Askmoses-A Jews Resource
Is it appropriate to make a Shivah visit on Shabbat?
Browse our archives

The Scholar is ready to answer your question. Click the button below to chat now.

Scholar Online:

Type in your question here:

What is the significance to the number of coils on the tzitzit?

by Rabbi Naftali Silberberg

  

Library » Mitzvot » Tallit and Tzitzit | Subscribe | What is RSS?

PRINT EMAIL COMMENT

There are five (double) knots on each of the Tzitzit tassels. In the spaces between these knots, one of the fringes – which is longer than the others – is coiled around the rest. Seven coils in the first space, eight in the second, eleven in the third, and thirteen in the fourth. These 39 coils have the same numerical value as “Hashem Echad” (G-d is One).

We start with seven coils and conclude with thirteen because when the techailet fringe was added to the tzitzit, (see Why do certain people have a blue-dyed fringe amongst the fringes of their tzitzit and tallit?), it was coiled around the white fringes anywhere between seven and thirteen times. Techailet is sky-blue, (a constant reminder of the G-d in Heaven who watches over our every action), and there are seven (spiritual) heavens. When counting also the spaces between the Heavens, there are a total of thirteen.

Perhaps, the reason why the middle two spaces have eight and eleven coils is because G-d’s name (the Tetragrammaton) is divided into two parts; the first part, Yud-Hay, equals fifteen (7+8), and the second part, Vov-Hay, equals eleven.


ADD A COMMENT

Please email me when new comments are posted (you must be  logged in).

RELATED CATEGORIES

Daily Life » Clothing » Tallit and Tzitzit
Hashem
"The Name." Out of respect, we do not explicitly mention G-d's name, unless in the course of prayer. Instead, "Hashem" is substituted.
Tzitzit
Literally: the fringes which are attached to four cornered garments, as Biblically mandated. Normally this word refers to a t-shirt sized four cornered garment which contains such fringes, and is usually worn beneath the shirt.
techailet
A blue dye which is produced from the "chilazon" fish. We are Biblically commanded to dye a thread of the tzitzit with this dye.
G-d
It is forbidden to erase or deface the name of G-d. It is therefore customary to insert a dash in middle of G-d's name, allowing us to erase or discard the paper it is written on if necessary.