Tzitzit Tying Customs

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When I told a recent customer we offer a variety of different tzitzit tying customs, he was taken by surprise. "I was not aware that Tzitzit could be tied using different standards," he wrote in an email. "I thought they were all the same – so now I've learned something new.  What are the differences?  Is there a tzitzit tying custom based on denomination - Orthodox or Conservative – or region of the world – Ashkenazi/Sephardic?" I would estimate that at least 60% of the world's tzitzit are tied according to the standard Ashkenazi custom. In  the U.S. that probably accounts for over 80%. The second most common are Sephardic, followed by Chabad and Yemenite/Rambam.

Techelet Tzitzit Tying

But techelet is a whole different ballgame. The white tzitzit tying customs were meant to fulfill most of the requirements stated in the Gemara that could still be fulfilled once techelet had fallen out of the picture. But for those who now wear techelet there are several tying customs. The Gemara states very clearly certain guidelines -- e.g. the first and last loops (or sets of loops) must be white and the total must be no less than 7 and no more than 13 -- so all techelet tzitzit tying customs fulfill these requirements in one way or another. The Ptil Tekhelet Association (which makes the techelet strings) recommends the Sefer Hachinuch tzitzit tying custom, and I think they recommend the Rambam for Sephardic Jews. There are Ashkenazim who seem to be drawn to the Rambam's tzitzit tying custom, either for aesthetic reasons or because of it's simplicity, I'm not sure.

Tzitzit in the IDF

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Yeshiva Entire world News ran a small report on an IDF determination to halt delivering olive green tzitzit clothes at no charge for spiritual troopers. Audience submitted a variety of exciting remarks, which I would like to remark on listed here. Forgive me if I indulge in a little bit of editorializing. "A talis koton is supposed to be white in any case, to match the color of the [tzitzit] strings. This is in Shulchon Oruch. It is not a challenging and rapidly prerequisite, green is not possul, but it is the way it is supposed to be. So why would the [IDF] Rabbinate have promoted a green version as a substitute of insisting that white be allowed? What rational function does banning white serve?" Truly there is a rational function. If an IDF soldier is in the crosshairs of an enemy combatant's gun, G-d forbid, a little bit of white fabric will support the shooter just take purpose, and if he has not been noticed, an inch of white could make the variation. I know of elite IDF models that just take camouflage tactics quite severely for specific night functions. In other phrases, in specified situations putting on an olive green tzitzit garment genuinely is a make any difference of pikuach nefesh (daily life and loss of life). [caption id="attachment_5341" align="alignright" width="150" caption="Courtesy of American Close friends of the IDF Rabbinate"]An olive green tallit katan with white tzitzit[/caption] One particular may possibly say, "But if it genuinely is pikuach nefesh, then the tzitzit strings must not be white either." Yes, but you can constantly tuck in the tzitzit if needed, and a lot of Sephardic troopers hold their tzitzit tucked in to get started with. In accordance to one more remark posted, "Why do they need to have to shell out for the tzitzit? I just really do not get it. I really do not indicate nearly anything adverse here – uniform, weapons, military things very good – [but] spiritual articles or blog posts...?" I have two solutions for that: One particular is that considering that ostensibly the IDF is a Jewish military, supplying out tzitzit is flawlessly realistic. You could even argue that it is a ought to, and is element and parcel of outfitting a Jewish military. One particular commenter asked rhetorically, "So what else that is vital to the soldiers’ security are they contemplating of chopping? Access to IDF-supplied guns and ammunition?" Of class the up coming issue would be, "So why will not the IDF give kippahs?" For the duration of the IDF induction ceremony, every single soldier gets a Tanach (Druze troopers acquire a Koran), so it can make sensation to give the signifies to hold what that Tanach says a Jew must do. The 2nd response is that considering that obtaining an olive green tzitzit garment is rather hard, the military must just take treatment of it. And if the IDF is not successful ample to take care of the process, I know of an individual who could just take up the slack: Rabbi Yitzchok Dovid Grossman of Migdal Ha'emek (a.k.a. The Disco Rabbi). Aish.com has an remarkable tale about how he was ready to fill in the logistical gap when the IDF fell small for the duration of the 2nd Lebanon War. (If you want to get a tallit katan in olive green with white tzitzit on the web, I will not at the moment offer them, but I come about to know that World of Judaica does.) One particular dilemma that nobody described is that despite the fact that olive green tzitzit clothes are offered, what is an IDF soldier to do if he is stringent to have on a wool tallit katan? This is rather widespread amid Sephardic troopers.

Rainbow Tallit Comparison: Bnei Ohr vs. Joseph's Coat

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A consumer lately asked me about the distinction in between the Bnei Ohr Tallit and the Joseph's Coat Tallit. They had been each impressed by the exact same tallit, initially created by Reb Zalman (Rabbi Zalman M. Schachter-Shalom see B’nei Or Tallis: From nineteen fifties Eyesight to Contemporary Actuality). Later on the idea of a rainbow tallit grew to become well-liked and it is generally referred to by its authentic title, Bnei Ohr (or Bnei Or), and is occasionally known as merely a "Rainbow Tallit." The Gabrieli edition is known as Joseph's Coat. [caption id="attachment_5280" align="alignright" width="one hundred fifty" caption="Mishkan Hatchelet's Bnei Ohr Tallit"]Bnei Ohr Tallit[/caption] The distinction in between the Bnei Ohr (Mishkan Hatchelet) and the Joseph's Coat (Gabrieli) is basically the distinction in between any regular tallit and the hand-woven talleisim Gabrieli generates. Each are one hundred% wool, but the Bnei Ohr is produced out of a restricted weave, while the Joseph's Coat is produced utilizing thicker yarn that provides it much more texture and bulk. Also, each the corners and atara (neckband) vary. The Bnei Ohr Tallit has the Tzitzit Blessing embroidered on the atara and a Luchos Habris routine on the corners, whilst the Joseph's Coat Tallit employs the rainbow stripe motif on each the atara and the corners. An additional distinction is that the Bnei Ohr arrives with two colour choices (white with red, orange, yellow and blue stripes or white with blue, purple, red and burgundy), whilst the Joseph's Coat arrives in 4 variations (white, black, grey or blue track record). Lastly, the sizing is a little bit various. In the slim dimensions, the Joseph's Coat Tallit is twenty x eighty inches, in contrast to the Bnei Ohr Tallit, which actions 24 x seventy two inches. Other dimensions also differ a little bit in between the two variations of the rainbow tallit. A thirty-2nd video clip on the Joseph's Coat Tallit:

The Would-Be Sinner

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The adhering to tale about a gentleman whose tzitzit help save him from sin is taken from Menachos 44a. After there was a gentleman who was constantly thorough to hold the mitzvah of tzitzit [i.e. tallit katan] appropriately. When he transpired to listen to about a prostitute in a faraway area abroad who billed four hundred zehuvim, he sent that sum and organized a day. When the set time arrived he arrived and sat at her doorway. The prostitute's assistant went within and instructed her mistress, who then instructed the assistant to demonstrate him in. The prostitute geared up 7 beds of silver and a single of gold. There ended up silver ladders connecting them, and a gold ladder primary to the uppermost mattress. She went up to the top rated mattress and sat there naked. He, way too, climbed up to the top rated mattress and sat there naked reverse her. Instantly his 4 tzitzits smacked him on the confront. He went straight down and sat on the flooring. She explained she would not depart him on your own right up until he unveiled what blemish heВ  experienced witnessed in her. "Never ever have I witnessed a female as lovely as you," he replied, "but Hashem our God commanded us to do a specified mitzvah acknowledged as tzitzit. The verse relevant to it states, 'I am Hashem your God' two times, training us that He exacts retribution and pays just wages. My tzitzits ended up like 4 witnesses versus me. " "I will not likely allow you go," she explained, "right up until you notify me your title, the title of your town, the title of your rabbi and the title of the beit midrash wherever you review." He wrote all the details straight down on a piece of paper and handed it to her. They parted. She then divided all her property: a single-3rd for the federal government [as a payoff so they would allow her to transform], a single-3rd for the very poor and a single-3rd she took with her.В  Arriving at the beit midrash of R' Chiya, she asked him to transform her to Judaism. "My daughter," he explained. "probably you have solid your eyes on [i.e. taken a liking] a single of the scholars?" She handed him the piece of paper, recounting the total tale guiding it. "Go accumulate your because of," he explained to her. And people identical sheets she experienced affreux to commit a transgression ended up utilised for a mitzvah as a substitute. This is an occasion of how often a single gets reward equally in This Entire world and the Entire world to arrive.

Pele Yoetz on Tzitzit

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The mitzvah of tzitzit is thought to be equal to all of the other commandments. Due to the fact we are not able to satisfy all of the 613 mitzvahs, when we use tzitzits, which are intended to remind us of the obligation to hold all of the commandments, it is thought to be as if we did in simple fact observe them. Even so, we have to bear this intention exclusively in head. For that reason, a single must be confident to constantly use a tallit katan and be confident that equally one's tallit katan and tallit gadol adhere to all of the relevant halachic demands. Additionally, a single must be confident to have out the precept of "zeh Eli ve'anveihu," i.e. to use an beautiful tallit in get to beautify the mitzvah. If a single is donning wonderful garments, even though the tallit is torn or worn, he shames and disgraces himself, equally in This Entire world and the Entire world to Arrive.

Wool Tallit and Wool Tallit Katan

A single must make a level of producing a tallit – equally the tallit gadol and the tallit katan – of ewe wool relatively than other materials, considering that a tallit manufactured from other materials only call for tzitzit due to the fact of the Rabbinical decree. This can be when compared to an individual who has an option to bring in one,000 gold coins and is content with five hundred. Boys must also be trained to hold this mitzvah by constantly donning a tallit katan underneath their garments. This will instill holiness in them, aiding them in mastering and trying to keep the Torah. The Holy Zohar hugely praises he who measures forth from his property in the early morning wrapped in tzitzit and crowned with tefillin. Joyful is he who can satisfy this. Tailored from the Pele Yoetz, by Rabbi Eliezer Papo (1785-1826)  of Bulgaria.

Tefillin and the Electricity of Ritual

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Tefillin can be an really strong resource utilised to connect to Our Father in Heaven and bind ourselves to him, human body, head and soul. But however, a lot of of us uncover it hard to get inspiration when we lay our tefillin every single day, and genuinely assume about what we are undertaking.

When I lay my tefillin every single early morning...

"I wake up to an inbox entire of dozens of email messages, world-wide news demanding response, and a everyday agenda triple the measurement of what will confirm achievable." writesВ Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz in the Jewish Journal. "How am I to pause to switch inward? When I put on my tefillin every single early morning, I take into account what I need to have to turn into liberated from in get to entirely return in servitude back to my highest callings. The straps bind me to that mission." "The threat in ritual is that one particular can use the electricity of the composition to keep away from internalization. One particular can sit shiva as their act of mourning nevertheless never ever actually embrace the grief and loss. One particular could embrace kashrut nevertheless never ever find the deeper spiritual and moral factors to the ritual...Ritual, at its worst, distracts us from true daily life. But at its finest, ritual can increase our mindfulness with which we stay. "I just lately listened to Jonathan Safran Foer converse about the 'room servicing of daily life,' how the inclination right now is to desire that other folks do factors for us then we do them for ourselves..."

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Tefillin and mezuzah skilled Rabbi Shmuel Rosenfeld

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Born in Chicago and lifted in New York, Rabbi Shmuel Rosenfeld examined at Ner Yisrael Yeshiva in Baltimore and at Emek Halacha in Brooklyn, wherever he been given smicha, and has examined underneath Torah luminary Rabbi Tuvia Goldstein. He manufactured aliya in 1980 and shortly commenced doing work at a tefillin company in Beit El, wherever he was sooner or later promoted to creation supervisor.

22 several years knowledge marketing good quality tefillin and mezuzahs

Rabbi Rosenfeld has been marketing good quality tefillin and mezuzah scrolls independently for 22 several years. Sofrim consistently occur to him to demonstrate him the good quality of their operate. With these kinds of huge knowledge in sofrus, he is familiar with particularly how considerably their amount of producing is value, which translates into exceptional price for his buyers. "I will not just look at a number of phrases," he claims. "I seem for consistency through. If he is reasonably new to sofrus, but his producing impresses me, I may possibly spend in him. I assess his operate intently and evaluate no matter whether he can excellent his producing."

Good quality tefillin and mezuzahs, in addition price

Rabbi Rosenfeld's skilled scrutiny signifies the conclude buyer is finding the finest good quality for his income, at whichever amount of hiddur he chooses – Tefillin Peshutim, Tefillin Peshutim Mehudarim or Tefillin Gassot. The mezuzah scrolls he supplies also occur in a variety of stages of hiddur. Rabbi Rosenfeld's tefillin and mezuzah scrolls are qualified by Rabbi Shammai Gross, dayan of Belz, and Rav Mordechai Friedlander, head of Mishmeret HaStam and  a single of the world's primary poskim on STaM (producing Sefer Torah, Tefillin and Mezuzahs).

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Tzitzit: Connecting Heaven and Earth

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The indicating of tzitzit is about connecting Shamayim (Heaven) and eretz (earth), revealing to us the non secular likely in the entire world all around us.

Indicating of Tzitzit

The process of transforming all of our routines into non secular pursuits may possibly seem to be remote and summary. In the course of the day we come across ourselves in a variety of spots and conditions that seem to be considerably from the Divine Existence.  It can be quite hard to recognize – and even more challenging to set into follow – the notion that we can constantly hook up to Shamayim. That is the place the mitzvah of tzitzit happens in. It permits us to unify Shamayim and eretz. The spot of the tzitzit on all 4 corners of the garment connects the 4 corners of the Earth, and when we maintain all 4 tzitzit in our arms we are in fact unifying the total universe, writes Rabbi Shmuel Zucker. The sin of Adam and Eve induced nitzutzot (sparks of holiness) to drop, mixing very good and evil.  Since then our divine process has been to rescue the holy sparks that fell and ended up concealed in the entire world.  We have to elevate them, elevating them again to their root, provides Rabbi Zucker.  Every put we’re in and any exam we are confronted with is an option to come across these sparks – the captured parts of Heaven – and rescue them by acting spiritually, transforming the put or exam a single is confronted with into a non secular knowledge. A man or woman ought to constantly hold in head that God set him in the predicament he’s in, supplying him an option to assume and act from a non secular standpoint.  No a single was set there to give up or to fall short, but to make the predicament into a divine provider and elevate the trapped holiness again to its root.  By undertaking this, a single can alter any put, time or predicament into a motor vehicle for serving God. The divine aid for acting and currently being non secular, thus turning every single put and predicament into an option for divine provider by rescuing its holy spark – happens from tzitzit.  Tzitzit will help us act spiritually and come across spirituality in every single predicament, thus rescuing these holy sparks and returning them to their roots. Even when a man or woman is on the verge of committing an aveira (transgression), writes Rabbi Zucker, the mitzvah of tzitzit presents him the energy to come across and recuperate the nitzutz, and even alter a likely aveira into a optimistic act. Far more content on tzitzit and the indicating of tzitzit: Beyond the Listed here and Now by Dan Slobodkin Do-It-By yourself Tzitzit Tying A Tallit in Auschwitz The Wall is Wailing by Rabbi Avi Shafran

The Coloration Techelet

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by Jonah Mandel The Jerusalem Article Not very azure, far more of a midnight blue. That is evidently the genuine coloration of the biblical techelet, in accordance to Prof. Zvi Koren, who spoke this week at the Shenkar College’s Intercontinental Edelstein Coloration Symposium.

Techelet: Coloration of a Crystal clear Blue Sky

Techelet is the coloration that was utilised to dye the coat of the large priests in the time of the temples, as effectively as the strings hooked up to the corners of men’s clothes “so that they may possibly be witnessed and remind you of God’s instructions,” as the Torah states. In present day Hebrew application, techelet is the coloration of a crystal clear sky in the daytime. But the examination of a modest piece of dyed cloth that archeologist Yigal Yadin located at Masada in the sixties, dated to the very first century BCE, was what Koren just lately utilised to establish not only the genuine hue of techelet, but also the chemical breakdown that authorized him to build irrevocably that the resource of this historic dye was without a doubt the Murex trunculus snail. Even so, Koren stressed that there ended up diverse varieties of Murex trunculus.

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