Q. If a doctor has his own surgical gown (as he works in his own clinic), and it has four well defined corners (it closes on the back, so all corners are there), does he have to put Tzitzis on the corners? Does it matter if there is a strap attached to the top corners? Thanks.
A. There are a number of reasons to be lenient in requiring Tzitzis for a surgical gown.
A) All four corners are on the same side and not two in front and two behind. Mishnah Berurah 10,36 in the name of Darkei Moshe, exempts the above, however Mogen Avrohom disagrees.
B) The material used for making the gown, if it is not wool or linen, its obligation is only rabbinical according to the Rambam and Shulchan Aruch (O.C. 9,1), Remah (ibid.) disagrees. If it is made of synthetic fibers, the opinion of many Poiskim is that it does not require Tzitzis.
C) According to the Arizal (Beer Heitev and Shaarei Teshuvah 16,1) a garment that has long sleeves is not considered a proper four-cornered garment. (see Tzitz Eliezer 6,1)
Horav Shlomo Miller's Shlit'a opinion is that the attached straps to the top corners may not annul them, as they are rather thin. However, due to the above-mentioned reasons, you can be lenient. It is preferable that the owner of the gown should gift it to another
person, or should exempt it of Tzitzis by rounding off a corner of the
gown.
Rabbi A. Bartfeld as advised by Horav Shlomo Miller Shlit"a
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