l'shem mitzvah tzitzit

Tzitzit are the ritual fringes that we put in the corners of our tallitot, our prayer shawls. The fringes are knotted in a prescribed manner, depending on your custom, and they end up looking like this:



A few months back I decided to tie my own tzitzit for the first time. I'd hesitated in the past, thinking surely this would be a very difficult thing to do, but as is so often the case with things of this nature, it really wasn't that hard at all. I'm in the habit now of tying tzitzit whenever they fray, which thin tzitzit seem to do a LOT (either that or I'm hell on an arba kanfot; either way I've switched to thicker tzitzit string). Taking out the old tzitzit takes almost more time than tying the new ones.

Wearing tzitzit is supposed to remind the wearer of the commandments, but I found that in tying the tzitzit themselves, I also came my own little homely understanding. As I said, the tying and winding isn't too hard by itself; it just requires focus and concentration, much like doing mitzvot: Not so hard when you're paying attention.

So last night I was replacing several frayed tzitzit, and a flat-out lovely thing occurred. While I sat in the family room tying, my kids came in, sat down, and proceeded to read. Their reading is not uncommon, but this quiet moment in the middle of a hectic life, that's uncommon. So there I was, tying my tzitzit, focusing on the task, and what occurred? Quiet family time together, all anchored around a mitzvah.