Enhancement of the Mitzvah with a Tallit

Rabbi, I have a very old tallit, but once a year I replace the threads with beautiful and new ones in honor of the mitzvah. It seems to me that the mitzvah is only about the threads and not the tallit, and there is no need for the tallit to be particularly beautiful. Am I correct?

Hello Rabbi, A tallit intended only for prayer time is certainly an object of mitzvah and a respectable garment for prayer, and there is a mitzvah for the tallit itself to be beautiful.

There are several versions in the Gemara regarding whether there is an enhancement of the mitzvah with a beautiful tallit or only with beautiful tzitzit. See the text before us (Shabbat 133b) and in Rashi's version (BK 9: DH בהידור) the Rif (Sukkah 16. Rif's pages) and the Rosh (Sukkah 3:12), and see in the Midrash (Shekel Tov Shemot 15:21). The Davar Avraham (part 2, siman 25) wonders why the tallit should be beautiful, as the mitzvah concerns only the threads, just as there is no need for the house to be beautiful, only for the mezuzah to be beautiful. However, the Adret (Over Orach, page 211) believed that in a tallit it is more evident that it is part of the mitzvah, and it also has enhancement, especially in our days when tzitzit is worn only to fulfill this precious mitzvah. See Rashi (Menachot 41: DH דילמא) and Nimukei Yosef (laws of tzitzit DH אין מתירין) and Piskei RiD (Shabbat 22.). However, the Igrot Moshe (OH part 1, siman 187) believed that only a tallit designated for prayer should be beautiful, as well as the tzitzit threads, but the tzitzit itself is not significant. Regarding the enhancement of the mitzvah in a covered item, the opinion of Rabbeinu Tam (Tosafot Menachot 32: DH הא) and the Rambam (Tefillin 1:12) is that there is no beauty in it. However, the Mordechai (Remez 999 end of small laws) believed there is. And the Rama (OH siman 32:4; and see Mishnah Berurah siman 147:10) brought his opinion.