Menachot 41b — the Talmud in English

provided that it is not severed

but all its threads must be intact 69 .

And one should not disqualify it on account of “you shall make it, and not from that which is already made,” for he must return and wind it and repair it in the second garment as at the beginning, and this is its making].

And we say:

You may learn from it,

from the law that one brings tekhelet from another place and attaches it to it, that they

permit

tzitzit

from one garment to another

and did not prohibit it on account of disgrace, that he disgraces the first tallit.

And we reject this:

Perhaps

in truth the law is that they do not permit tzitzit from one garment to another because of the disgrace of the first tallit, and the beraita that permits it is speaking

when

worn out

[that the first tallit became worn out] and is no longer fit to be worn, and in this manner there is no disgrace in undoing the tzitzit].

The Sages taught: A tallit that is entirely

dyed

with tekhelet, all kinds of

colored

threads exempt it,

for fulfilling the mitzva of white. Since they expounded from “and they shall place it on the tzitzit of the corner” that the tzitzit must be of the same kind as the corner, and in a garment of tekhelet it is impossible to give tzitzit that are tekhelet like the color of the corner, since two kinds are required, white and tekhelet, and since in any event the white is not of the same kind as the corner, he may give it all kinds of colors

except kela ilan

which is a dye resembling tekhelet and is not valid for tekhelet. Nevertheless, they prohibited placing kela ilan in a garment of tekhelet even for the mitzva of white, since everything appears to be the color of tekhelet, and it is not recognizable that there are here two colors for fulfilling the mitzva of white and tekhelet 70 .

And we raise an objection:

It was objected: A tallit—only its own kind exempts it

if it is red, he should place red tzitzit in it and likewise, if the tallit is of other colors, the color of its tzitzit should be like it, so that the tzitzit be of the same kind as the corner [and he should place in it two additional tekhelet threads]. And

a tallit that is entirely tekhelet brings

two threads of

tekhelet and something else

for the sake of white

and attaches them to it. But he should not bring kela ilan, and if he brought it, it is valid.

And this is difficult: In the earlier beraita it says that all kinds of colors exempt it except kela ilan, implying that even after the fact it is of no use, whereas here it says, “and if he brought it, it is valid”?!

And we answer:

Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak said: It is not difficult.

Here it is referring to a tallit with four threads

and therefore even after the fact it is invalid, since there are not here two kinds of color,

and here

the beraita that validates it after the fact is speaking

of a tallit with eight threads,

half of them tekhelet and half white. He wishes to place another four threads in it, and the law is that initially he should not do so, lest he sell it as this tallit to another person, and that person think that they are tekhelet, undo them from here, and place them in another garment in place of tekhelet together with white, and fail to fulfill the obligation of tekhelet. Nevertheless, if he brought kela ilan and placed it in it, it is valid after the fact, since this tallit was exempted by four threads of tekhelet and something else.

And we say:

You may learn from it

from the law that it is initially prohibited to add threads of kela ilan to the tzitzit, because of the concern that perhaps he will undo the tzitzit from this garment and place them in another garment, that they

permit

tzitzit

from one garment to another 72 .

And we reject this:

Perhaps

initially it is prohibited to undo tzitzit from one garment to another, and nevertheless they were concerned because

if he did so!

It was stated: Rav said: They do not permit

tzitzit

from one garment to another. And Shmuel said: They permit

tzitzit

from one garment to another 73 .

Rav and Shmuel also disagreed concerning

Rav said: One may not light

a Hanukkah lamp

from one lamp to another, and Shmuel said: One may light from one lamp to another.

Rav and Shmuel also disagreed concerning the laws of Shabbat, regarding the dispute between Rabbi Yehuda and Rabbi Shimon about an unintentional act on Shabbat—for example, dragging a bench where there is concern that he will make a furrow in the earth and transgress the prohibition of plowing. Rabbi Shimon permits it, since he intends only to drag the bench and does not intend to make a furrow, and an unintentional act is permitted; Rabbi Yehuda holds that even if he does not intend it, it is nevertheless prohibited. Rav and Shmuel disagreed concerning the law:

Rav said: The halakha is not like Rabbi Shimon in

the law of

dragging, and Shmuel said: The halakha is like Rabbi Shimon in dragging.

Abaye said: In every matter of the master

[Rabba]

he acted in accordance with Rav,

[in all his laws Rabba ruled and acted in accordance with Rav]

except for these three

laws

in which he acted in accordance with Shmuel.

And these are they:

They permit

tzitzit

from one garment to another. And they light from one lamp

to another. And the halakha is like Rabbi Shimon in dragging.

And the law of dragging is that

which was taught: Rabbi Shimon says: A person may drag a bed, a chair, or a bench, provided that he does not intend to make a furrow.

The Gemara returns to discuss the concerns that perhaps kela ilan will be placed in the tzitzit in place of tekhelet. Some were concerned about this even when one handed his tallit to a launderer, lest the launderer detach the tekhelet thread and place kela ilan in it in place of tekhelet 74 .

And we say:

Rav Yehuda

was not concerned about this, and

he handed it

his tallit

to the launderer

[to the launderer]. But

Rav Ḥanina

was concerned and

made for it a loop.

That is, when he handed his tallit to the launderer, he folded it like a ball so that threads would not be detached from the tallit.

Ravina sewed them with a needle.

He made for his tallit something like an edge, concealed the threads inside it, and sewed the edge so that the threads would not be torn.

The Sages taught: How many threads does he place

in the tzitzit?

Beit Shammai say: Four

threads he places in the hole of the tallit and folds them to make eight.

And Beit Hillel say: Three

threads he places in the hole of the tallit and folds them to make six.

And how long must it be tripled?

That is, how long must the hanging part be, which is the threads hanging after the end of the knots of the tzitzit [after the braided portion]?

Beit Shammai say: Four

fingerbreadths.

And Beit Hillel say: Three

fingerbreadths.

And the three

fingerbreadths

that Beit Hillel said

their measure is that each finger should be

one of four in the handbreadth of every person,

for the measure of each finger is one quarter of a handbreadth.

Rav Pappa said: A handbreadth according to Torah law

is composed of

four

parts

in thumbbreadths.

For if we divide the handbreadth into thumbbreadths, we find that it contains four thumbbreadths; and

six

parts

in a

finger

[a small finger],

for if we divide a handbreadth into spans, we find that it contains six spans; and

five

parts

in a finger and one-third,

for if we measure it in fingers, we find that it contains five fingers and one-third of a finger.

Rav Huna said:

He places

four

threads in the tallit, in accordance with the words of Beit Shammai, and he places them

within four

fingerbreadths from the edge of the corner, so that he does not distance them from the edge more than this.

And

it must be

tripled four!

So that the size of the hanging part will be four fingerbreadths.

And Rav Yehuda said:

He places

three

threads

within three

fingerbreadths from the edge of the hanging part, and it shall be

tripled three,

in accordance with the words of Beit Hillel.

Rav Pappa said: The halakha is,

he places

four

threads

within three

fingerbreadths from the edge of the garment, and it shall be

tripled four 76 .

And we raise a difficulty:

Does this imply that they have a measure

for the threads of the tzitzit?

And we juxtapose

a contradiction to this from what we learned in a beraita:

For it was taught: From the implication of what is said,

“tzitzit,”

I know that

“tzitzit” means only something that extends outward.

And tzitzit means only something minimal.

For the meaning of the word tzitzit is that the tzitzit should hang and extend somewhat from the corner.

And the elders of Beit Shammai and the elders of Beit Hillel had already gone up to the upper room of Yonatan ben Betira and said: Tzitzit has no measure. Likewise, a lulav has no measure.

What, is it not

the intention that

it has no measure at all?

And this is difficult, since from the dispute between Beit Shammai and Beit Hillel above it is proven that, according to everyone, there is a measure for the length of the threads, and they disagreed only as to what their measure is?