Reply To: Techeiles and Bal Tosif

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#1935168
DaMoshe
Participant

R’ Hershel Schachter actually holds that you are obligated to wear the techeiles. You can read his reasoning in the sefer R’ Schachter on the Parsha, Parshas Shelach.
He says it’s not yuhara, because that only applies to something that is a midas chassidus. He holds this would be considered a safek d’Oraysa, and we should be machmir to wear it.
He further quotes the Beis haLevi who says that bal tigrah is in a case where you knowingly perform a mitzvah l’chatchilah in a way that it is only fulfilled b’dieved. If it’s not such a case, it’s not bal tigrah, it’s a bitul mitzvah.
Since we hold that wearing tzitzis without techeiles is a b’dieved, and we have a safek d’Oraysa with what may be the proper dye, not using it could cause you to knowingly fulfill the mitzvah b’dieved.
He closes the piece by saying that since we wear a tallis as a midas chassidus (as the only obligation is if you are wearing a garment with 4 corners), then if you don’t use the techeiles (and it’s readily available), you’d be better off not wearing the tallis at all!