This parsha could be called a “cornucopia of mitzvot” (commandments). Here we find laws against the mixing of wool and linen, oxen and donkeys. Here are stipulations regarding war captives, rebellious children, missing animals, compassion for birds, safety precautions, and much more.

Each mitzvah by itself could spawn endless discussions (and has in fact done so). So, we might as well focus on one mitzvah in particular: “You shall make yourself tassels on the four corners of the garment with which you cover yourself” (Deuteronomy 22:12). These tassels are sometimes called fringes.

In the musical Oklahoma!, there is a song called “The Surrey with the Fringe on the Top”—a surrey being a kind of horse-drawn carriage. The fringes in that song were a luxury addition to show off the owner’s wealth. But in this parsha, we’ll learn about “The Garment with the Fringe on the Bottom” which was the opposite: a designation of servanthood rather than wealth.

The tassels (or fringes) mentioned here are better known from Numbers, where they are called tzitzit, the term used today. In Deuteronomy, however, they are called gedilim. For all practical purposes, the words refer to the same thing: the tassels that hang from the tallit, the prayer shawl. I still have my grandfather’s tallit in its blue tallit bag, of course with the tzitzit as well.

Tzitzit would bring to mind the commandments of the Torah.

It’s worth noting the commandment as it appears in Number 15:38–39, for unlike Deuteronomy, Numbers give a reason for the tassels:

Speak to the people of Israel, and tell them to make tassels [tzitzit] on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and to put a cord of blue on the tassel of each corner. And it shall be a tassel for you to look at and remember all the commandments of the LORD, to do them, not to follow after your own heart and your own eyes, which you are inclined to whore after.

Here, the rationale is that the tzitzit will bring to mind the mitzvot of the Torah. Perhaps their unusual and vivid appearance was purposeful—bright blue fringes around our robes couldn’t help but remind us of some of the most important things.

Covenant

In reminding Israel of the commandments, the tzitzit really spoke to Israel of who they were—a community in covenant with God. The tzitzit might be attached to a garment or a prayer shawl, but in essence they were more important than the actual piece of clothing. In modern terms, they might be likened to the emblem on a sweatshirt or stadium jacket; the importance lies not in the actual piece of clothing, but in the slogan or school emblem it carries. So it is with the tzitzit.

Kingship

We see another meaning of the tzitzit in its colors: white cords with one blue strand, as described in Numbers 15:38: “put a cord of blue on the tassel of each corner.” In Scripture, blue and white can be the colors of royalty, as we see in Esther 1:6 and 8:15:

Then Mordecai went out from the presence of the king in royal robes of blue and white, with a great golden crown and a robe of fine linen and purple. (Esther 8:15, emphasis added)

Blue was also one of the colors used in contexts suggestive of God’s kingship. Blue was to cover the ark and other tabernacle objects whenever they were moved, and it was also used with the curtains of the tabernacle where God dwelt enthroned between the cherubim.

The material of the tzitzit symbolized royalty and holiness.

Then they shall put on it a covering of goatskin and spread on top of that a cloth all of blue, and shall put in its poles. (Numbers 4:6)

You shall make a veil of blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen. It shall be made with cherubim skillfully worked into it. (Exodus 26:31)

Holiness

While the color symbolized royalty, the fabric of the fringed garment stood for priestly holiness. According to Deuteronomy 22:11 and Leviticus 19:19, the common Israelite was forbidden to wear a garment of mixed wool and linen, a combination called sha’atnez. The reason, not stated in the text, is apparently because the priestly garments were made of that blend (the “thread” that is not designated as linen below is wool).

They shall make the ephod of gold and blue and purple and scarlet thread, and fine linen thread. (Exodus 28:6)

And a sash of fine linen and blue and purple and scarlet thread woven as the LORD had commanded Moses. (Exodus 39:29)

Although sha’atnez was a holy combination, that did not mean that the wearer became more spiritual. It simply marked the wearer as being separated for God’s service. Early rabbinic sources, perhaps reflecting the still earlier biblical practice, taught that the tzitzit were made of this very combination of wool and linen. The blue cord was wool, the other threads, linen. In other words, for this purpose only, the common Israelite would wear a garment like that of the priests.

To this day the national colors of the state of Israel are blue and white, as seen on the Israeli flag.

This brings us back to the tzitzit as a reminder of God’s commandments and the covenant made with Israel at Mount Sinai. There, we read:

Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. (Exodus 19:5–6)

Here the ideas of kingship and priesthood are combined. God is the king; in his kingdom, all Israel are priests, mediating between God and the nations of the world.

According to one writer,

One of the prominent noblemen of Jerusalem in the generation preceding the destruction of the Second Temple was named Ben Tzitzit … he was called so because his tzitzit were so long that they would be dragged along on top of pillows and blankets wherever he went. The way I understand it, this means that he was considered so prominent, that wherever he went, he had an entourage that brought along the ancient equivalent of a red carpet, so that his extra-long tzitzit would not drag along the floor.¹

Ben Tzitzit literally means, “son of the tzitzit,” in the sense that the tzitzit were what characterized him. In modern times, we might have nicknamed him in English as “Mr. Fringe” or even “Fringey”!

Healing and Authority

Interestingly, tzitzit is mentioned in the New Testament as well. Jesus spoke against those who “do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries [tefillin] broad and their fringes [tzitzit] long” (Matthew 23:5).

Jesus himself wore tzitzit. He was not opposed to what, after all, was a mitzvah of the Torah. But he was not happy with people who, perhaps like Ben Tzizit (who seems to have been Jesus’ contemporary), made a show of theirs.

It seems that many infirm people wanted to touch Jesus’ tzitzit:

Behold, a woman who had suffered from a discharge of blood for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his garment … And instantly the woman was made well. (Matthew 9:20, 22)

[They] implored him that they might only touch the fringe of his garment. And as many as touched it were made well. (Matthew 14:36)

Wherever he came, in villages, cities, or countryside, they laid the sick in the marketplaces and implored him that they might touch even the fringe of his garment. And as many as touched it were made well. (Mark 6:56)

Those who connected with Jesus experienced who he was: the Great Physician.

There was apparently another significance to the tzitzit: they designated authority. In 1 Samuel 24, David refused to kill Saul, who was pursuing David to the death. Instead, David only took a piece of his clothing—where we are to suppose the tassels were. When David spared Saul’s life that day in the cave at En Gedi, he cut off the corner of Saul’s robe, symbolically demonstrating that Saul’s authority would be cut off. This is seen in Saul’s response:

Now, behold, I know that you shall surely be king, and that the kingdom of Israel shall be established in your hand. (1 Samuel 24:20)

This takes us back to the people who in their sickness wanted only to touch Jesus’ tzitzit. The hem or edge of a garment, with its fringes, stood for the wearer’s authority. The bleeding woman believed that if she could only touch the tzitzit of Jesus’ garment, she would experience the power of his person and authority. Her act was not a matter of superstition, but a silent cry for Jesus to grant her his personal attention and healing. Jesus allowed those who “connected” with him by touch to experience who he was: the Great Physician.

Parsha Ki Teitzei shows us that when a person wears tzitzit, they are also wearing many reminders. Covenant and commandments, identity, authority, and healing—that is a lot to pack into some blue and white threads!

Endnotes

1 “Shelach: Growing the Fringes (Part 1/2),” Ohr Somayach, accessed July 25, 2026.