Starting this week, Beit Knesset Hanassi is hosting a team of women from the Jerusalem branch of Tzitzit for Tzahal who have been making tzitziyot for members of the Israel Defence Force. Until last month the team operated out of OU’s building in Keren HaYesod but that building’s closure left the women without a base. They will be with us on Mondays and Wednesdays until further notice, and we wish them hatzlacha in their noble endeavors.
Demand for tzitziyot has remained high since the
outbreak of the war, and Tzitzit for Tzahal has worked hard to fulfil that
demand. As of the end of November, Tzitzit for Tzahal had supplied the IDF with
a remarkable 96,000 tzitziyot, more than half the 180,000 supplied so
far. The tzitzit are tied to
green begadim provided by the army so as to be uniform-compliant. Soldiers
don’t have to wear them all the time: when they are on the base, they can wear white,
but when in combat they are required to wear green begadim. The army has said that it needs 60,000 more
regular tzitziyot, plus 15,000 cotton begadim. Tankists and combat engineers need cotton,
rather than polyester, begadim because of the high temperatures they
encounter in the course of their work.
The team that will be working from Hanassi is headed by Ruti Younker, who alone has tied about 2,000 pairs. Ruti is the principal teacher for those who have not tied tzitzit before (and there are many who come without any prior experience). She teaches both the Ashkenazi and Sephardi, depending on her pupils’ preferences. She also checks each set of tzitzit before giving them to Tzitzit for Tzahal to make sure that they are kosher. An interesting fact is that in general, Sephardim permit women to tie tzitziyot l’chatchila. Ashkenazim don’t. However, because we are living through a sha’as hadechak, the Rabbis have said that women can tie Ashkenzi tzitziyot now as well—and even when it is not a sha’as hadechak, if a man ties the first double knot on each corner of a beged, it is permitted for women to tie the rest.
At present, each soldier gets only one pair of tzitzit
and, as you can imagine, they get quite gross in even a short period of
time. The Tzitzit for Tzahal team pray
that the need for green ones will speedily be reduced. But until then, after
each soldier who wants has one pair, they hope to be able to supply another set—or
at least to replace those that have become ruined.
To conclude, here’s a random fun-fact for you. Tzitziyot
are one of the most popular items to be requested by serving members of the IDF
– coming second only to barbecues!
And here's an article from the Jewish Press, "Women and Children Tying Tzitzit", by Rabbi Shimshon HaKohen Nadel. Rabbi Nadel heads the Sinai Kolel, which learns three mornings a week at Beit Knesset Hanassi.
