Within contemporary Orthodox Judaism, there is a debate on the appropriateness of women wearing tzitzit, which has hinged on whether women are allowed to perform commandments from which they are technically exempt. According to Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik the issue depends on the intention with which such an act is undertaken, e.g. whether it is intended to bring a person closer to the Almighty, or for political or protest purposes. Other commentators hold that women are prohibited generally, without making an individual inquiry. The view that women donning a tallit would be guilty of arrogance is cited as applying to attempts of making a political statement as to the ritual status of the genders, rather than an act of becoming closer to the Almighty. Other authorities, particularly in the Modern Orthodox community, are generally more inclined to regard contemporary women's intentions as religiously appropriate.

Amongst those commentators above who held that women could perform the mitzvah of tzitzit, R. Yisrael Yaaqob Alghazi (1680–1761) and R. Yomtob ben Yisrael Alghazi (1726–1802) held that the observance of this mitzvah by women was not only permitted but actually commendable, since such diligence amongst the non-obligated would inspire these women's male relatives to be even more diligent in their own observance.
Among Karaim, the mitzvah of tzitzit is viewed as equally binding for men and women, and both sexes therefore generally wear tallitot.

Since the 1970s non-Orthodox denominations of Judaism permit women to wear a tallit.

Order of putting on tallit and tefillin

In the Talmudic and post-Talmudic periods the tefillin were worn by rabbis and scholars all day, and a special tallit was worn at prayer; hence they put on the tefillin before the tallit, as appears in the order given in "Seder Rabbi Amram Gaon" (p. 2a) and in the Zohar. In modern practice, however, the opposite order is considered more "correct". Based on the Talmudic principle of tadir v'she'ayno tadir, tadir qodem, (תדיר ושאינו תדיר, תדיר קודם: lit., frequent and infrequent, frequent first), when one performs more than one mitzva at a time, those that are performed more frequently should be performed first. While the tallit is worn daily, tefillin are not worn on the Sabbath and holidays.
The Kabbalists considered the tallit as a special garment for the service of God, intended, in connection with the tefillin, to inspire awe and reverence for God at prayer (Zohar, Exodus Toledot, p. 141a). The tallit is worn by all male worshipers at the morning prayer on week-days, Shabbat, and holy days; by the hazzan (cantor) at every prayer while before the ark; and by the reader of Torah, as well as by all other functionaries during the Torah service.

Weddings

In many Sephardic communities, the groom traditionally wears a tallit under the chuppah (wedding canopy). In Ashkenazi communities, a more widespread custom is that the groom wears a kittel, although some Ashkenazim have in recent years started to wear a tallit according to the Sephardic custom.
A tallit is sometimes spread out as a canopy at the wedding ceremony. This may be done either instead of or in addition to the regular chuppah.
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Burial

After death, Jews are buried with varying customs, depending on where they are to be buried. In the Diaspora, burial takes place within a plain, wooden casket. The corpse is collected from the place of death (home, hospital, etc.) by the chevra kadisha (burial committee). After a ritual washing of body in a mikvah, the body is dressed in a kittel (shroud) and then a tallit. One of the tzitzit is then cut off. In the Land of Israel, burial is without a casket, and the kittel and tallith are the only coverings for the corpse.

Tallit and Women of the Wall

In modern Israel, the tallit has become one of the symbols of struggle between tradition and change in defining women's roles in Judaism. Women Of The Wall, an organization founded in 1989 by both Orthodox and non-Orthodox women, has sought the right for women to pray out loud at the Kotel in separate women's prayer groups, to read from the Torah, to wear a tallit, tefillin, and kippah. In Jerusalem, the women of the Wall met each month on Rosh Hodesh for shacharit, before moving elsewhere to read from the Torah. At times they have been disrupted, and sometimes verbally or physically assaulted, during these monthly prayers. Their quest to pray at the Kotel has been passed around between religious and secular authorities, taken up at times by the Israel Supreme Court and the Knesset, but without formal resolution to date.

• Tallit
• Historical origin
• Blessing
• Obligation