#tzitzit

I believe you that you mean no disrespect, Anon - but I don't think you understand what tzitzit actually are.

Do you know how many strings there are, and how many knots? Do you know why 613 matters? These aren't trivia questions, the answers are the whole point of the garment. Tzitzit are a physical reminder of a specific covenantal obligation that observant Jewish men are bound to. That's not incidental to what they are - it's what they are.

If you look that up and really take it in, I think you'll see the problem yourself. You're Catholic. You weren't going to wear them to fulfill that obligation. Your religious beliefs are not built on 613 mitzvot. They're built on not just different beliefs, but different frameworks of belief.

"Cultural significance" tries to make this feel like a matter of cultural etiquette, and I'm choosing to believe that's from ignorance, not dishonesty.

Tzitzit aren't a cultural practice, they're a mitzvah - a commandment. They have a specific legal architecture governing how they're made, tied, and worn, and they exist because of and within a covenantal relationship between G-d and the Jewish people...to which you are not a party.

The research trail you describe also isn't reassuring. You consulted (non-observant) Jewish friends who said yes, found a blogger who said no, and are now asking an internet stranger who has repeatedly described himself as a secular atheist.

I don't know what's in your heart, Anon, but this doesn't seem like due diligence. It seems more like you're shopping for permission and were hoping a secular atheist wouldn't care.

The answer you kept not finding from Jews wasn't a gap in the literature or you just having difficulty locating it. There are no writings by Jews about non-Jews following such mitzvot because it is neither expected nor appropriate for them to do so. Jewish thought only hopes that non-Jews will follow the Noahide laws and believes that good people of every faith

"Non-kosher tzitzit" have a simpler name: tassels. The commandment isn't a dress code with a knockoff option. Wear tassels if you like, but please don't call them tzitzit.

Since you solicited my opinion:

"Seeing beauty in the custom," says Lutheran Reverand Kris Litman-Koon, "is not permission to appropriate it."

Your Catholic tradition has its own rich embodied prayer practices, including scapulars, rosaries, and hair shirts. The impulse to wear something that anchors you physically to your G-d is worth honoring, if you feel so moved - but not with tzitzit. They're not yours, and they're not for you to appropriate.

But I'm a Catholic and have felt a calling to wear tzittzit.

I'm trying to say this in the softest, most gentle way I can: You haven't felt a calling. If you understood what they are, you'd know that. The hesitance you're feeling is trying to tell you something important which you'll understand better if you study the Church's long, awful history of appropriation and supersessionism.

(@straynoahide, would you be up to recommending some reading as a Catholic of Jewish heritage who knows this history better than Anon? @sole-e-acqua, any reading you'd like to recommend as a Christian?)

If any frum Jews would be willing to share their views here, I'd appreciate it. Nobody in my family has worn tzitzit for at least a couple generations and your observant perspective might differ significantly from mine.

For my omer-counting project this year, i got some beautiful Awassi wool from Handmade Palestine and have been spinning it into these lovely tzitzit strings! :^)

The wool has a natural ivory color with flecks of warm reddish brown, and a wavy, energetic texture.

Why do some tallitot have black stripes, some have blue, and some none at all?

The stripes are often symbolic — many believe they echo the ancient tekhelet (blue thread) once commanded in the Torah. Blue-striped tallitot recall this lost tradition, while black stripes (especially among Ashkenazi Jews) often represent mourning, humility, and memory.

At the center of it all are the tzitzit — ritual fringes tied with deep intention. Their knots and windings symbolize God’s oneness, the 613 mitzvot, and our eternal bond with the Divine.

a punk vest/battle jacket/whatever

Handwoven Yemenite Jewish prayer shawl, Southern Yemen, Early 20th century. 275 x 102 cm. Gift of Yihya Ovadya Gibli, Jaffa.