Tying Tzitzit for IDF Soldiers

Group tying session led/instructed by Eli Poch

One of the most unexpected but totally wonderful phenomena of the Hamas War has been the popularity among IDF soldiers, religious and non-religeous, for wearing Tzitzit, a very unique Jewish ritual garment.

“Tzitzit” – The “Mitzvah” (Divine Command) of attaching “Tzitzit” (a group of threads, attached in a special way, as defined by “Halachah L’Moshe MiSinai;” that is, according to Jewish Tradition, taught to Moshe by G-d on Mount Sinai during his forty days and nights atop the mountain, but not included explicitly in the Written Torah) to a garment with which one covers oneself, as it says in Parashat Shelach (BaMidbar 15:38), “And they should make Tzitzit…” (from the OU site)

In recent years, instead of discreetly tucking the strings in their slacks, more and more Torah observant Jewish men wear them showing proudly, no matter where they are. 

The popularity of the tzitzit among even non-observant soldiers may probably because of the higher morale of the religious soldiers. I don't know for sure what they tell their fellow soldiers about how wearing tzitzit proudly make them feel, but tzitzit has become an accepted part of the IDF uniform for many. They must be tied a certain way, and it's not easy. Actually there are a number of ways to tie them depending on certain customs. Once the strings start breaking or get tangled or untied the tzitzit isn't kosher/acceptable. 

It's obvious that our IDF soldiers aren't very sedentary, yes, to put it mildly. Conditions are "rough" at best, which prove rather "fatal" if you'll excuse the expression, for the carefully and ritually tied strings off the tzitzit. So you can imagine how frequently the soldiers must get new kosher tzitzit. Among the various war related chessed projects, providing freshly tied kosher tzitzit is important. There are now tzitzit tying groups for IDF soldiers all over the country. Men and women can tie them after being trained, of course, and then they're checked by an expert before being distributed.

One of my neighbors decided that she wanted to tie tzitziyot and asked her friends in other communities about it. They told her to contact Eli Poch, who runs project Tzitzit for Tzahal, was willing to travel to Shiloh with the required four cornered garment of especial IDF provided non-flamable fabric four-cornered shirts in a variety of sizes and strings. And he even found time before Rosh Hashannah for his first visit, which I couldn't attend. Thank Gd I made it to the second session, and he very patiently taught us, encouraged us and inspected the finished tzitziyot. 

Gd willing he'll return after Simchat Torah for another session, since it will take a while until we can tie without someone instructing, checking and encouraging...

If you'd like to find a Tzitzit for Tzahal group near you, or start one, you can WhatsApp only +972 54-646-7624.

Here I am tying on the couch, far from the airconditioner...

Our tzitzit tying sessions are hosted by the Shiloh Women's Center.

MITZVAH G'DOLA A Big Mitzvah

A big difference between the world I was raised in, America and Jewish Life is our responsibility when we find a lost item. Like many English speaking kids I'd recite:

Finders keepers -- losers weepers

Judaism commands us to make every effort to find the owner of a lost item and return it.

Yesterday, like many Wednesdays I take a bus from Jerusalem to the Shiloh Junction, because there are almost two hours between buses after I finish my classes in Matan. It's not all that difficult, because there are a number of buses that pass Shiloh and can let us off at the junction. I usually take advantage of one of those buses. That's what I did yesterday...

Sometimes I get a ride home within seconds, and sometimes I must wait a lot longer. Most of the cars who offer rides are continuing eastwards at the T-junction about a mile or more from the main junction. Yesterday there were many of us waiting for rides; I may have been the only one trying to get to Shiloh.

While I was waiting yesterday, I noticed two bags on the bus stop bench. As the crowd emptied --others got rides-- nobody picked up the bags or seemed to even notice them, just me. I kept waiting and signaling for a ride, but nobody stopped. Again I glanced at the bags and realized that I needed to do something to try to find the owner, so I took a quick picture. 

Immediately after I took the picture a neighbor stopped to give me a ride. As I was closing the door, I mentioned that there were bags on the bench, one of which looked like a Tefillin bag. He reversed a meter or so, exited the car and examined/opened the bags to look for identification. He found it plus the owner's phone, which needed a code to use. He took them, and we told the soldiers at the security gate that he had the bags and would return with a sign and tape, so the owner would know who had them.

Life in Israel the Jewish country.

Amazing Little Miracle

About a month and a half ago or more I managed to lose a gold earring at work.  Suddenly I realized that it wasn't in my ear.  I had vague memories of something being stuck in my sweater or neckwarmer and pulling on it, but I couldn't quite remember where that had happened.  I mentioned it to some of the staff at the time.

It was a good earring, which I had for years.  I decided not to allow myself to get upset.  It wasn't a matter of life and death.  It probably happened around the time that Superman Sam lost his battle against leukemia and died. With that on my mind and other issues much more crucial than a gold earring, after doing my best to search for it, I just said Kapora.  May the loss of the earring be instead of the loss of a life.

Davka, I've found and returned many lost objects in the store, Yafiz-Sha'ar Binyamin.  But even though I frequently sweep the store, and it gets cleaned daily, the ring had disappeared.  It's not the first time in my life I've lost an earring. I've lost earrings that were more valuable and mean much more to me than that one. Yes, Kapora.

That's me at work a couple of months ago
wearing the earring.

Last night at work, after spending a lot of time manning our "outside" for awhile, where we have about a third of our stock, I walked in and stepped behind the counter where the cash registers are.  Suddenly I noticed something bright and gold sparkling at me.  Yes, of course, you guessed it.  It was my earring.

"That's mine." 

I said in English. So surprised, I couldn't find the words in Hebrew.

Another staff member told me that a customer had just found it.  When he told me where I was even more surprised, since I've cleaned there many, many times.  And even stranger is the fact that not all that long ago I found someone else's earring in the same basic location.

All I can think of is that the customer who found my earring really needed a mitzvah to do, and G-d decided that it should be to find and return my earring.

Shabbat Shalom u'Mevorach

May You Have a Peaceful and Blessed Shabbat