Shulchan Arukh, Yoreh De'ah 351

<b>דין כלאים וציצית למת. ובו ב' סעיפים:</b><br>תכריכי המת מותר לעשותן מכלאים:

One is permitted to make the dead person's shrouds from diverse kinds. § 301, 7. This ruling is based upon the following: ‘R. Yoḥanan said, What is meant by the verse, “Among the dead I am free ” (Ps. 88:6), when one is dead, one is free from religious duties’ (Niddah 61b).

אין קוברין את המת אלא בטלית שיש בו ציצית: הגה וי"א דאין צריך ציצית (טור בשם י"א) ונהגו לקברו בציצית אך שפוסלין תחילה הציצית או כורכין אחד מן הכנפות:

One buries the dead only in a Talith that has Ẓizith . Gloss : Some say that Ẓizith are not required; on the authority of ‘some say’ — G. and the accepted practice is to bury him with Ẓizith, only that one first disqualifies the Ẓizith or one twines around one of the corners [ of the Talith ]. holds that the corpse must be buried in a Talith that has fringes. Thus also opinion of N Men. 41a. b) R. Tam maintains that fringes are not required (even when the corpse is carried out for burial). Ber. 18a, Tosaf. s.v. אבל ; B.B. 74a, Tosaf. s.v. פסקי ; A.Z. 65b, Tosaf. s.v. אבל ; Nid. 61b, Tosa f . s.v. אבל . Thus also Or Zaru‘a. This is the opinion of the first part of this Gloss. c) The general opinion of the Sages (v. Mas. Ẓiẓith(H) IX, p. 52), contra the individual opinion of Abba Saul in Sem(H). XII, 11 (v. also ibid. p. 241). that the accepted custom is to bury the corpse with fringes, provided some disqualification is made in them. The fringes are regarded as accessories of religious observances ( תשמישי מצוה ) which may be thrown away when disused, and hence in this case they do not have to be removed, contra Abba Saul who it seems considers them (i.e., the fringes) as accessories of holiness ( תשמישי קדושה ) which are usually stored away. Meg. 26b. This opinion is also accepted by RIBA and RaSHaL (cited by BaḤ ) . There are two more opinions regarding this problem, viz., that of Ra’BIaH who holds that one who observed the precept of Ẓiẓith during lifetime should be buried with Ẓiẓith; otherwise, he should not be buried with Ẓiẓith; and that of R. Isaac b. Malki Ẓedek and RaZaH to carry out the corpse for burial covered by a Talith with Ẓiẓith which is removed before burial. Thus is the custom of the Land of Israel (v. Gesher ha-Ḥayyim I, 10; II, 14). Thus also opinion of RI in Tosaf. B.B. ibid. Cf. also Asheri to M.K. III for a lengthy discussion on this problem and also suggestions in order to remove the difficulty between this ruling and supra par. 1 according to which the dead are exempt from religious observances. Derisha removes this apparent contradiction by stating that the precept of Ẓiẓith is different, since it is as important as all precepts put together. Furthermore, ‘diverse kinds’ are forbidden by the Torah only if they afford warmth to the individual, which is not applicable in the case of the dead. One who through no fault of his own but on account of unavoidable circumstances could not observe the precept of Ẓiẓith during his lifetime, may be buried in a Talith , provided he left sufficient funds with which to buy one. But if money has to be spent from the public charity fund, it is not permitted — P.Tesh.