Tzitzit (, ; plural ṣiṣiyyōṯ, Ashkenazi: ; and Samaritan: ) are specially knotted ritual fringes, or tassels, worn in antiquity by Israelites and also modern observant Jews and Samaritans. are usually attached to the four corners of the tallit gadol (prayer shawl), usually referred to simply as a or ; and tallit katan (everyday undershirt). Through synecdoche, a may be referred to as .
Etymology
The word may derive from the Hebrew root [n-ts-h].Brown Driver Briggs Hebrew Lexicon shares this root with the Hebrew for 'lock of hair', or 'dreadlock'. For example, in the Book of Ezekiel an angel grabs the prophet "by the of [his] head;" he could be said to be "dragged by his hair."
A popular etymological interpretation of derives from another word which shares this root. "budding flower" () may once have referred to floral ornamentation on clothing. Contemporaneous Akkadian clothing terms exist: 'thread', 'edge', 'loom'Francis Brown, Samuel Rolles Driver and Charles A. Briggs C.A., A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (Oxford, 1907/2013) [BDB], (CD-ROM), 8084. or (a floral ornamentation). This hypothesis is supported by the fact that the custom of making fringes from extending the threads of embroidery was common in the ancient Near East as a means of strengthening the fabric. The further analyses of the antique iconography suggest that apart from this pragmatic purpose the tassels could also decorate the cloth and as such be a marker of the social status: the more elaborate and elegant the fringes, the higher the position of the owner. In addition to this, and given the unique nature of each of the tassels, it could also be used as a personal "signet" for sealing documents.Stephen Bertman, “Tasseled Garments in the Ancient East Mediterranean”, The Biblical Archaeologist, 24.4 (1961): 120-122, 128. Jacob Milgrom, “Of Hems and Tassels. Rank, Authority and Holiness Were Expressed in Antiquity by Fringes on Garments”, Biblical Archaeology Review, 9.3 (1983): 410. Jacob Milgrom, “Excursus 38 The Tassels (Tzitzit)”, in JPS Torah Commentary. Numbers, (Philadelphia, 1990), 62. See also: Eric Silverman, A Cultural History of Jewish Dress (London, 2013), ch. 1. This data has led the scholars to assume that the practice itself is of very ancient origins and evolved into Jewish ritual clothing where it was invested with religious meaning.
The ending is the feminine adjectival suffix, used here to form a feminine singular noun. In the Hebrew Bible, this noun is used to refer to one or many tassels, but later scholars used the feminine plural . In English-language academic texts, the term is sometimes translated as 'show-fringes'. The Septuagint translation is tassels ( , from singular ).
Torah sources The Hebrew Bible mentions ritual fringes in two places:
Since the Hebrew word can mean 'corner' or 'border', the specific place of the attachment of the fringes is unclear. Their exact number is also not specified. Lastly, the passage lacks any instructions on the binding of the fringes, save for the obligation to include "a cord of blue" (Heb. ). The lack of detail on these points suggests that the tying of tzitzit was to a great extent Oral Torah until the third to first century BCE, with the codifying of the Talmud.
The primary mnemonic purposes of this commandment are expressed clearly: wearing tzitzit reminds a daily practitioner to bring God's love into action by practicing all other commandments. The paragraph from Numbers is included in daily prayer as the final paragraph of the Shema. Here, tzitzit also remind Jews that they are no longer slaves.
Rabbinic Judaism
The Talmud equates observance of tzitzit with that of all the 613 commandments.Babylonian Talmud, Menachot 43b, based on the fact that the tzitzit command is immediately followed by the reason "You will see it, and remember all the commandments of the Lord, and perform them" (Numbers 15:39) Maimonides includes it as a major commandment along with ritual circumcision and the Passover sacrifice in his Commentary on Pirkei Avot 2:1.
The tallit katan (or arba kanfot) is a four-cornered garment worn by practicing Jews which incorporates four tzitziyot. The tallit katan itself is often referred to as a "tzitzit". A tallit (sometimes distinguished as a tallit gadol "large tallit") is typically worn over the clothes like a cloak, whereas a tallit katan is smaller and worn underneath the clothing. It is a simple garment with a front and back fold, creating four corners to which the tzitzit are fastened. The blue thread mentioned in the Torah, tekhelet, is omitted by most Rabbinic Jews due to controversy over the dye-making process.
Fabrics The medieval rabbis debated the source of the tzitzit obligation for garments made from different types of fabric. All agree that garments made from wool or linen (the typical materials of Biblical garments) require tzitzit by Biblical law. However, they debated whether the requirement is Biblical or rabbinic if the garment is made from any other material. The Shulhan Arukh ruled that this obligation is rabbinic, while the Moses Isserles ruled that it is Biblical.חומר הטלית
The Torah forbids shatnez ("intertying" wool and linen together).Leviticus 19:19, Deuteronomy 22:11 However, unlike other forms of kilʿayim (forbidden mixtures of materials), there is an exception to the rule: shatnez was not only allowed but required in the priestly garments, which combined dyed-wool and linen threads.Exodus 28:6, 8, 15, and 39:29 According to the rabbis, this exemption to shatnez applied only while performing priestly service.Menachot 43a Rabbinic Judaism (but not Karaite Judaism or Samaritanism) makes a further exemption to this law for tzitzit, based on the Torah's juxtaposition of the laws for shatnez and tzitzit in Deuteronomy 22:11-12.Yevamot 4a, Nazir 41b, Leviticus Rabbah 22:10. See also Menahot 39b-40a where this is recorded as the position of Beit Hillel but not Beit Shammai. Rabbinic sources rule this practice as permissible, while kabbalist sources go a step further by encouraging the practice () Thus, according to rabbinic Judaism, both laymen and priests were supposed to wear mixtures of wool and linen all the time. From this perspective, the shatnez of the layman reflects that of the priest.
In practice, the Hazal permitted using wool and linen strings in tandem only when what they hold to be genuine tekhelet is available.
Threads and knots
The tzitzit on each corner is made of four strands,Menachot 39b which must be made with intent.Sukkah 9a These strands are then threaded and hang down, appearing to be eight. (It is customary that each of the four strands is made of eight fine threads, known as ). 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 tassels. The Talmud explains that the Bible requires an upper knot () and one wrapping of three winds (). The Talmud enjoined that between seven and thirteen be tied, and that "one must start and end with the color of the garment". As for the making of knots in between the , the Talmud is inconclusive, and as such, later poskim have interpreted this requirement in various ways.Diagrams, Videos, & Explanations of Tying Methods The Talmud described tying assuming the use of dye. Following the loss of the source of the dye, various customs of tying were introduced to compensate for the lack of this primary element.
The tying method that gained the widest acceptance can be described as follows. The four strands of the tzitzit are passed through a hole near the garment's corner. The two groups of four ends are double-knotted to each other at the edge of the garment near the hole. One of the four strands (known as the ) is made longer than the others. The long end of the 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 This tying procedure is used for each of the garment's four corners; if it has more than four corners, the four that are farthest apart are used.Rav's Beautiful Ratio: An Excursion into Aesthetics, Mois Navon, B'Or Ha'Torah, Vol. 19, 2009
In Ashkenazi custom, the four sections of winding number 7-8-11-13 winds, respectively.Ohr Sameach: The Wrap on Tzitzit 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 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 Sephardic Jews, use 10-5-6-5 as the number of windings, a combination that represents directly the spelling of the Tetragrammaton (whose numerical value is 26).
Before tying begins, a declaration of intent is recited: ('for the sake of the commandment of tzitzit').
Interpretations
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, totaling 13. The sum of all numbers is 613, traditionally the number of commandments in the Torah. This reflects the concept that donning a garment with reminds its wearer of all Torah commandments, as specified in Numbers 15:39. (Rashi knots are worn by the majority of Ashkenazic Eastern European Jews.)
Nachmanides disagrees with Rashi, pointing out that the Biblical spelling of the word tzitzit () has the gematria of 590 rather than 600, which upends Rashi's proposed gematria. He points out that in the Biblical quote "you shall see it and remember them", the singular form it can refer only to the thread of . The strand serves this purpose, explains the Talmud, for the blue color of 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. Nachmanides knots are worn by the majority of Sephardic and Temani (Yemenite) Jews.
Modern Biblical scholar Jacob Milgrom notes than in ancient Middle Eastern societies, the corner of the garment was often elaborately decorated to "ma[k]e an important social statement", functioning as a "symbolic extension of the owner himself". He also notes that the Torah requires , normally a royal and priestly color, to be used by all Jews: :The tzitzit are the epitome of the democratic thrust within Judaism, which equalizes not by leveling but by elevating. All of Israel is enjoined to become a nation of priests... tzitzit is not restricted to Israel's leaders, be they kings, rabbis or scholars. It is the uniform of all Israel."
Rabbi Leib Mintzberg writes that tzitzit serve as an aesthetic enhancement to clothing, and that the techelet thread is a particularly attractive color. He further suggests that wearing dignified clothing can serve as a reminder of one’s status as a servant of God.Ben Melech, vol. 1, p. 397.
Color of the strings Tekhelet