Menachot 44

Three days ago, we encountered a debate about whether the mitzvah of tzitzit is incumbent upon the person (meaning people have to wear garments with tzitzit) or the garment (meaning all four-cornered garments are required to have tzitzit). The underlying question is the extent to which tzitzit is a visual mitzvah: Do we need to see the tzitzit every day to fulfill the obligation?

That question continues to animate the Talmud for several more pages. On yesterday’s daf, the rabbis entertained a question about whether a blind person is obligated in tzitzit. After all, a blind person will never see the blue-and-white fringe. But other people will, and so the rabbis conclude that a blind person is also obligated in the mitzvah. The visual is important — both for the wearer and others.

With this in mind, let’s turn to a long and rich story on today’s daf:

There was an incident involving a certain man who was diligent about the mitzvah of ritual fringes. This man heard that there was a prostitute in one of the cities overseas who took 400 gold coins as her payment. He sent her 400 gold coins and fixed a time to meet with her.

When his time came, he came and sat at the entrance to her house. The maidservant of that prostitute entered and said to her: That man who sent you 400 gold coins came and sat at the entrance. She said: Let him enter. He entered.

She arranged seven beds for him, six of silver and one of gold. Between each and every one of them there was a ladder made of silver, and the top bed was the one that was made of gold. She went up and sat naked on the top bed, and he too went up in order to sit naked facing her.

In the meantime, his four ritual fringes came and slapped him on his face. He dropped down and sat himself on the ground, and she also dropped down and sat on the ground.

This encounter is far from spontaneous. After all, the courtesan lives overseas and takes eye-watering payments in advance. Yet the rabbi does not hesitate, paying in full by post before eagerly tracking down her home, then rapidly ascending seven ladders to bed her.

So what finally disrupts the encounter? His tzitzit. Curiously, he doesn’t just catch sight of them. Presumably, they’ve been dangling by his side throughout this process. But it isn’t until they slap him in the face that he is brought back to earth — literally.

Some rabbinic stories end in tragedy. This one, it turns out, ends happily:

She said to him: By the capital of Rome, I will not allow you to go until you tell me what defect you saw in me. He said to her: By the Temple, I never saw a woman as beautiful as you. But there is one mitzvah that the Lord, our God, commanded us, and its name is ritual fringes, and in the passage where it is commanded, it is written twice: “I am the Lord your God” (Numbers 15:41). This means I am the one who will punish those who transgress My mitzvot, and I am the one who will reward those who fulfill them. Now, the four sets of ritual fringes appeared to me as if they were four witnesses who will testify against me.
 
She said to him: I will not allow you to go until you tell me: What is your name, and what is the name of your city, and what is the name of your teacher, and what is the name of the study hall in which you studied Torah? He wrote the information and placed it in her hand.

She arose and divided all of her property, giving one-third as a bribe to the government, one-third to the poor and she took one-third with her in her possession, in addition to the beds of gold and silver.

She came to the study hall of Rabbi Hiyya and said to him: My teacher, instruct your students concerning me and have them make me a convert. Rabbi Hiyya said to her: My daughter, perhaps you set your sights on one of the students and that is why you want to convert? She took the note the student had given her from her hand and gave it to Rabbi Hiyya. He said to her: Go take possession of your purchase. Those beds that she had arranged for him in a prohibited fashion, she now arranged for him in a permitted fashion.

The courtesan, moved by the rabbi’s fidelity to mitzvot, decides to convert and follows through by selling and donating most of her worldly possessions. In the end, the rabbi doesn’t end up purchasing her, she purchases him! But this means the rabbi ends up with exactly what he wanted — she even kept the fancy beds.

The Talmud frames this story as one about worldly reward for following the mitzvot. And it is often read in this vein. But it is also an interesting comment on the visual role of tzitzit. As with so many stories in the Talmud, its statement is subtle and ambiguous. On the one hand, the tzitzit here did have a crucial role of reminding the rabbi of his values. But on the other, seeing them was not enough to set him straight.

Read all of Menachot 44 on Sefaria.

This piece originally appeared in a My Jewish Learning Daf Yomi email newsletter sent on February 24, 2026. If you are interested in receiving the newsletter, sign up here.