Q&A: The Sages’ Decree Regarding Linen Tzitzit
The Sages’ Decree Regarding Linen Tzitzit
Question
Hello Rabbi,
A principle that appears in many books and among many writers is that the sages have no power to permit what the Torah explicitly wrote is forbidden, even by way of interpretation, and likewise no power to forbid what the Torah explicitly wrote is permitted (for example, “and on the eighth day” — “on the Sabbath”; see Taz 588).
If so, how did they prohibit shaatnez in tzitzit? Isn’t this an explicit derivation permitting it? (In the Jerusalem Talmud it says that “tzitzit” and “you shall not wear” were said in one verse…)
Answer
I don’t think this appears in all that many books. It is mainly a principle of the Taz in several places. The definition of what counts as something the Torah explicitly permitted is not clear. In any case, with tzitzit the Torah did not actively permit it; it merely did not prohibit it. If the sages had no authority to forbid anything the Torah did not prohibit, then there would be no room for any rabbinic decree at all.