’s tzitzit is treated differently. If they are not fully “real tzitzit,” would that affect how they should be disposed of?
3. Is there any room to consider hefsed — financial loss — in this conversation? A child’s tallit katan is not terribly expensive, but if I held my children’s tzitzit to the same standard as my own, I would be disposing of many pairs a year. That feels both wasteful and expensive.
4. For someone who is makpid to wear tekhelet, at what age should they buy tekhelet for their son? Is it the same age as the answer above, or is it different given the greater cost involved?

Answer

This question raises an important question regarding chinukh — the halakhic obligation to train a child in mitzvot: is the mitzvah of chinukh merely about habituating the child to mitzvot, or must the child actually perform the mitzvah in its fully valid halakhic form?

The central Talmudic discussion of chinukh is found in Chagigah 6a, and Rav Moshe Feinstein addresses this broader question in several responsa, including Iggrot Moshe OH 3:95, YD 1:137, YD 1:224, and YD 3:52.

However, for very young children, that larger discussion may not even be necessary. If a child cannot keep his tzitzit in decent shape, he may not yet be at the formal age of chinukh for this mitzvah. The Shulchan Arukh describes the age of chinukh for tzitzit as the age when the child is yode’a lehit’atef — he knows how to wrap himself in the garment (OH 17:3). A very young child may not meaningfully be in that category at all.

This is especially relevant because the beged of the tzitzit commonly bought for young children is often not large enough to meet the minimum required shiur (halakhic size). Some poskim (e.g. Bach, Orach Chaim 16, Yechave Daat 4:2,) write that there is no formal chiyuv chinukh under six years old, and Rav Moshe, following the Magen Avraham (OH 16:1), identifies the more developed age of chinukh here as around nine.

There is also an additional issue that many children’s tzitzit are made from polyester, which may not be a beged that is obligated in tzitzit, even mi-derabbanan (see Iggrot Moshe OH 2:1; Tzitz Eliezer 12:3).

Rav Moshe discusses these issues directly in Iggrot Moshe YD 3:52. He writes that for children who are below the age of chinukh, people commonly dress them in tzitzit even though the garment may not satisfy the strict halakhic requirements, because at that age there is no real obligation. Once children reach the age of chinukh, however, the question becomes more serious and depends on the broader debate about the nature of chinukh.

Here is Rav Moshe’s formulation:

הנה בקטנים קודם שיעור החינוך שעדיין אין יכולין להתעטף בעצמן שג”כ נוהגין אינשי שלובשין אותן בציצית לא שייך להקשות דהא פטורין בעצם לגמרי ורק שעושין זה יותר מהחיוב לכן הלבישו אותם אף דבר שאינו מדינא כלום, אבל בקטנים שהגיעו לחינוך לכאורה תמוה על אלו שמקילין, ואף שאפשר דסגי לקטן פחות מכפי שהוא מתעטף בו ראשו ורובו דלא כהפמ”ג במשבצות, דהא הגדול מתחייב בבגד שקטן בן ט’ מתכסה בו ראשו ורובו אף שלהגדול הוא פחות מ”מ הא לא מדקדקי גם על זה.

והנה בעצם תלוי זה במחלוקת המג”א והאחרונים שהביא המ”ב בסימן תרנ”ח דהמג”א בסק”ח סובר שביום ראשון לא יצא הקטן באתרוג שאינו שלו אלא שאול וכוונתו דלא יצא האב ידי חינוך, והמ”ב בשם אחרונים כתב דמצות חינוך מתקיים גם בשאול וכתב שכן משמע במרדכי בשם ראב”ן משום דגם בזה מתחנך הקטן למצות, ועיין באג”מ חיו”ד ח”א סימן קל”ז, שלהמג”א לא יצא במצות חינוך דציצית כשליכא השיעור לקטן ולהאחרונים שהביא המ”ב ושכן סובר המרדכי בשם ראב”ן יצא אף שליכא השיעור כיון שעכ”פ מתחנך בזה, שא”כ מה שלא קפדי ליקח ט”ק שיש בהו כשיעור לבניהם הוא אליבא דהמ”ב בשם אחרונים והמרדכי בשם ראב”ן ומשמע דהמ”ב בשעה”צ סובר כוותייהו, ובכאן עוד עדיפא דהא איכא גם גדולים דהולכין בפחותין מכשיעור. ולהפמ”ג דכתב דבעינן שהיא שיעור גם בד’ כנפות של קטן יסבור גם באתרוג דלא מקיים מצות חינוך כשלא יקנה לקטן, ויצטרך לקנות ביחוד להקטן אתרוג ומיניו כשאפשר לו. עכ”פ איכא טעם נכון למה שלוקחין בעד הקטנים אף לאלו שהגיעו לחינוך ד’ כנפות שפחותין מכשיעור, אבל יותר נכון לקנות להחייבין בחינוך דהם להמג”א (סי’ ט”ז סק”א) בני ט’ שנים ומעלה ד’ כנפות שיש להם כשיעור שהוא לפ”מ שכתבתי לעיל פחות מעט מראשו ורובו.

Rav Moshe’s conclusion gives us the basic framework. Before the age of chinukh, there is no real question, since the child is not yet obligated at all. Even after the age of chinukh, there is a basis for the common practice of being lenient with children’s tallit katan when it does not meet the full adult standard. Still, Rav Moshe writes that, as noted above, once a child reaches the more developed age of nine years old, it is better to buy a tallit katan that has the proper shiur.

Practically, then, I would not worry about this when the child is still very young and clearly below the real age of chinukh for tzitzit. Once the child reaches the age where chinukh for this mitzvah really applies — somewhere in the range of six to nine — it is better to be more careful that the tzitzit are halakhically valid.

Regarding tekhelet, the same basic framework should apply. If you view tekhelet as a chumrah — a religious stringency — then it is up to you when or whether to have your children wear it. If you view tekhelet as a real hakpadah min ha-din — something you are careful about because you believe it is halakhically required — then I would say to begin when the child genuinely reaches the age of chinukh descibed above.