‘I will not stop wearing my yarmulke or my tzitzits’
The following is an excerpt from an inspiring letter by a student at the University of Virginia to Dean Allen Groves:
Despite the insistence of many, anti-Semitism is not a relic of the past. Of this I am sure. Yet, to find it expressed so unabashedly at the university founded by Thomas Jefferson, author of...
Gathering Information on Techelet
Mishmar Hamesora has announced it is compilation information in Hebrew to be used by rabbis in providing halachic guidance regarding the use of techelet tzitzits. The organization, which is based in Tifrach, Israel, has issued a call for material, both in favor and against, placing an emphasis on opinions set forth by leading halacha...
Dyeing to Be Holy: Techelet Marine Expedition
by Nathan Jeffay
Dor Beach — Bathers on a northern Israel beach witnessed a strange spectacle in late September, when a group of Orthodox Jews arrived, discussed a number of Talmudic passages, and waded into the water, wearing snorkels, to unravel a biblical mystery.
As well as demanding that “the Children of Israel make tzitzit on...
The Color Techelet
by Jonah Mandel
The Jerusalem Post
Not quite azure, more of a midnight blue. That is apparently the actual color of the biblical techelet, according to Prof. Zvi Koren, who spoke this week at the Shenkar College’s International Edelstein Color Symposium.
Techelet: Color of a Clear Blue Sky
Techelet is the color that was used to dye the...
Tying Tzitzits at Night
by Rabbi Ari Enkin
Although many things can be done by machine, tying tzitzit strings is still not one of them. In order to render a tallit usable, the tzitzit strings must be hand tied by a God-fearing individual. What is amusing, however, is the largely mistaken belief that it is forbidden to tie the...
Tzitzit: Junior Tzitz
Rabbi Shlomo Riskin of Efrat offered an interesting interpretation of the word "tzitzit" in his article on Parshat Tetzaveh this week.
"What is most jarring to the modern ear," Rabbi Riskin notes, "is the painstaking description of the eight special garments of the High Priest and the four special garments of the regular priests.
Clothes Make...
Tzitzit Buyers Guide – How Tzitzits are Made
The big question in the different types or grades of tzitzit is lishmah, i.e. with intention. According to halacha, when making tzitzit you must have the mitzvah of tzitzit in mind. You cannot simply buy or make strings and then call them tzitzit.
The question, then, is from what stage of the tzitzit making process...
Tzitzit and the Would-Be Sinner
The following story from the Talmud (Menachos 44a) is about a Torah scholar whose tzitzit save him from sin.
Once there was a man who was always careful to keep the mitzvah of tzitzit properly. When he happened to hear about a prostitute in a faraway place overseas who charged 400 zehuvim, he sent that...