Small Tallit Among Sephardim and Ashkenazim, and What Lies Between

Hello

As requested, I will expand a little on the first matter regarding tzitzit at night. There is no obligation according to halacha; however, there is significance to it according to Kabbalah, as Maran the Arizal wrote in Pri Etz Chaim (Shaar HaTzitzit - chapter 1): "There is no tallit and tzitzit at night, because..., but the small tallit should lie with him even in bed, because at night..., and this even at night is not interrupted. Only the adult garment is nullified, ...and therefore it is proper to be careful not to remove the small tallit from himself at any time, even while sleeping, except when entering the bathhouse. And for this reason David saw himself naked in the bathhouse from the mitzvot, and not while sleeping, because then he had the small tallit," and there is no difference between Ashkenazim and Sephardim in fulfilling these words of the Arizal. Regarding the second matter, concerning tzitzit worn outside or inside.

The very matter of bringing the tzitzit strings to the outside is a matter of dispute among the poskim. Indeed, the Mishnah Berurah (siman 8, seif katan 26) is very strict about this, and his view is that even when walking among gentiles one should not hide the tzitzit inside the pants. However, in the Shulchan Aruch itself there are different implications regarding the degree of obligation to wear the tzitzit above the clothing [see siman 8, seif 11, and siman 24, seif 1] whether this is an absolute obligation or only a mitzvah in the preferred manner. Some say that even for a mitzvah in the preferred manner, there is no need to go with the tzitzit to the outside [see Lechem Chamudos on the laws of tzitzit for the Rosh, end of letter 70].

Nevertheless, many hold that there is great significance in this, and that it is the fullest expression of the benefit of the mitzvah of tzitzit, as the Nimmukei Yosef (laws of tzitzit of the Rif) in the name of the Ritva writes, that even the small tallit should be worn over one’s garments so that one may properly fulfill, "and do not stray after your heart and after your eyes." Furthermore, the Sages likened the tzitzit strings to a seal that a master places upon his servant, and his master is particular that when he covers him it should be visible on the outside. And the Levush, in siman 8, seif 10, writes as follows: Because the reason for tzitzit is so that we remember all the mitzvot, therefore those who wear the small tallit under their garments should take care to wear it in a way that the tzitzit are always visible, so that through seeing them they will remember the mitzvot," according to his wording. The Aruch HaShulchan (siman 8, seif 17) also wrote that although, as a matter of law, it is not essential to wear the tzitzit outward, still: "that we should be clothed in the mitzvot of Hashem." The holy Shlah also wrote similarly (beginning of tractate Chullin):

"And now, because of the scoffers, I too wear the small tallit under my clothing, but nevertheless I take the two tzitzit that are on the inside and place them outside between the clasps of the garment, and I see them constantly, and so it is proper to conduct oneself," according to his wording. And thus the custom is widespread among most Ashkenazim to bring the tzitzit outward for the reasons stated, especially nowadays, when the House of Israel follows the rulings of the greatest posek of the last generation, almost as the words of the oracles, namely the author of the Mishnah Berurah, of blessed memory, who ruled:

"Those people who place the tzitzit inside their pants, not only are they ignoring what is said, 'And you shall see it and remember all the mitzvot of Hashem,' but they are also disgracing the mitzvah of the Blessed be He, and they will one day have to give account for this. And as for their claim that they do so because they walk among the non-Jews, that would have been satisfied by placing the tzitzit inside the corner of the garment; and if they had some gift from an earthly king on which the king's name was engraved, how much would they adorn themselves with it constantly before people, all the more so with tzitzit, which alludes to the name of the Holy One, blessed be He. How honored is the person who bears His name upon himself." And in this spirit, the words were written in the Shulchan Aruch of the first Lubavitcher Rebbe - Chabad (siman 8, seif 18), as follows:

"And since the reason for wearing tzitzit is in order to remember the mitzvot, therefore one who wears a small tallit should be careful to wear it over his garments so that it will always be seen and he will remember the mitzvot, and those who wear it under their garments should be careful to wear it in a way that the tzitzit are always visible, so that through seeing them they will always remember the mitzvot," according to his wording. And all this is according to the revealed Torah; however, according to Kabbalah, the poskim cite the wording of the Arizal that the tzitzit should be worn specifically under the garments. And in Sefer Solet Bulah, [brought in Sefer Yafeh LaLev, Orach Chaim siman 8, letter 21] it proves that the intention of the Arizal was that the tzitzit strings themselves should also be inside. And indeed this is how the Sephardim actually conduct themselves: almost all of them, from the youngest to the oldest, including those who follow chassidut and stringency, wear the tzitzit under their garments, and the tzitzit strings themselves are also gathered inside their garments.

Maran Rabbi Ovadia Yosef strongly defends the Sephardic custom in his book (Responsa Yechaveh Daat, part 2, siman 1), and in his view the members of Sephardic communities and the Edot HaMizrach should remain with the custom of their fathers, who followed the Kabbalah of our teacher the Arizal, and should wear the small tallit under their garments, with the tzitzit also covered by their garments. 

Good luck - Menashe Yisrael