Shulchan Aruch: Chapter 23 - Laws Relating to Tzitzis in a Cemetery

SECTION 23 Laws Relating to Tzitzis in a Cemetery. (1–5)

1 It is permitted to enter a cemetery while wearing tzitzis — provided the tzitzis do not trail over the graves, so that [the person wearing them is not considered] “one who mocks the poor.”1 The dead are considered “poor,” [since] they are exempt from the mitzvos and unable to observe them.2 [Observing the mitzvos in their presence implies,] “We can observe them [but you cannot].”3

2 When is it permitted to enter a cemetery wearing tzitzis? When they are attached to a garment worn for one’s own needs and not [especially] to observe the mitzvah of tzitzis; e.g., if one owns another garment [aside from the tallis katan worn to fulfill the mitzvah] with tzitzis, as was the custom in the era of the Sages of the Talmud whose garments were all four-cornered. [In such an instance] it would be impossible to remove all these clothes when visiting a cemetery.

With regard to tallisos that are not intended to be worn as garments but solely to fulfill the mitzvah of tzitzis, as is our practice, it is forbidden to enter a cemetery while wearing them, even if the tzitzis do not trail over the graves, because this is considered “mocking the poor.”

When does the above apply? When the tzitzis are uncovered and visible, this is considered as “mocking the poor.” If, however, they are concealed and not visible at all, wearing them is not considered “mocking the poor.”4

3 Some people are accustomed to tying together the tzitzis of two corners [of their tallis katan] when they enter a cemetery, intending thereby to suspend their obligation to observe the mitzvah of tzi­tzis. Their actions are, however, of no consequence. Tying the two tzitzis to each other does not nullify the mitzvah of tzitzis, for ultimately they will be untied.

4 A person who comes within four cubits5 of a corpse, a grave, or a cemetery,6 is bound by the same laws as one who enters a cemetery.

5 In places where it is customary to remove the tzitzis from a tallis in which a deceased person [is covered]7 before he is removed from the house in which he died, the people carrying the bier may not wear tzitzis8 because they appear to be “mocking the poor,” unless their tzitzis are covered.