613

The fifth graders hand painted tallit for their shacharit service in June. Usually, one doesn't wear a prayer shawl until 13, but we make an exception for our fifth graders. After painting for an entire day, the kids are ready to tie the tzitzit - not an easy task unless you have four hands, so we have the parents come in to help. 4 strings are folded to make 8 which are tied into 5 knots. Every letter in the Hebrew alphabet has a numerical value and "tzitzit" has 600. Add the 8 strings and 5 knots and the number is 613 - which happens to equal the number of commandments in the Torah. Everyone is so proud of their handiwork and every year, I'm bittersweet. Making tallit is one of the last things we do together before they go off to middle school.