Parshas Shelach ends with the 3rd paragraph of Shema which includes the mitzvah of tzitzis –, a mitzvah designed to constantly remind us of Hashem and his mitzvos. The pasuk specifies that the reminder should include “Vnasnu al tzitzis hakanaf psil techeiles – And you shall put on the corner tzitzis a string of techeiles.” Techeiles is wool dyed from a marine creature – the chillazon – and is the color of the sky. Due to a combination of reasons, The mitzvah of wearing techeiles was lost to Jews for over 1,300 years. Over time, the process for dyeing techeiles, and even the identity of the chillazon, were completely forgotten, with only cryptic clues left in the sources.
Over the past 150 years great Rabbonim have sought to re-establish the mitzvah of techeiles by searching for the identity of the chillazon. These include Rav Yisrael Lifschitz (the Tifferes Yisrael), Rav Gershon Henokh Leiner of Radzyn and Rav Yitzchak Halevi Herzog, all of whom made great strides in this search that would eventually contribute to solving the riddle. Because there were many facts that had yet to be discovered these Rabbonim were not privileged to unravel the mystery of techeilis. Nearly 30 years ago, once new facts came to light, Rav Eliyahu Tavger succeeded in producing techeiles strings from the Mediterranean sea-snail, the Murex trunculus. Many Rabbonim from Israel and the United States have accepted Rav Tavger’s conclusion that this is kosher authentic techeiles, and today hundreds of thousands of Jews, from every sector and every country, wear techeiles and kiss the white and blue strings as they say shema.
Ptil Tekhelet, an organization founded by Rav Tavger, produces techeiles strings and provides educational material relating to all aspects of the wide-ranging topic (www.tekhelet.com). In a recent survey, Ptil Tekhelet found that one of the major obstacles for people looking to wear techeiles is the confusion and difficulty in tying it onto the garment, since the methods for tying techeiles tzitzis are different than white. For this reason, and in honor of parshas Shelach, Ptil Tekhelet is running a sale: a pre-tied Tallis Katan garment (that’s the tzitzis you wear all day) for just the price of the techeiles strings – the begged and tying are free!
In that same survey of over 900 people, more than 90% agreed with the statement, “Now that I wear techeiles I feel more connected to the mitzvah of tzitzis.” For all those looking to join the growing number of Jews who are already wearing techeiles and feeling a deeper connection to the mitzvah, there has never been a better time.
Rabbi Meir said: “Whoever observes the mitzvah of tzitzis, it is considered as if he greeted the Shechina, for techeiles resembles the sea, and the sea resembles the sky, and the sky resembles Hashemʹs holy throne.” (Sifre, Shelach)
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