The night before everyone was due to arrive, we sat down to finish off the two handmade prayers shawls. This is known as "Tying the Tzitzit". Using the special kosher strings I had bought in Phoenix, we separated the strands and tied the knots in the prescribed manner.
The hardest part was to get the strings through the four corners. Using a bobby pin to secure the threads, we poked and prodded until we could get four strings through each of the four corner holes.
We were all very thankful for the awesome video I found online at "Jewish Pathways", that helped us to understand what we were doing.
I guess the use of the internet as our "cyber coach" to tying the tzitzit, allowed us to merge an age old religious tradition with modern technology.
Joshua said the appropriate hebrew prayer as we tied each knot. It was a very magical and sacred moment for all of us.
We started with my mom's prayer shawl first. Each of us taking a corner to work on. Once mom's was complete, we moved on to mine. Within an hour, the two prayer shawls were complete and ready to go.
