Menachot 39a (לט.) — the Talmud in English

Perhaps

what the sons of Rabbi Hiyya deemed fit, namely, fringes whose threads had been cut, refers to a case in which it happened that they

were knotted,

and he had tied several knots in several links?

And Rabba said: Learn from this

—from the fact that the Torah had to permit diverse kinds in tzitzit on the basis of the principle that a positive mitzva overrides a prohibition—that tying the

upper knot [the knot at the lower end of the braid, at the end of the gedil ,

which maintains the gedil above the threads] is an obligation of

Torah law.

That is, by Torah law one must make at least one knot in the tzitzit, and it must be made at the end of the gedil, above the threads.

If it could enter your mind

that by Torah law there is no need to tie, but it is sufficient to wind the threads of the tzitzit and make them into a gedil without tying them, and this gedil will remain intact for a day or two, and the entire obligation to tie is only

rabbinic,

then

why was it necessary to permit a linen sheet

of linen

for tzitzit

of wool, and to permit the prohibition of diverse kinds [since tekhelet is wool dyed with the color tekhelet]? One could avoid tying and make do with a loop, and would then no longer transgress the prohibition of diverse kinds. If so,

it is obvious

that it is permitted in such a case, in which one does not tie, since inserting wool threads into a linen garment is not considered diverse kinds, because

one who makes a single stitch

of a wool thread into a linen garment

does not

constitute a

connection

with regard to the prohibition of diverse kinds; and here, the insertion of the threads into the garment is only a single stitch!?

Rather, learn from this:

it is not sufficient to make a gedil that can remain intact temporarily; rather, it must be tied at its end. It follows from here that the upper knot in tzitzit is

by Torah law

.

Rabba bar Rav Adda said that Rav Adda said that Rav said: If the head

of the

thread

attached to the tallit

is severed at its root,

the tzitzit is

invalid.

Rav Nahman was sitting and reciting this halakha.

Rava raised an objection to Rav Nahman:

We learned in a beraita below, concerning the required measure of the tzitzit:

When is this statement said,

that a measure is required for tzitzit?

At its beginning,

at the time the tzitzit is made,

but at its end ,

after the tzitzit has already been made on the garment and some of its threads have been severed, then

its remnants and severed ends

[as will be explained below]—

any amount.

We inquire into the matter:

What are “its remnants,” and what are “its severed ends”?

What, is it not that “its remnants” means

that some of them were severed

some of the tzitzit threads,

and some of them remained

intact?

“Its severed ends” means

that they were severed entirely,

the thread being severed completely up to its attachment to the body of the garment. But this is difficult for the one who says that if the thread is severed at its root, the tzitzit is invalid! And we answer:

No.

The beraita is not presenting two different cases, “its remnants” and “its severed ends,” the latter meaning that the thread was severed at its root. Rather,

it teaches one thing

in the beraita:

the remnants of its severed ends—

any amount.

That is, specifically when something remains of the thread; but if the thread is severed at its root, the tzitzit is invalid.

And we raise an objection: If so,

let us say, “its severed ends

are any amount”! For the meaning of the term “severed ends” is remnants, and why did the tanna add

“its remnants”—

why do I need this?

And we answer:

This teaches us that remnants are required for its severed ends,

and any amount is not sufficient. What is the measure that must remain?

Enough for looping,

and if it is severed entirely, it is invalid. The beraita’s expression “any amount” means enough for looping; the repetition of the expressions “its remnants” and “its severed ends” teaches that the remnant must have significance—at least enough for looping.

Rabba was sitting and reciting in the name of Rav: A winding thread,

with which one winds the threads in the gedil,

counts as part of the number

of eight threads.

Rav Yosef said

to Rabba:

It was Shmuel

who

said it,

this law, and not Rav!

It was also stated: Rabba bar bar Hanna said: Rabbi Yoshiyya of Usha told me: A winding thread counts for it

as tzitzit

as part of the number

of the eight threads.

Rava was sitting and reciting in the name of Shmuel:

“Tekhelet

[this is what the tzitzit is called]

whose majority he wound,

making two-thirds gedil and one-third loose threads

is fit,

although ideally its mitzva is performed by making one-third gedil and two-thirds loose threads.

Rav Yosef said to him: Rav stated it,

this law,

and not Shmuel

said it!

It was also stated—

Rav Huna bar Yehuda said that Rav Sheshet said that Rav Yirmeya bar Abba said that Rav said: “Tekhelet whose majority he wound is fit.”

Rav Hiyya, son of Rav Natan, taught it as follows: Rav Huna said that Rav Sheshet said that Rav Yirmeya bar

Abba said that Rav said: “Tekhelet whose majority he wound”—

is fit.”

And likewise, conversely:

Even if he wound no more than

in the gedil

a single link,

having encircled the threads of the gedil with the winding thread only three times, it is

fit.

And the beauty of tekhelet ,

meaning the primary manner of performing the mitzva of tzitzit ideally, is to make it

one-third gedil and two-thirds branch

of separate loose threads.

And how much

is

the measure of a single winding-unit (hulya),

how many windings must one make in order to form one hulya? [And the number of hulyot will be explained below.]

It was taught: Rabbi says:

the measure of a hulya is

so that he winds, repeats, and triples.

It was taught: One who decreases

in making the hulyot,

may not make fewer than seven

hulyot.

And one who increases may not add more than thirteen

—

hulyot.

And we explain:

“One who decreases may not make fewer than seven”—

corresponding to the seven firmaments,

since the purpose of the mitzva of tekhelet is to remember the Holy One, blessed be He [because tekhelet resembles the sea, and the sea resembles the firmament].

And one who increases may not add more than thirteen, corresponding to the seven firmaments and the six air spaces between them.

It was taught: When he

comes to begin making the tzitzit, and he

begins

winding the braid,

he begins winding

with the long winding thread

with white,

because it is stated: “And place it on the tzitzit of

the corner,”

and we derive that one must first place a thread that is

of the type of the corner,

since most corners of garments are made of white linen.

And when he finishes

winding the braid, he

finishes

again

with white, because one ascends in sanctity and does not descend.

This means that the white thread, which we learned from the verse “of the type of the corner” must come first, is more important than the tekhelet thread. Therefore, if he first placed a white thread and afterward a tekhelet thread, it appears that the winding ends with tekhelet, which is inferior in importance; thus the conclusion constitutes a descent in sanctity. But the rule is that one ascends in sanctity and does not descend. Therefore, he must return and wind with a white thread, so that the winding ends with an ascent in sanctity.

Rav and Rabbah bar bar Hana were sitting. A certain man passed by wearing a cloak, all of which

was made

of tekhelet, and he put tekhelet

[tzitzit]

and the braid was braided,

and that tzitzit was made entirely as a braid, and he did not make for it a fringe of separate threads.