Before you begin:

     The white strings come in sets of 12 strings about 2 feet long, and 4 strings of tekhelet or white about 3 feet long. These will suffice for all four corners of one prayer shawl or garment. Divide them into 4 sets, one set for each  corner, each with 3 shorter strings and one longer string. The longer string is the one you will wind around all of the others. Even up one set of the strings at one end and put them through the hole in the corner of the garment, doubling the four strings in half. You should now have a total of seven shorter strings ends hanging down, and one long one. You are now ready to begin tying. Select the style you wish from the menu below.

The Meaning of the Knots and Windings

     There are reasons for every knot and winding in tzitzith. The five double knots each represent one of the five books of the Torah, with the topmost knot being Bereshith (Gensis), the second being Shemot (Exodus), and so on. The long string which is used for the windings is called the shamash (servant). It is this string which binds all of the others from the top (representing heaven) all the way to the bottom (representing the earth). It is to be of tekhelet, the priestly and royal blue of the mishkan (tabernacle) and in the garments of the kohanim (priests). The shamash is also understood to be symbolic of Mashiach, our King Messiah, who will bring the redemption and perfection of the world in the “malkhut Shaddai” (Kingdom of the Almighty).

On Letters and Numbers

     Every Hebrew letter has a numerical value (Aleph is 1, Beit is 2, etc.). The numeric (also known as “gematric”) value of the Hebrew word “tzitzith” is: 400, 10, 90, 10, 90; for a total of 600. In each tzitzith there are 5 knots and 8 threads, a total of 13. Thus, when you look at the word “tzitzith” you see the number of mitzvoth in the Torah.

     In Nusach Sephardi, the first winding at the top of the tzitzith is 10. The second winding is 5. The third winding is 6. The fourth winding is 5. This totals 26 and forms the memorial name of the Most High, YHWH. Add to this 5 knots and 8 strings which total 13 and equal the letters: aleph, chet, and dalet, which is “echad” (or “one”). Looking at the tzitzith in this way will bring remembrance of: “Sh’ma Yisrael, YHWH Eloheinu, YHWH Echad”.

     In Nusach Askenazi, the first three sets of windings are 7, 8, and 11: totaling 26 which is equal to the name “YHWH”. The fourth winding is 13, which is equal to “echad”. Hence, in this way we also derive “YHWH echad”.      So, in many ways when you look at tzitzith you are fulfilling the mitzvah which says: “…and it shall be unto you for a tzitzith, that you may look upon it, and remember all the commandments of YHWH and do them…”

     For more information, please visit the portion of our site entitled: “The Mitzvah of Tzitzith”, a series of articles by various distinguished authors on the subjects of tzitzith and tekhelet. We also recommend you read the book, “Tzitzith”, by R. Aryeh Kaplan.       

      Use the following links to navigate to the set of tying instructions you wish to use for your tzitzith:


                                           Nusach Ashkenazi / Nusach Sephardi / Nusach HaAri Z"L