Techeiles / Tekhelet- How to Tie Tzitzis Like R’ Hershel Schachter’s Method
Techeiles is a Torah-based Mitzvah which has enjoyed a resurgence in recent years. With both scientific and Rabbinical support, plus the length of time it’s been allowed to percolate, the murex Tekhelet has enjoyed more success than the Radziner variant, introduced in the 1880’s by R’ Gershon Henoch Leiner.
One of the largest proponents of murex Techeiles is R’ Herschel Schachter of YU, who has influenced many to don these blue strings. He even devised a method how to tie it, attempting to combine as many Rabbinical opinions as possible so that it’s a lechatchila (primary) opinion by all sources, for Ashkenazim. It’s also the most expensive option due to the amount of blue required.
What’s the thought process behind this method
The thought behind this opinion is as follows: 7 winds of 7 chulyos is based on that the Gemara in Menachos (Perek Hatecheiles) states “no less than 7, no more than 13.” Almost every commentary assumes that those numbers refer to 3-wind chulyos. However, the Gemara isn’t explicit in what exactly the numbers 7 or 13 refer to. So of course there’s at least one Rabbi that disagrees with that concept: the Raavad (R’ Natronai Gaon). The Raavad opines that 7-13 refers to winds and not chulyos. That’s why R’ Schachter chose to do 7 of 7, to satisfy all.
Next are the knots. Rashi/Tosafos introduced knots, so R’ Schachter decided to incorporate that as well.
Next comes the separation of chulyos. The Rambam states that Chulyos should be separated by a space of some sort. While the Yemenites interpreted that with their own unique type of knots, R’ Schachter spaces out his chulyos with the standard double-knots.
Next comes the white krichos (winds). While the Gemara states that the winds need to start and end in white, and the Rambam suggests only one wind, R’ Schachter recently modified it so that it’s the first 3 and last three winds like Rashi/Tosafos, but keeping it in the same 7-wind chulya.
Finally the separation at the bottom. Why the separation, and only the last knot? The separation is meant to satisfy the opinion of the Baal Haittur where Tekhelet is separated from white. R’ Schachter doesn’t separate the rest in order to address the issue of Gardumim (stubs): in the event one string breaks off, to be 100% certain the string is kosher, the other half on the other side needs to be intact. That can be done with keeping them more or less not separate from each other. He separates it at the end since “you can’t lose.”
From My Western Wall, here.