Seor

Keller Jewish Ritual Unit

How to Tie Tzitzit (Ashkenazi Style) Tying tzitzit is an important tool to have in your ritual tool kit. Depending on whom you ask there are various acceptable modes of tying each with their own reasoning rooted in Gematria (a system of attributing numerical values to letters or vice versa to develop some level of deeper meaning) and/or the mystical principles of Judaism. Today we will explore the art tying from an Ashkenazi perspective. An example of the Gematria of tzitzit is the number of times we wind the shamash around the other strings. As we can see below we have 7, 8, 11, 13 which adds to 39 which is Gematria equivalent of The Lord is one (Deut 6:4). As a side note It is important to point out that generally we dont tie Tzitzit without the purpose of using them on a ( garmet); however, it is generally accepted to do so for learning purposes like us here today 1. Take three shorter strings and one longer string and loop them through your begged (in this case either safety pin them to your pants or tape them to your desk) so that the strings are all equal one side and the loop is in the middle of the strings. 2. Tie a simple knot in the side of the strings that is flush (as opposed to the side that has the longest string or shamash going longer then the three others). 3. Even up the two sides of string (ignoring the shamash because it is much longer then the others) and tie two simple knots both facing the same direction and tighten them slowly. 4. As you can see from the diagram each section has a set number of times that the shamash wraps around the other shorter strings for the first set wrap the shamash around seven times. 5. The loops tend to come loose so youll need to your finger to keep them tight. Do this by pulling the shamash tight and placing your finger over the last loop. 6. Tie two simple knots just as you did in step 3 making sure they both face the same direction. 7. Repeat the looping and knotting process with 8, 11 and 13 loops. 8. At the end of the process the lengths of your strings may vary there are various opinions on how to cut the strings (ie what instruments can be used) consult your Rabbinic authority to be sure.