Techeiles from Doresh Tziyon – HaRav HaGaon Bentzion Mutzafi Shlit”a

Question 268962

Question:
To Rav Mutzafi shlita: What is the Rav’s opinion regarding a Techeiles string on a talis? Thank you.

Answer:
Techeiles??????

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Question 291771

Question:
It is known that there are four things that require a chosam בתוך chosam [a double seal], with the mnemonic חבי”ת: milk, meat, wine—and what is the fourth?

Yasher koach, may you have long life!

Answer:
Techeiles—the dye that was used for the tzitzis string.

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Question 119362

Question:
I was at kivrei tzaddikim and saw that the graves were painted Techeiles, and I also saw that the inside of the shul dome was painted Techeiles. What is the reason?

And doesn’t the Zohar say that Techeiles is [not] good because it “consumes and destroys”?

Answer:
Techeiles is excellent. It destroys the powers of the chitzonim.

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Question 313638

Question:
For a Sephardi who wants tzitzis with Techeiles, tied according to the Sephardi method of 7-8-11-13: when purchasing them they ask me whether I want Raavad/Rambam strings, etc. What should I choose?

And does one have to specifically use the color produced from the chilazon? Thank you.

Answer:
WITHOUT TECHEILES!!!

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Question 311449

Question:
I have tzitzis where the Techeiles string tore completely, and I wanted to replace it with another one, but my brother says this is forbidden because of bal tosif. Is there anything to be concerned about?

Answer:
Where did you see the Gedolei Yisrael of the previous generation putting on a string called Techeiles??? Why are you acting on your own authority and following the “fashion”?

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Question 274748

Question:
I received a psak to put Techeiles on my tzitzis. On the other hand, I gain a great deal of chizuk from the Rav shlita, and I saw on the website that the Rav wrote that there is a problem of lo sisgodedu. What should I do?

Answer:
None of our rabbanim practiced this. It is a new fashion that began in our times. We will wait for Mashiach to come, and he will reveal the Techeiles.

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Question 260635

Question:
As a chumra, I wear Techeiles privately. I wear two pairs of tzitzis and keep the Techeiles hidden so as not to deviate from the minhag of the overwhelming majority of the chachmei hador, who still refrain from wearing it.

My twelve-year-old son wants to follow my practice. What is the correct hanhagah?

Answer:
Excuse me, but this is a serious mistake.

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Question 244534

Question:
I saw quoted in the Rav’s name that it is “forbidden”—perhaps that is an exaggeration—to wear a talis with Techeiles.

I am a kohen, and once I did not have a talis for Birkas Kohanim. I was unsure whether I should borrow one from somebody whose talis had Techeiles.

If the only available talis has Techeiles, may I use it just for Birkas Kohanim, or is that forbidden?

Answer:
One should not have the practice of wearing Techeiles, because the Gedolei Hador did not agree with it.

Please be precise: I did not write that it is assur.

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Question 161303

Question:
Does one need to put a Techeiles string in tzitzis? And should the talis have 39 windings, with the 39 divided into groups of three as brought in the Arizal, or is there no need to be particular about that? And what was Maran Rav Ovadia Yosef’s opinion on these matters?

Answer:
Our minhag is not to use a Techeiles string. All the strings are white wool.

Each corner has five knots. Between the knots there are seven windings, then eight, then eleven, then thirteen—a total of 39, corresponding to the numerical value of “Hashem Echad.” We do not divide them into groups of three.

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Question 87305

Question:
I want to wear Techeiles anyway. Whom should I follow—the Raavad or the Rambam?

Answer:
It is forbidden for us to put on a Techeiles string, since our great rabbanim do not do so, and there is a serious prohibition of yuhara involved.

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Question 87272

Question:
It is known that according to the Raavad one uses two Techeiles strings in the talis, while according to the Rambam one uses one. May I follow the Raavad rather than the Rambam?

Answer:
Nowadays one should not wear Techeiles, because we do not know with certainty what it is.

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Question 72912

Question:
Is a talis katan with a Techeiles string kosher, and does someone who wears it fulfill the mitzvah?

Answer:
We do not have Techeiles nowadays.

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Question 71968

Question:
In the siddur, in Krias Shema, it says “וראיתם אותו — and you shall see it.” Is this referring to the Techeiles string?

Answer:
We do not have Techeiles today.

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Question 41104

Question:
The Torah says to have a pesil Techeiles, yet most tzitzis today are white. Why? Is there a special hiddur in wearing tzitzis with Techeiles?

Answer:
Because Techeiles requires the blood of the chilazon, and it disappeared from the time of the destruction of the Beis Hamikdash, as mentioned in the Zohar. Mashiach Tzidkeinu will restore it as it once was.

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Question 38842

Question:
I have tzitzis with a Techeiles string. They were expensive, but more importantly they mean a great deal to me. I brought the talis to the cleaners for dry cleaning, and when I got home I discovered that almost all of the tzitzis on one corner had been cut. I brought it to them in perfect condition. What should I do?

Answer:
Wear a talis without Techeiles, like the Gedolei Hador.

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Question 298641

Question:
I am in a Litvishe yeshiva and would like to wear Techeiles. Should I tuck in my tzitzis because of this?

Answer:
Did the Gedolei Torah of our generation or the previous generation wear Techeiles???

Is this something that goes according to personal choice?

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Question 282497

Question:
One of the avreichim being discussed wears Techeiles. Is that an indication of some sort of “distortion” and something that should raise a red flag?

Answer:
Nowadays there are many strange people who look for “attractions” in avodas Hashem. This happens because people do not learn mussar sefarim.

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Question 278364

Question:
What is the Rav’s opinion of Techeiles? Is there any reason not to wear it? I very much want to, and I feel that it would increase my yiras Shamayim.

Answer:
How about starting to learn Torah instead of looking for gimmicks?????

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Question 263872

Question:
Is there any inyan or hiddur mitzvah in putting a Techeiles string in tzitzis?

Answer:
No inyan, no hiddur, and not Techeiles either.

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Question 254283

Question:
Is the Techeiles string that people put in their tzitzis today the same Techeiles that the Torah meant?

Answer:
Please use the search engine, and do not bother the Rav with curiosity questions.

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Question 232951

Question:
Is the color called Techeiles in Shas, in Brachos, what we today call green, with the discussion only being about a certain shade of green? If so, who says Techeiles is what we understand it to be today?

Answer:
It is certainly not known that today’s identification is the Techeiles. Only in recent years has it begun spreading among certain communities.

From what we learn from Chazal, Techeiles appears to lean toward turquoise or blue.

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Question 226125

Question:
Many people tie a Techeiles string onto their talis. May one do as they do?

Answer:
They have been discussing this for sixty years already. The Gedolei Yisrael were not concerned for it, but said to wait for the coming of the true Geulah, speedily, and may we merit it.

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Question 221437

Question:
What is the Rav’s opinion regarding Techeiles in tzitzis? A yerei Shamayim who is an expert in tying tzitzis told me there is a type of Techeiles which is “almost certainly” the Techeiles of the Torah.

Answer:
“Almost certainly”….

Mashiach will come and reveal it to us.

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Question 214050

Question:

1. If most of a talis is light blue, does that count as white regarding the Shulchan Aruch’s statement that the talis should be the same color as the tzitzis?
2. [Question regarding tevillas keilim.]

Answer:

1. The simple meaning is a white talis, not light blue.
2. The utensils require tevillah.

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Question 196936

Question:
Regarding tzitzis with Techeiles: it is known that when Mashiach comes, be’ezras Hashem, we will once again have Techeiles from the chilazon. But there are people who have already been making such tzitzis for years. Is it worthwhile to buy them?

Answer:
Definitely not, because it is not certain that this is the actual Techeiles.

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Question 174998

Question:
Regarding those who claim they have found the Techeiles called Murex: is it forbidden to wear it, permitted, or perhaps even obligatory?

Answer:
The recognized rabbanim do not wear a Techeiles string, and that is how it was throughout the generations. We may not act contrary to their minhag.

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Question 163991

Question:
Several years ago I accepted upon myself to wear Techeiles. I am now in a place where nobody wears it. Should I stop because of yuhara, or continue because of ein moridin bakodesh?

Answer:
The Gedolei Yisrael did not wear and do not wear a Techeiles string. Stop today. Ein moridin bakodesh has nothing to do with this.

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Question 155528

Question:
I would appreciate it if the Rav could clearly explain the reason for his halachic ruling regarding putting Techeiles in tzitzis.

Answer:
Our geonim and the great lights of the generation did not wear Techeiles. Who am I to explain?

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Question 148289

Question:
Regarding the Techeiles string available today, is there any inyan in using it?

Answer:
Definitely not. Our fathers and rabbanim were not concerned for it, nor do the Gedolei Hador practice it. There is also an additional concern of yuhara.

[The Rav then corrects the questioner’s wording of the Rosh Hashanah/Yom Kippur greeting.]

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Question 95927

Question:
I learned the sugya of Techeiles and read Torah works written by major talmidei chachamim on the subject. They found the Techeiles factories of Shevet Zevulun together with the Techeiles chilazon, and it passed all the tests in the Gemara.

Why are there people who oppose it?

Answer:
Ashrecha—you have become the Gadol Hador, and you understand better than all the giant Chachmei Yisrael. —The editor.

Only a navi can tell us what the chilazon is. See also the holy Zohar.

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Question 83551

Question:
It says the Techeiles string is blue so that when a person looks at it he will remember the Kisei Hakavod. What does the Kisei Hakavod look like so that I can remember it?

Answer:
Stop trying to be clever with the Chachmei Hador. Stop arguing with the Gedolei Yisrael. We are forbidden to deviate from their words right or left; that is what we are bound to from Har Sinai.

First keep the words of the Shulchan Aruch exactly as they are written.

—The editor.

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Question 65530

Question:
Someone’s rav said that on Shabbos it is permissible to wear a talis katan made of shatnez. Is that a mistake? It sounds like a mitzvah accomplished through an aveirah.

Answer:
The rav meant during the time of the Beis Hamikdash, when there was Techeiles. Nowadays it is forbidden.

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Question 50494

Question:
Is there any inyan in the Techeiles strings sold and advertised today, or is it just for profit?

Answer:
Not at all. None of the Gedolei Yisrael do this, because the Zohar says that Techeiles will not be revealed until the Redeemer arrives, speedily.

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Question 48383

Question:
What is the Rav’s opinion regarding the Techeiles string that exists today?

Answer:
We will follow only the minhag of our great rabbanim, Rav Elyashiv and Rav Ovadia, may they live long and good lives.

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Question 18425

Question:
A. I have tzitzis with one blue string. May I wear them?

B. May I keep sefarim or pictures of tzaddikim in my bedroom?

C. I am a baal teshuvah and my family is not religious. The utensils have not been toiveled and some have been used for both meat and milk. Should I eat at home?

Answer:
A. Wear tzitzis without a Techeiles string.

B. The sefarim should be covered or kept in a drawer. Pictures are fine if you are alone in the room.

C. Take the utensils to tevillah, and do not use utensils that were used for both meat and milk.

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Question 311745

Question:
Regarding Techeiles—in the sugya, not lemaaseh—I saw the Rav write that the Zohar says Techeiles will be revealed when Mashiach comes. Where is this Zohar? Also, the Arizal writes that this applies during the time of the Beis Hamikdash, but Techeiles still existed during the period of the Amoraim.

Answer:
There are many matters involved here and I cannot explain them here. According to Kabbalah, it is a hidden light and is not within the grasp of every person.

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Question 287281

Question:
We are currently learning the sugya of tzitzis and Techeiles in yeshiva. We follow the Rav and do not wear Techeiles, but a question came up: when Techeiles is found, will we use two strings according to the Raavad or one according to the Rambam? I saw that the Ben Ish Chai writes one.

Answer:
Only with the arrival of the Redeemer will Techeiles be revealed. Moshe Rabbeinu, alav hashalom, will come with him, and he will pasken for us.

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Question 275445

Question:
Why have we not had the minhag to wear Techeiles? It is almost certain that this is the Techeiles, and Rav Chaim Vital said that it would be revealed in the days of Mashiach—which is our generation.

If I want to wear it, may I, or is there something preventing me?

Answer:
“Our generation”??? And the Gedolei Yisrael—you are wiser than them???

And the prohibition of yuhara, for which one can be liable to nidui, rachmana litzlan, does not frighten you?

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Question 275115

Question:
Is there an inyan to tie today’s Techeiles string into tzitzis? My yeshiva permits it.

Answer:
Absolutely not. Even if we were certain this was Techeiles—which we certainly are not—there is an issue of casting aspersions on the Gedolei Yisrael, “the holy ones who are in the land,” who did not practice this.

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Question 272225

Question:
I saw that in one answer the Rav said not to wear Techeiles because the Gedolei Hador do not wear it. But [names omitted] and many others do wear it. Is that enough?

Answer:
All those whom you listed are not among the Sephardi chachamim. There are hundreds of other gedolim who opposed it.

And who knows what Techeiles is???

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Question 270734

Question:
Does a person lose anything by wearing Techeiles privately for one hour a day?

Answer:
Please stop doing this.

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Question 251757

Question:
I read in the Zohar in Bamidbar that Techeiles drives away the chitzonim. Is there any practical use for that today?

Answer:
Correct. That is why the sky is Techeiles-colored and the sea is Techeiles-colored. This is also why fish reproduce by the hundreds and thousands, because they are covered by the blue waters of the sea.

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Question 247366

Question:
What is the halachah regarding Techeiles strings in tzitzis? Is there an issue of yuhara?

Answer:
Absolutely forbidden.

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Question 245178

Question:
What is the Rav’s opinion regarding Techeiles? Is Techeiles preferable, or thick tzitzis for Shabbos?

Answer:
Why bother the Rav when you have a search engine!!!

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Question 211778

Question:
A. Does the mitzvah of a Techeiles string apply today?

B. Is what is on the market today actually Techeiles?

Answer:
A. There is no absolute certainty whatsoever that the Techeiles discovered nowadays is the Techeiles mentioned in the Torah, because we do not have such definitive simanim.

B. Whenever you are in doubt, look at the leaders of the generation in their respective communities. We saw that all the great mekubalim of the previous generation did not use Techeiles. Likewise, the Gedolei Yisrael in halachah—including Maran Rav Ovadia Yosef, Maran Rav Yosef Shalom Elyashiv, Maran Rav Shmuel Halevi Wosner, and the other Gedolei Hador—did not give it consideration.

Chas veshalom that we should build our own bamah and act independently.

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Question 218930

Question:
What about today’s Techeiles for tzitzis? Is it worthwhile to wear a talis with Techeiles? And is someone who wears Techeiles doing the right thing?

Answer:
Do not be different from the gedolim. Concentrate on what we need to fulfill—learning Torah and keeping the mitzvos. There is plenty that needs fixing.

Not “attractions.”

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Question 192112

Question:
I saw that the Rav said not to wear Techeiles. What if it strengthens my yiras Shamayim, even though our fathers did not practice it?

Answer:
Then it gives us another reason to wait for Mashiach and the Geulah.

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Question 176002

Question:
If I wear Techeiles but tuck the strings into my pants, is there still an issue of yuhara? Especially since one fulfills tzitzis with a colored string even if it is not specifically white. So why not wear Techeiles because of safek de’Oraisa?

Answer:
We have already perfected all the other mitzvos, and the only one we have left is this one whose authenticity the Chachmei Yisrael questioned…………?

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Question 173089

Question:
What about the Techeiles tzitzis strings that have appeared recently?

Answer:
Our fathers, our rabbanim, and the Gedolei Yisrael did not practice this. It began about fifty years ago.

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Question 171638

Question:
Why is the ceiling in Rav Lopes’s shul in Akko painted Techeiles? Is there some inyan to it? [Further unrelated question.]

Answer:
So what exactly do you want from me? That is like asking a three-year-old child in Eilat what the snow in Eilat was like.

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Question 160930

Question:
Can one tie tzitzis with Rambam-style Techeiles using either the 10-5-6-5 method or the 7-8-11-13 method?

Answer:
Please, kol hameshaneh yado al hatachtonah—one who changes is at a disadvantage. Do not change anything, for your own sake and for the sake of your children.

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Question 127571

Question:
When I first became a baal teshuvah, I bought Techeiles tzitzis for my talis. Today I read on your website that one should not do this. Should I replace them with white strings?

Answer:
Replace everything with white.

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Question 123200

Question:
Are certain colors preferable—for example, a red, Techeiles, or white object?

Answer:
There is a source for this in the Zohar and in the writings of the Ramak. White represents chesed, red din, yellow, green and orange rachamim, and Techeiles is a segulah against ayin hara because it “consumes” the powers of the chitzonim.

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Question 95553

Question:
Should I buy a talis with a Techeiles string or with white strings?

Answer:
White only. Do not invent new inventions.

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Question 92420

Question:
In my yeshiva, some of the rebbeim and bachurim put Techeiles into their tzitzis. Is there any heter for me to do so?

Answer:
It is not correct to do so, because the Gedolei Yisrael do not practice it.

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Question 84487

Question:
People have dyed one of the tzitzis strings Techeiles and claim this is proper. We have not seen Gedolei Yisrael such as Maran Rav Ovadia, Rav Elyashiv, or the Rav himself practice this. Is it permissible? Is this considered hotzaas laaz?

Answer:
Certainly they are committing a prohibition and casting aspersions.

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Question 54712

Question:
Regarding the Techeiles string people put in tzitzis today, is there a halachic problem with it or is it permissible?

Answer:
It is forbidden, because the Gedolei Yisrael do not practice it.

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Question 42209

Question:
May one wear tzitzis with a Techeiles string?

Answer:
A. There is no certainty whatsoever that this is the Techeiles mentioned in the Torah.

B. We may not adopt any minhag that our rabbanim—the Gedolei Hador and elderly chachamim who are our leaders—do not practice. This is halachically forbidden.

C. We must not cast aspersions upon our fathers and rabbanim of earlier generations, as though they did not know what we know.

D. The Zohar writes that Techeiles will not be revealed until Mashiach comes, and as far as I am aware, he has not arrived yet.

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Question 32996

Question:
Should I continue wearing Techeiles? If not, why?

Answer:
You are forbidden to adopt a minhag that the Gedolei Yisrael do not practice. And we need to begin conducting ourselves with derech eretz.

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Question 24018

Question:
Why are the domes or gravestones at kivrei tzaddikim painted Techeiles?

Answer:
That is what the painters decided.

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Question 18528

Question:
Is there any inyan in a Techeiles string? What is the source regarding the Techeiles chilazon, and does such a thing exist nowadays?

Answer:
We do not adopt any minhag on our own, particularly one that is not written in any well-known posek. It is forbidden to practice a minhag that the Gedolei Hador do not practice.

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Question 17279

Question:
Recently more people have begun wearing tzitzis with a Techeiles string. What is the Rav’s opinion?

Answer:
Any minhag that the Gedolei Hador do not practice is forbidden for others to practice, and doing so is chutzpah.

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Question 15527

Question:
Is there a hiddur in putting Techeiles in tzitzis? If so, should it be in both the talis gadol and talis katan, or only one?

Answer:
It is a mistake, and it is forbidden because of yuhara, since the great rabbanim and most of the world do not practice it.

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Question 5441

Question:
May one put Techeiles into tzitzis nowadays?

Answer:
A. Nobody knows clearly what Techeiles is.

B. Since the Gedolei Yisrael do not practice it, an individual is forbidden to do so.

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Question 3010

Question:
What does the Rav say about tzitzis with a Techeiles string?

Answer:
The Gedolei Hador do not use it, and we follow in their footsteps. Furthermore, the Zohar writes that Techeiles will not be revealed until the Geulah comes.

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Question 309634

Question:
We wanted to buy a talis from “Mishkan Hatechelet,” but they sold us one from “Talitania.” Exactly two hours later we went to return it, and they demanded a 10% cancellation fee. Do we have to pay?

Answer:
Check the regulations with the Consumer Protection Association.

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Question 305516

Question:
I heard that the Rav’s view regarding Techeiles is that since our rabbanim did not wear it, neither should we. But the Techeiles which many Gedolei Yisrael have accepted is the argamon whose dyeing process was discovered about thirty years ago?

Answer:
Chalomos b’Aspamia.
[“Dreams in Spain”—i.e. fantasy.]

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Question 292685

Question:
My wife bought me a new talis with Techeiles as a Yom Tov gift. They charged her 800 shekels. She did it wholeheartedly and lovingly. I follow the Rav’s opinion. How can I handle this without hurting her?

Answer:
They ripped her off. Go and exchange it for a regular, inexpensive talis.

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Question 292294

Question:
If someone wears tzitzis with a Techeiles string that is not genuine Techeiles, does he still fulfill the mitzvah of tzitzis, or is it passul?

Answer:
How long are you going to keep being different from everybody else?

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Question 285445

Question:
It says that in the merit of righteous women we will be redeemed. Does that mean that if we have not yet been redeemed, the problem is with them and not with us? [Further comments about women not listening to chachamim.] What should be done?

Answer:
And you are a perfect tzaddik? A talis shekulah Techeiles?

Let us fix ourselves, and they will follow after us.

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Question 275648

Question:
I wear a 100% sheep’s-wool tzitzis undershirt from Mishkan Hatechelet, over a regular undershirt. Is that 100% fulfillment of the Torah mitzvah? It is more comfortable during work.

Answer:
Why go around in circles? Buy a thin wool talis katan.

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Question 261402

Question:
Could the Rav please explain the halachah of Techeiles nowadays in some detail, as time permits, or direct me to sources?

Answer:
Thank you very much.

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Question 260715

Question:
What is the Rav’s opinion of Techeiles today, now that many fine people have begun wearing it out of concern for a de’Oraisa mitzvah? I too am among those who do this. Is there any downside?

Answer:
Keep this rule in your hand: any minhag that we have not found the great rabbanim practicing, we do not dare to practice—particularly in public.

Even when the Gedolei Hador are not next to you, do not practice it in front of other people because of the prohibition of yuhara. Most poskim write that yuhara can, chas veshalom, warrant nidui, based on the incident of Yehudah ben Kenosa. See Bava Kamma 81b and the poskim on the sugya.

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Question 245045

Question:
The Rav answered me that there is no prohibition to wear a talis with Techeiles, but that one should not practice it. If so, what did the Rav mean when he said there is a prohibition of yuhara and of casting aspersions on our rabbanim? Does the Rav only mean it is inappropriate?

Answer:
There is definitely a prohibition of yuhara and a prohibition of motzi laaz.

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Question 244570

Question:
The Rav answered that it is not prohibited to wear a talis with Techeiles, but that one should not do so. I am a kohen. If the only talis available for Birkas Kohanim belongs to somebody who wears Techeiles, may I borrow it just for Birkas Kohanim?

Answer:
As a kohen, buy yourself a talis.

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Question 244365

Question:
According to the Yerushalmi in Brachos, Techeiles resembles the sea, vegetation, the sky, the Kisei Hakavod, and sapphire. Rashi says the Luchos were made of sanpirinon. Is it possible the Luchos were Techeiles-colored?

Answer:
Correct, you are right. But what is the definition of Techeiles?

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Question 227131

Question:
I saw a picture from Amuka of a stone grave-marker painted Techeiles, with a sign saying “the resting place of the Tanna Mukrat.” Does the Rav have any information about this Tanna?

Answer:
There were other graves there and an entire cemetery, but bulldozers destroyed it. Since then I do not go there.

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Question 220470

Question:
Is there an inyan to be machmir that the wool for tzitzis be combed lishmah? Also, what is the Rav’s view of Techeiles, and what does the Rav personally do?

Answer:
They were not particular that the combing be lishmah, and we do not put on Techeiles. This was the practice of the Gedolei Hador before us and remains so today.

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Question 183638

Question:
I considered putting on a Techeiles string. I know some say not to, but it does not appear from the Arizal that it is actually prohibited, and there is a researcher… Thank you.

Answer:
We do not practice minhagim that the Gedolei Yisrael—who are greater than everyone—did not practice. We are not wiser than they are.

Furthermore, someone who starts inventing all sorts of chumros for himself will have his own accounting in Shamayim examined very closely.

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Question 7184

Question:
May a shul be painted Techeiles and blue?

Answer:
That was the minhag in the holy city of Tzfas, as a reminder of the sky.

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Question 309644

Question:
What is the Rav’s opinion regarding Techeiles strings in either a talis katan or talis gadol, and what did our rabbanim of the previous generation practice?

Answer:
Please see the topic index.

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Question 309539

Question:
What is the Rav’s opinion regarding Techeiles strings in a talis katan or talis gadol, and what did our rabbanim of the previous generation practice?

Answer:
None of the Gedolei Hador practiced it, and there is a prohibition of yuhara.

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Question 286459

Question:
Why is the sky blue, according to Kabbalah?

Answer:
Because this color protects against the forces of tumah and evil in the world, as mentioned in Kabbalah regarding the Techeiles string.

---

Question 282931

Question:
I designated a corner of my living room for davening. I would like to place an illuminated sign with Hashem’s Name, with the vowelization of yirah, against a Techeiles background with white letters, and leave it illuminated all the time. Is that okay? Are there any restrictions?

Answer:
It would be forbidden to get dressed there or speak idle talk there.

---

Question 262596

Question:
There was lightning and thunder and we made the brachos. Later the sky above our home became blue while storm clouds remained farther away. That evening there was lightning and thunder again and we made the brachos again. Was the second brachah levatalah?

Answer:
In the future, do not make another brachah until the following day.

---

Question 240829

Question:
I would like to buy a talis. Is there an inyan to beautify the talis? There are handmade ones embroidered with Techeiles-colored designs. Should I buy plain white, or may it have colors? Does it need to be plain, or may it have an embroidered Magen David?

Answer:
The Sephardi minhag is to wrap oneself in a white talis.

---

Question 224590

Question:
May one wear a pleated skirt that is properly loose according to halachah, in light pink or light blue?

Answer:
I do not understand this subject.

---

Question 189287

Question:
During the week I wear a white button-down shirt. If on Shabbos I wear other colors such as light blue or blue, is that considered respectable for Shabbos?

Answer:
On Shabbos wear a nice jacket in honor of the Queen.

---

Question 183191

Question:
I know the Rav generally does not provide sources, so only if the Rav remembers without effort: where is it written that the Techeiles of tzitzis will not be revealed until Mashiach comes?

Answer:
Please excuse me from entering into unnecessary arguments. Nowadays, in any case, everyone does whatever he wants and nobody listens to anybody else.

---

Question 175278

Question:
This generation is amazing. People are now asking us about a certain “Baba” who wears a fez, puts several Techeiles tzitzis on himself, performs various tikkunim, and claims he can even remove dibbukim. People ask whether he is genuine…

Answer:
Anything is possible.

---

Question 175171

Question:
As one of the changes on Leil Haseder, I have the practice, bli neder, of wearing a very large and mehudar talis katan, as a remembrance of Yemenite Jews who sat with tzitzis and a talis gadol throughout the Seder in awe and joy.

May I put Techeiles on it, or is that forbidden?

Answer:
Although at night one does not wrap oneself in a talis, because the Torah says “וראיתם אותו,” nevertheless that is your minhag.

But without any Techeiles. Thank you.

---

Question 171510

Question:
A suggestion for the public: we should follow the holy sources of Chazal. Unfortunately it is rare nowadays to see even rabbanim following Chazal, and when there are individuals who do, people attack them as if they invented something, chas veshalom. Chazak ve’ematz to our beloved Rav.

Answer:
Thank you. You have gladdened me that there are still talmidei chachamim like yourself who can distinguish between Techeiles and white.

---

Question 157723

Question:
Is it true that the Kinneret corresponds to the holy Shechinah? Where is the source?

Answer:
The holy Zohar, Parashas Behaaloscha 150a, says that the sea is in the portion of Zevulun, that Knesses Yisrael—the Shechinah—is called the Sea of Kinneret, and that this is fitting because Techeiles comes from there. Just as there is a Kinneret above there is a Kinneret below; Techeiles above and Techeiles below, all in one place. Therefore Zevulun inherited that portion, as alluded to in the pasuk, “Nations will call to the mountain; there they will offer righteous offerings… for they will draw sustenance from the abundance of the seas.”

---

Question 127636

Question:
On Tuesday night Rachel Imeinu came to me in a dream, but the veil she was wearing was Techeiles-colored. She did not speak to me; she simply stood in front of me. What does the dream mean?

Answer:
That was not Rachel Imeinu. It was a tourist from Uruguay.

---

Question 106827

Question:
Regarding my brother, who asked about a special Shabbos talis that had Techeiles strings put onto it: isn’t replacing it a waste of money? It cost him 400 shekels including the work. What should he do—throw it away and buy a new regular one?

Answer:
Chas veshalom to throw it away. Keep it at home and wear a regular talis.

---

Question 98421

Question:
What is the Rav’s opinion regarding talisos with strings dyed Techeiles? Can they be relied upon?

Also, from what age does the prohibition against riding a bicycle on Shabbos apply?

Answer:
Definitely not, because the Zohar writes that Techeiles will be revealed only on the day Mashiach comes. You see that none of the Gedolei Yisrael wear Techeiles, and neither will we.

Regarding the bicycle, we permit it for a child up to age six.

---

Question 94838

Question:
I saw people distributing red strings together with a page containing quotations from sefarim. I remember that the Rav said in a shiur that the proper color is Techeiles, not red?

Answer:
These are inaccurate things without sources, simply inventions.

A. The holy Zohar strongly warned against the color red. It is associated with Edom, Esav, and the Christian world. See the Ramak’s Pardes Rimonim, Shaar Hagevanim.

B. All the chachmei Kabbalah throughout the generations warned against the color red, as is well known to those who understand these matters.

C. There is a serious concern of avodah zarah, and it is prohibited halachically because of darkei ha’Emori, as mentioned in the Tosefta in Shabbos. To this day it is used in churches and monasteries among idolaters in South America.

D. I received orally from my father zt”l that it is forbidden and also dangerous. He said this in 5730 when he saw red strings being distributed at Kever Rachel. The Gaon and Posek Hador Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach zt”l also once told me that it is prohibited because of chukos hagoyim, as mentioned in the Tosefta in Shabbos.

This is enough for any wise and sensible person to be careful. I did not come to argue with stubborn people and inventors. Whoever wishes will listen and be careful. I have saved my own soul.

---

Question 33926

Question:
The Rav’s opinion is particularly important to me on this subject. I am referring to Techeiles according to Rav Herzog’s approach, which the Gaon Rav Ne’eman shlita follows, as does a well-known mekubal from Bnei Brak.

Is the answer that the subject requires further investigation, that it is absolutely forbidden, or that everyone should follow his own rav?

Answer:
You already received a complete answer and disregarded it, and then stubbornly asked again.

It is not very wise of you that you have already clogged up the website many times with this “life-or-death” question, mentioning names, while I am unable to respond because of the honor of the chachamim.

Have you already fulfilled every mitzvah in the Shulchan Aruch, and only this one remains for you, “day and night it shall not depart from your mouth”?

---

Question 20532

Question:
I wear a talis katan with Techeiles strings—Argamon keheh kotzim, thick Raavad. As always, people mock me and say it is not genuine and this is not the chilazon.

I answer that even if I am gaining nothing, I am certainly losing nothing, since the Techeiles color does not invalidate the tzitzis. What is the Rav’s opinion?

Answer:
Conduct yourself the way the Gedolei Yisrael conduct themselves, not the opposite.

---

Question 277702

Question:
Which colors are included in what Chazal call bigdei tzivonim—colored clothing? Are light colors permitted? Delicately floral dresses? If non-transparent white is permitted, what is wrong with light blue or pink?

Answer:
Any garment with loud colors that attract attention is forbidden. Clothing with subdued colors is permitted.

---

Question 270974

Question:
Is there a Midrash connecting Parashas Hameraglim with Parashas Tzitzis?

Answer:
Bamidbar Rabbah, Korach, chapter 18:

“What is written immediately before ‘And Korach took’? ‘And they shall make for themselves tzitzis.’ Korach jumped up and asked Moshe: A talis that is entirely Techeiles—does it require tzitzis? Moshe said yes. Korach said: An entire talis of Techeiles cannot exempt itself, but four strings exempt it? A house filled with sefarim—does it require a mezuzah? Moshe said yes. Korach said: The entire Torah, with 275 parshiyos, cannot exempt the house, but the one parshah in the mezuzah exempts it?”

---

Question 263137

Question:
An excellent boy from Rav Zilberman’s yeshiva in Yerushalayim was suggested for my daughter. I understand that they have a different derech halimud and wear Techeiles in their tzitzis. Is the shidduch worth pursuing?

Answer:
It is worthwhile to proceed and investigate his yiras Shamayim.

---

Question 252104

Question:
May one use a special glue for tzitzis to prevent the strings from unraveling? It is sold by Mishkan Hatechelet.

Answer:
Yes.

---

Question 251765

Question:
I heard the Rav discuss the colors associated with different nations, but I forgot the details.

Answer:
The Ramak, in Pardes Rimonim, Shaar Hagevanim, writes that green represents the descendants of Yishmael; red represents Edom; and the shade of Techeiles belongs to Am Yisrael.

That is why the heavens are blue, the rakia, the Kisei Hakavod—“sapphire is their form”—and it is known that the original sapphire is Techeiles-colored. The Luchos were also made of sanpirinon. Therefore we are attached to the holy Torah, because it is our life and the length of our days.

---

Question 251255

Question:
Regarding the orphaned boy I asked about, his rebbi keeps picking on him and is quick to punish him over everything. True, the boy is not exactly a talis shekulah Techeiles, but the rebbi is greatly exaggerating. May we contact the school authorities?

Answer:
Please. The Rav is occupied with halachic matters. Do not bother him with personal problems.

---

Question 246625

Question:
Could the karpas at the Seder be derived from the pasuk in Megillas Esther, “חור כרפס ותכלת”?

Answer:
First of all, it has kedushas shevi’is. Second, the leaf has a chor—a hole—as it says “חור כרפס,” and there is a concern for bugs. Ask the Gaon Bententki.

---

Question 246290

Question:
Are 100% wool “undershirt-style” tzitzis kosher lechatchilah according to all opinions? I buy them from Mishkan Hatechelet and they have haskamos and hechsherim.

Answer:
How am I supposed to know???

---

Question 244177

Question:
Was argaman also a color produced from chilazon-type sea creatures? And is its color red/purple?

Answer:
Rashi, Shemos 25:

“Techeiles — wool dyed with the blood of the chilazon, and its color is yarok.

Argaman — wool dyed with a type of dye whose name is argaman.

Shesh — linen.”

---

Question 239540

Question:
I asked regarding marriage at bar/bas mitzvah ages because my nephew, who belongs to a certain group abroad, is thirteen and was married to a twelve-year-old girl. It is very painful, and that is why I asked.

Answer:
It is a terrible wrongdoing to marry off young people before their proper time, when their understanding has not yet matured and they do not know how to distinguish between Techeiles and white, how to raise children and babies, or how to educate children properly.

It is an utterly improper trend and practice. Chazal already warned against marrying off a young girl. Even in the time of the Gemara, people did not marry until after age sixteen, as indicated by Rav Chisda in Kiddushin 29b. There is also the explicit Mishnah in Avos 5:21: “At eighteen, to the chuppah.” See also what we wrote in Chuppas Tzion.

---

Question 223734

Question:
In Shulchan Aruch siman 9, the Pri Megadim discusses a blue stripe. How did the stripes become black? Are the black stripes a symbol of the Churban? Since the blue stripe is mentioned as a remembrance of Techeiles and the sky, why do Ashkenazim not use blue stripes on the talis katan?

Answer:
I have no black stripes on either my talis gadol or my talis katan.

---

Question 191782

Question:
It was very moving to read the Rav’s words about the publication of the Rashash siddur of the Rav’s father. I remember that around four years ago I would read Olamo Shel Tzaddik and cry from longing for Torah and for the Rav’s father.

Answer — the editor:
The Rav told me that you possess a pure neshamah and understand matters of kedushah. There was one foolish person who belittled this siddur and wrote false accusations, and he did not know how to distinguish between Techeiles and kela ilan.

The Rav blessed you immediately after Shacharis.

---

Question 190896

Question:
We spoke with several avreichim about the plague of Reform Judaism. They agreed, but argued that the Rav does not speak at all about…

Answer:
He is the head of the corruption, the one directing matters, and the leader of those fighting the kedushah and taharah of Am Yisrael.

And they do not deserve to be called avreichim… because they cannot distinguish between Techeiles and kela ilan.

---

Question 190686

Question:
In our shul the chazzan on Shabbos wears a robe that is open down its length and closed only at the neck. Is this, chas veshalom, a Christian custom?

Answer:
Chas veshalom to say such a thing. Rather, that was the form of the Me’il of the Kohen Gadol, and the Christians are the ones who stole this beautiful garment from us.

It was made entirely of Techeiles, had no sleeves, had openings through which the hands came out, was attached and fastened around the neck, and was open below, as the Rambam writes in Hilchos Klei Hamikdash 9:3.

The Ramban writes similarly in his commentary to Shemos 28:31.

---

Question 183713

Question:
How can I know whether the shidduch suggested to me is my true zivug? Also, should I wear the Techeiles sold today with mehudar hechsherim?

Answer:
My young friend, do not try to be too clever. Hashem gave you chochmah, binah and daas. If you see that she is suitable for you, marry her.

We do not wear Techeiles, because the Gedolei Hador of the previous generation and of our generation do not put on Techeiles.

---

Question 166015

Question:
When I make tzitzis, I separate between the chulyos—3-3-1, 3-3-2, etc.—and as a result the chulyos take up half the length of the strings rather than one third. Is that less mehudar?

Also, should I buy a Techeiles string?

Answer:
We do not have the minhag to separate the chulyos. We make them all together: 7, 8, 11 and 13.

And we do not put on Techeiles at all.

---

Question 165686

Question:
[Part of the question is missing in the scrape; it discusses going to Selichos with secular singers.]

Answer:
I am surprised that you compare one matter to the other. You cannot distinguish between Techeiles and kela ilan.

Chazal said in Shabbos 119b that Rabbi Yitzchak said Yerushalayim was destroyed because people equated the small with the great, as the pasuk says, “The people shall be like the kohen,” followed by “The land shall be utterly emptied.”

Furthermore, I need to clarify why I reacted so strongly when I heard him disgrace the holy of holies, Rabbi Akiva ben Yosef—and he still has not asked mechilah. Rabbi Akiva was killed on Yom Kippur and saved Am Yisrael in both this world and the next: in this world by spreading Torah and preventing it from being forgotten, and in the next world because, as the Arizal writes in Shaar Hakavanos, the aveiros of that generation had become so great that there should, chas veshalom, have been destruction, and he and his colleagues saved Klal Yisrael through their deaths. Every day they continue to bring kapparah for us.

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Question 150978

Question:
My fifteen-year-old daughter attends a chareidi high school. Some girls there wear a shirt in a denim-like light-blue color, and my daughter wants one as well. Is such a shirt permitted?

Answer:
I am not familiar with it. Thank you for the brachos.

---

Question 128140

Question:
Regarding a rainbow: Ya’aros Devash mentions two types of rainbow—a natural one and one that serves as the sign of the bris, which has Techeiles colors. A Midrash likewise discusses the rakia resembling a rainbow in connection with Techeiles. Is this correct? If so, may one look at the natural type of rainbow?

Answer:
These are not the rainbows that we see, and we do not know how to distinguish between them.

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Question 115640

Question:
Can one infer from Rambam, Hilchos Tzitzis 2:8, that what people put in tzitzis today does not even remotely resemble the Techeiles mentioned in the Torah, since there the concern is that one might use black because it resembles Techeiles?

Answer:
There is a little proof from there. In any event, there is absolutely no certainty that the Techeiles found today is genuine.

---

Question 98447

Question:
Regarding my tattoo, I underwent two more treatments—numbers seven and eight—and they were very difficult. A little light-blue color without any recognizable form remains beneath the skin. May I rest for around a year before having the next treatment?

Answer:
You may rest and regain your strength.

---

Question 88800

Question:
Was the Avnet specifically unique to the Kohen Gadol? What was it made of, and how many strands were woven into it? And if it was wool and linen, wasn’t it shatnez?

Answer:
The Avnet belongs to the Kohen Gadol, as mentioned by Rashi and Tosafos in Yoma 6a. It was woven from four materials: linen, wool Techeiles, tolaas shani, and argaman, which was also wool, as the Rambam writes in Hilchos Klei Hamikdash 8:13. In the Beis Hamikdash, the kohanim were permitted to wear linen [together with wool].

Each of these four types was composed of six strands intricately spun together. With the four materials combined, each thread contained twenty-four strands. Josephus writes that flowers were woven into it using tolaas shani, argaman, Techeiles and linen. See the mefarshim on the Rambam for additional opinions regarding its weaving.

---

Question 86732

Question:
The Rav said there are four things represented by the mnemonic חבי”ת that require a double seal. What are they in order?

Answer:
Milk, meat, wine, Techeiles.

---

Question 82337

Question:
Regarding tefillin: did the machlokes between Rabbeinu Tam and Rashi already exist previously, and how did the machlokes develop?

Regarding tzitzis: some people wear Techeiles. Do they have anything to rely upon?

Answer:
Both opinions regarding tefillin are mentioned in the holy Zohar and in the Teshuvos Hageonim. See also Od Yosef Chai, Yabia Omer, and elsewhere.

One should not practice any minhag that runs contrary to the minhag of the Gedolei Yisrael, from whose waters we drink and upon whom our lives depend. No person is permitted to act contrary to their minhag.

---

Question 70713

Question:
May one wear a talis katan made from wool and linen—shatnez? After all, an aseh overrides a lo saaseh.

Answer:
Absolutely forbidden. Only in the era of the Mishnah, when they knew what Techeiles was and the chilazon had not yet been lost, could this be done.

Nowadays we do not have Techeiles, because the Zohar writes that it will not be revealed until Mashiach comes.

---

Question 64030

Question:
My sister’s six-year-old granddaughter constantly gets hurt, cut and bruised. Yesterday she fell from a horse and we are worried. Should we buy her an amulet shaped like a hamsa or the letter hei, and should it be silver-colored or Techeiles?

Answer:
A six-year-old girl does not ride a horse.

---

Question 52954

Question:
Regarding a wedding talis for a Sephardi chassan:

1. Who buys the talis—the chassan’s parents or the kallah’s parents?
2. What if the chassan’s parents are no longer alive?
3. After the wedding, may it be reserved for Shabbos and Yom Tov, and is there any problem with Techeiles-colored stripes?

Answer:
The chassan should buy himself a white talis.

---

Question 40792

Question:
Baruch Hashem, we had a baby girl. We are considering the names Yahali, Ariel, Shir, Shira, Adiah, Techeiles, or Shani.

Answer:
Sarah, Rivkah, Rachel, Leah.

Yasher koach to you.

---

Question 35573

Question:
I have been a baalas teshuvah for three years. Around seven years ago I got a tattoo on my leg. What can I do about it? I cannot afford to have it removed. It is light blue, and I understand this is one of the colors that is difficult to remove completely.

Answer:
Wait until you find a method or way to remove it easily.

---

Question 169519

Question:
I saw the levayah of a great rav, and there were bachurim standing above the aron on fences with their tzitzis blowing in the wind above it. Is this permitted? Why did the rabbanim not object?

Answer:
I do not know what incident you are referring to and I did not see it. When I do see such a thing, I explain to them that it is forbidden.

The source is Brachos 18a, where Rabbi Chiya and Rabbi Yonasan were walking in a cemetery and Rabbi Yonasan’s Techeiles strings were hanging out. Rabbi Chiya told him to lift them so the dead should not say, “Tomorrow they will come join us, and now they mock us.”

Rabbeinu Yonah explains that regarding talisos worn specifically to fulfill the mitzvah of tzitzis so the Torah of tzitzis should not be forgotten, one must be careful not to walk in a cemetery wearing them openly, because of lo’eg larash. The Rosh rules similarly.

This is likewise brought by the poskim. Yalkut Yosef rules that one may enter a cemetery wearing a talis katan underneath one’s clothing, since the prohibition applies when the tzitzis are visible. Those who normally leave their tzitzis outside their clothing should tuck them in when within four amos of graves. Certainly the strings should not drag over graves, as this appears to mock the dead who can no longer fulfill the mitzvah of tzitzis.

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Question 277763 / 277702

Question:
Does a black dress with dark purple or gray flowers count as “colored clothing”? What about a black shirt with tiny yellow flowers? Is any decorated garment forbidden in public?

The related question asks which colors Chazal include under bigdei tzivonim, whether pale colors and delicate floral dresses are permitted, and why light blue or pink should be problematic if opaque white is permissible.

Answer:
Any clothing with loud colors that attract attention is forbidden.

Clothing with subdued colors is permitted.

---

Question 194115

Question:
Why is the pasuk “ותעדי זהב וכסף — and you adorned yourself with gold and silver” said at the end of Kiddush Levanah? What does it have to do with the moon, and what is the source?

Answer:
I heard from my father zt”l that this pasuk alludes to what will happen in the future, when Hashem heals the brokenness of His people and the moon’s complaint is rectified.

Because of the sin of the Eigel, we lost the crowns we had received, as it says, “The Bnei Yisrael removed their ornaments from Har Chorev.” In the future Hashem will return them, as the Sifri says: Hashem told Moshe that He will eventually return to Yisrael the spiritual adornment that was taken from them at Chorev, as the pasuk says, “As I live, says Hashem, you will wear all of them like an ornament and bind them upon yourself like a bride.”

The Midrash Tanchuma, discussing the thirteen materials donated to the Mishkan—including Techeiles and argaman—teaches that these correspond to thirteen things Hashem gave Yisrael in Mitzrayim and to thirteen things He will restore in the future.

The Baal Haturim similarly explains that thirteen items are listed in the Mishkan donations and thirteen garments are listed in Yechezkel. When Yisrael sinned with the Eigel they lost those thirteen forms of adornment, and through donating the thirteen materials for the Mishkan they regained them.

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Question 191278

Question:
Today I was shaken when I attended the levayah at Shamgar in Yerushalayim of the elderly righteous woman Rivkah Molkandov a”h, a survivor of the communist regime. The maspid was crying out and sobbing, and everyone cried with him. Who was she?

Answer:
She was a survivor of a generation of daas, a generation of tzidkus and chassidus, a generation that continued the tradition of Sarah, Rivkah, Rachel and Leah, our holy and pure Imahos.

She was extraordinarily tzanua, dressed in Techeiles and argaman like the mother of kohanim, and came from a family of kohanim. She was righteous, pious, holy and pure, deeply attached to Torah, davening and making brachos throughout the day. She was the great-grandmother of my righteous grandchildren. Her head was covered with several scarves in the practice of our mothers from Eastern and Western lands. Her days were filled with tefillos, her hours with brachos, and her deeds with righteousness.

Today a mighty planting was uprooted from among us—a great woman in deeds and middos, a survivor of a generation that served HaKadosh Baruch Hu secretly, in hiding and underground, beneath the cruel regimes of Lenin, Stalin, Khrushchev, Brezhnev and Kosygin.

She married into the famous Molkandov family, which throughout communist rule secretly supplied arba minim for Sukkos, shofaros for Rosh Hashanah, matzos for Pesach, maror and charoses, wine for Shabbos and the Seder, and fed poor people in their home graciously, all secretly and discreetly out of fear of the communist regime.

Every Friday night she arranged for Jews to come hear Kiddush over wine she prepared herself and eat special Bukharian bread that she baked until her final days and distributed freely. She fed the hungry, gave drink to the thirsty, and spoke precious divrei Torah. She recited Mishnayos and Tehillim with them and sent them home with food.

She did likewise on Shabbos day, learning Hilchos Shabbos from the Mishnah and sharing divrei Torah. She blessed every guest as though that person were her only child, with wisdom, understanding and daas.

Around forty years ago she and her righteous husband z”l came to Eretz Yisrael and settled in Romema near Kiryat Mattersdorf in Yerushalayim. She would kiss the stones of the city and embrace the walls, almost unable to believe that she had returned to Tzion in mercy.

She loved every Jew with all her heart, gave herself over completely for Torah, and davened with tears for every Jew as though he were her only child. She was joyful throughout her life and spread that joy to others.

She was exceptional in her modest dress, covered from head to foot and wearing several coverings. She looked physically fragile, like a thin reed ready to fall, but in spirit and personality she was strong and firm.

Woe for those who are lost and cannot be replaced. She protected the generation. Who can give us another like her?

May her neshamah be bound in the bond of life in Gan Eden together with the righteous women there.

---

Question 183530

Question:
How can one explain that a religious political party is headed by a secular female MK who does not observe Torah and mitzvos? Also, if a person davening on the way to shul says prayers for his family, has he lost the advantage of fulfilling the Torah obligation of tefillah during Shacharis?

Answer:
I am certain the rabbanim and Torah-observant people are not pleased with such a situation.

Before looking at what happens elsewhere, however, we need to conduct a serious bedek habayis within the chareidi community—especially among us Sephardim—regarding places of entertainment and wasted time, where young people whose eyes have not yet opened are going, what they see and hear, and whether anyone is leading, guiding and supervising what is permissible and what is forbidden.

Regarding your political question, that is an internal matter for the members of the movement. Especially in these days, when we are being attacked from every side regarding Torah and mitzvos, and those opposite us cannot distinguish between Techeiles and white. All of us are now under threat regarding the observance of Torah mitzvos.

On his way to davening, it would be better to recite chapters of Tehillim and praises of the Creator as preparation for tefillah.

---

Question 150477

Question:

1. If a woman forgot to separate challah, may she separate it after baking with a brachah?
2. Does one need to separate challah from breads, rolls, challos, etc. purchased from bakeries?

Answer:
A. If the breads contain 1,560 grams of flour, challah should be separated with a brachah.

B. The issue applies to all kinds of baked goods: bread, rolls, pitas, pizza, cakes, crackers, wafers, bagels, baked Bissli and more. Unfortunately, many establishments do not separate challah from every individual batch of dough, but at best once during the day, which is not lechatchilah.

It is wonderful that today people are careful to grow peyos and beards, wear large black yarmulkes, dress black and white, have long handmade tzitzis, a “Techeiles” string, tefillin with every possible hiddur—even ones halachah does not require—straps painted on both sides, fancy tefillin boxes, an atarah on the talis, tzitzis for babies, 310 mikveh immersions every morning, strange and exaggerated chumros in Hilchos Shabbos regarding borer, sechitah, bishul, coloring foods, cleaning the table, taking out garbage, cleanliness and personal hygiene; memorial meals for the dead with meat, chicken, fish and liquor; women’s challah-separation parties with singing, lectures and fundraising; and many other chumros that appear neither in halachah nor in the Shulchan Aruch, but which are fashionable.

But what about the actual obligation of hafrashas challah, which is a Torah obligation on the things we eat all day long?

When we were children, our fathers and rabbanim taught us: before eating and making a brachah on any baked item, remove a tiny crumb the size of an ant and say, “Harei zu challah,” and put it aside.

“Some mitzvos need mazal,” as our Rosh Yeshiva, Rav Yehudah Tzadkah zt”l, used to say.

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Question 149912

Question:
The Ben Ish Chai writes at the beginning of Parashas Lech Lecha that one should make the tzitzis into chulyos, each chulya consisting of three windings. I did not understand his holy words.

Answer:
See Teshuvos HaRambam, siman 138. The Rambam explains that the Gemara’s method is to make three windings and secure the third, creating one chulya, leave a small gap, then make another three, until there are seven chulyos of three windings each. All seven chulyos should occupy the upper third of the tzitzis, with the lower two thirds left loose.

The Rambam then says that, in his understanding, some of the Geonim held that these chulyos mentioned in the Gemara are obligatory specifically when there is a Techeiles string. Nowadays, when there is only white, any form of winding is sufficient.

See Beis Yosef, Orach Chaim siman 11, the mefarshim there, and the Shulchan Aruch.

Therefore, we do not practice the chulya method, and our fathers never did so either.

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Question 149673

Question:
Is there a teaching that sofrim of STaM will never become wealthy, and if so, why?

Answer:
The Gemara in Pesachim 50b says that the Anshei Knesses Hagedolah fasted twenty-four fasts concerning writers of Sifrei Torah, tefillin and mezuzos, asking that they not become wealthy, because if they became wealthy they would stop writing.

A braisa says that writers of Sifrei Torah, tefillin and mezuzos, their merchants and the merchants’ merchants, and anyone engaged in meleches Shamayim—including sellers of Techeiles—do not see a sign of blessing in their wealth. If, however, they work lishmah, they do see blessing.

Be careful with your wording not to write harsh expressions.

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Question 110856

Question:
What are the heichalos for women in Gan Eden according to their different levels? Why would Esther be in the sixth heichal? She saved Klal Yisrael from annihilation.

Answer:
The sixth heichal in the Zohar, Parashas Pekudei, is called Heichal Haratzon, because all favorable times in this world emanate from there. Moshe Rabbeinu, who passed away at Minchah on Shabbos—a time of ratzon—resides there.

The malach Raziel is appointed there, and all the secrets of Torah are in his possession. The Ramak writes that Rabbi Akiva sits there with all those killed al kiddush Hashem and reveals tremendous secrets to them.

I found, b’siyata diShmaya, in the Midrash called Shimusha Rabba, that all the tzaddikim who cleansed themselves from all impurity and physicality in this world and merited to wear the garment of Olam Haba in this world are found in this heichal.

The Zohar says explicitly regarding Mordechai and Esther that their bodies remain intact even now because while alive they wore the garment of Olam Haba. Regarding Esther it says, “Esther clothed herself in royalty,” and regarding Mordechai it says, “Mordechai went out from before the king wearing royal garments of Techeiles and chur…”

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Question 89600

Question:
May one wear photochromic sunglasses on Shabbos, whose color becomes deeper in sunlight?

Answer:
You correctly said “deeper” rather than “darker,” because amok is the Biblical term. A color described as amok is strong, while keheh in Lashon Hakodesh actually means weak or pale.

Regarding the question itself, the Rambam writes in Hilchos Shabbos 9:13 that one is liable for dyeing on Shabbos only with a color that lasts. A color that does not last at all is exempt.

Furthermore, all the 39 melachos of Shabbos are learned from the Mishkan. The dyeing in the Mishkan involved Techeiles and argaman threads whose colors were permanent and did not change.

The Midrash says that Dovid Hamelech went to ask the Urim Vetumim from Achimelech on Shabbos, where the letters of the Choshen would protrude or move. This was permissible because the change was not permanent.

Additionally, the wearer performs no action with his hands; the rays of the sun cause the change. There is therefore no issue of writing or dyeing.

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Question 22147

Question:
A. Regarding Tefillas Haderech, what length of time is meant by “if he intends to return immediately”?

B. Sometimes we regift mishloach manos that contains a small bottle of unidentified wine. Do we fulfill the mitzvah if it is very likely that its brachah is not Hagafen?

C. Regarding Techeiles: what is the green color that Rashi refers to? It says it resembles chadra. Can the Rav give an example—like parsley green? And what does the word “Techeiles” mean in modern usage?

Answer:
[A.] Regarding the drink, it has the status of juice or a soft drink, and one fulfills mishloach manos with it even if the brachah is Shehakol.

[B.] Techeiles resembles turquoise-green.

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Question 231244

Question:
I just recited Tikkun Chatzos and burst into bitter tears after hearing the Rav’s shiur tonight discussing Chevlei Mashiach and the pain of the Shechinah. I could not bear it and cried, and there was nobody to comfort me.

Rav, how much longer will we cry and mourn the Churban?

Answer:
Be comforted, my friend, be comforted. The One Who hears tefillah has heard your cry. Above as well, He sits, cries and roars like a lion over the Churban, over the chillul Hashem among the nations, over the exile of Yisrael, the widows and orphans, bereaved parents, the disasters that strike us constantly, and the terrible decrees against Yiddishkeit by a wicked government that destroys and fights everything holy. Who knows whether it is not actually conducting the war of Gog and Magog now, as one may contemplate in the words of Aleinu Leshabe’ach, composed with ruach hakodesh by Yehoshua bin Nun and Klal Yisrael.

He cries over the days called “bein hazmanim,” which are not written anywhere in Shulchan Aruch or the various sifrei minhagim, but which some invented themselves. So many terrible tragedies occur every year during these days, especially to boys and girls who lose their lives almost daily—“in the morning you will say, ‘If only it were evening,’ and in the evening, ‘If only it were morning.’”

Who will give a din vecheshbon for these crazy days—on the roads, in the streets and alleyways, in all the eateries, eating and devouring without distinguishing between black and white or between Techeiles and karti?

My friend, in these days what is missing on the scale of merits is Torah, Torah and Torah. We barely survive. The world continues miraculously in the merit of tinokos shel beis rabban, and even they, because of our sins, are being taken as korbanos to atone for Am Yisrael.

At this difficult time I, the poor one, raise my tefillah with tears to the One Who dwells Above:

Merciful Father, please have mercy upon the remnant of Your nation Yisrael and save them from every evil, from plague and illness. Save us and save Your children from unnatural deaths, accidents and injuries, and from bad news. Look with Your abundant mercy upon the remaining flock. Rebuke the destroyer so that he not enter Jewish homes to harm. Command Your holy malachim to protect every Jew from sin and aveirah, accidents and disasters, for they are Your children, the children of those You tested, the seed of Avraham Your beloved, the children of Yitzchak who was bound upon the mizbe’ach, and the children of Yaakov Your wholehearted servant.

In their merit, hasten our Geulah speedily. Amen.

A few of the entries in the original scrape are plainly incidental search hits—for example tattoos, clothing colors, Kiddush Levanah, a levayah, etc.—where the word תכלת happened to occur, rather than actual Techeiles/tzitzis questions. I kept those too so this remains a translation of the scraped collection rather than quietly filtering the source.