A Tzitzit (plural: tzitzyot, also spelled Tzitzis),
(Hebrew: Biblical ציצת Modern ציצית) is the "fringe"
or "tassel" attached to four-cornered garments,
including the tallit (prayer shawl) and tallit katan,
worn by observant Jewish men.
Origin and practice
The
Torah states in Numbers 15:38: "Speak to the children
of Israel, and say to them, that they shall make
themselves fringes on the corners of their garments
throughout their generations, and they shall put on
the corner fringe a blue (tekhelet) thread."
Wearing the tzitzit is also commanded in Deuteronomy
22:12, which says: "You shall make yourself twisted
threads, on the four corners of your garment with
which you cover yourself."
Tzitzyot are attached today only to Jewish religious
garments, such as a tallit gadol ("large prayer
shawl"). This is because today's clothes do not have
four corners, and thus the fringes are not necessary.
Some consider it a transgression to miss a commandment
that one has the ability to fulfill. The tallit katan
is also commonly referred to as "tzitzit," though this
name technically refers to each of the fringes only.
Various reasons are given for the commandment. The
Torah itself states: "So that you will remember to do
the commandments". In addition, it serves as a
reminder of the Exodus from Egypt (Numbers 15:40). The
Talmud equates its observance with that of all the
mitzvot. Rambam (Comm. Pirkei Avot 2:1) includes it as
a major mitzvah along with brit milah ("circumcision")
and the korban pesah ("Paschal lamb").
Threads and knots
The fringe (tzitzit) on each corner is made of four
strands, each of which is made of eight fine threads
(known as kaful shemoneh). The four strands are passed
through a hole (or according to some: two holes) 1-2
inches (25 to 50 mm) away from the corner of the
cloth. There are numerous customs as to how to tie the
fringe. The Talmud explains that the Bible requires an
upper knot (kesher elyon) and one wrapping of three
winds (hulya). The Talmud enjoined that between 7 to
13 hulyot be tied, and that "one must start and end
with the color of the garment." As for the making of
knots in between the hulyot, the Talmud is
inconclusive, and as such poskim ("decisors of Jewish
law") have varyingly interpreted this requirement.[The
Talmud described tying assuming the use of tekhelet
dye, however, following the loss of the source of the
dye, various customs of tying were introduced to
compensate for the lack of this primary element.
Though many methods exist, the one that gained the
widest acceptance can be described as follows:
The four strands of the tzitzit are passed through
holes near the four corners of the garment (Shulchan
Aruch Orach Chaim 11:9-11,15) that are farthest apart
(10:1). Four tzitzyot are passed through each hole
(11:12-13), and the two groups of four ends are
double-knotted to each other at the edge of the
garment near the hole (11:14,15). One of the tzitzit
is made longer than the others (11:4); the long end of
that one is wound around the other seven ends and
double-knotted; this is done repeatedly so as to make
a total of five double knots separated by four
sections of winding, with a total length of at least
four inches, leaving free-hanging ends that are twice
that long (11:14).
Before tying begins, a Hebrew blessing is said (it's
more of a "declaration of intent"): L'Shem Mitzvat
Tzitzit ("for the sake of the commandment of tzitzit").
The
two sets of stands are knotted together twice, and
then the shamash (a longer strand) is wound around the
remaining seven strands a number of times (see below).
The two sets are then knotted again twice. This
procedure is repeated three times, such that there are
a total of five knots, the four intervening spaces
being taken up by windings numbering 7-8-11-13,
respectively. The total number of winds comes to 39,
which is the same number of winds if one were to tie
according to the Talmud's instruction of 13 hulyot of
3 winds each. Furthermore, the number 39 is found to
be significant in that it is the gematria (numerical
equivalent) of the words: "The Lord is One"
Deuteronomy 6:4). Others, especially Sephardi Jews,
use 10-5-6-5 as the number of windings, a combination
that represents directly the spelling of the
Tetragrammaton (one of God's names).
Rashi, a prominent Jewish commentator, bases the
number of knots on a gematria: the word tzitzit (in
its Mishnaic spelling) has the value 600. Each tassel
has eight threads (when doubled over) and five sets of
knots, totalling 13. The sum of all numbers is 613,
traditionally the number of mitzvot (commandments) in
the Torah. This reflects the concept that donning a
garment with tzitzyot reminds its wearer of all Torah
commandments.
Nachmanides disagrees with Rashi, pointing out that
the Biblical spelling of the word tzitzit has only one
yod rather than two (giving it a gematria of 590 plus
13), thus adding up to the total number of 603 rather
than 613. He points out that in the Biblical quote
"you shall see it and remember them", the singular
form "it" can refer only to the "p'til" ("thread") of
tekhelet. The tekhelet strand serves this purpose,
explains the Talmud, for the blue color of
tekhelet resembles the ocean, which in turn
resembles the sky, which in turn is said to resemble
God's holy throne - thus reminding all of the divine
mission to fulfill His commandments.
Tekhelet
(תכלת) is color dye which the Hebrew Bible commands
the Jews to use for one, two, or four of the eight
half-strings hanging down. At some point in Jewish
history, the source of the dye was lost and since
then, Jews have worn plain white tzitzyot without any
dyes. Tekhelet, which appears 48 times in the Tanakh -
translated by the Septuagint as iakinthinos (Greek:
ὑακίνθινος, blue) - is a specific blue dye produced
from a creature referred to as a chilazon, other blue
dyes being unacceptable (Tosefta). Some explain the
black stripes found on many traditional prayer shawls
as representing the loss of this dye.
The other threads in the tzitzit (all the threads,
where tekhelet is not used) are described as "white".
This may be interpreted either literally (by Rama) or
as meaning the same colour as the main garment
(Rambam). Normally, the garment itself is white so
that the divergence does not arise.
Similarly the threads may be made either of wool or of
the same fabric as the garment; again many authorities
recommend using a woollen garment so that all views
are satisfied.
The
Torah states in Numbers 15:38: "Speak to the children
of Israel, and say to them, that they shall make
themselves fringes on the corners of their garments
throughout their generations, and they shall put on
the corner fringe a blue (tekhelet) thread."
