Dear Rabbis,
I wear tzitzit tucked in.
However I find it very difficult to keep them that way! Seemingly no matter how large a pair I buy (I’ve tried up to XXL) a corner of the beged and/or the tzitziot themselves always manage to somehow pop out, which looks ridiculous (I’m often in a non-frum setting).
A solution I’ve recently figured out is to ask my wife to make a very short stitch about a third the way up the beged attaching both sides.
This way the vest fits tighter and seems to have an easier time staying in my trousers. It’s also still obviously four courners, but they’re not quite as clear, obviously, as if the stitches had not been made.
I’ve heard that having a button 1/3, 1/2 the way up the beged to do the same job is fine so am hoping that this stitch doesn’t present a halachic problem.
Thanks in advance.
It’s still ‘rov patuah’.
Answer:
You should preferably have the stitch a little more than half way up the begged.
The reason for this is that according to the Chayei Adam (9:11) the “hole” where your arms go through is not included in the “open shiur” of the begged. Although this point is disputed among authorities, the Mishnah Berurah cites the Chayei Adam, and one should therefore ensure that the open part below the stitch is the majority of the begged.
A stitch is more problematic than buttons, because buttons don’t close up the begged in a permanent way, whereas a stitch does. There is room to argue that a single stitch also lacks the permanency of a proper sewed garment, but nonetheless it should be made slightly above the middle of the begged.
Perhaps the problem can be solved by using some kind of belt?
Best wishes.
