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Ever since I saw my father zt’l washing his Tzitzit, I have washed my own. Please understand; my siblings and I would battle each other for the merit of serving our parents and cleaning for them. The only things we were willing to just stand back and observe was my father preparing my mother’s Shabbat candles and his loading the car for one of our long trips from Toronto to Baltimore with all the items we carried downstairs: He was magically able to fit everything into the trunk. It was unbearable to stand and watch either of our parents wash a dish or load the dishwasher. So, the second I saw my father standing over the sink and scrubbing his Tzitzit, I ran to do it for him, but he wouldn’t let me. It was his way of honoring and beautifying the Mitzvah. He told me that keeping his Tzitzit clean was part of fulfilling the concept of “Beautiful Tzitzit.” “Why would I allow someone else to do it for me?” I got the message and have been washing my Tzitzit ever since. I rejoiced when Neatzit were invented; comfortable cotton Tzitzit that can go in the washing machine. I only use threads that I spun many years ago, so I untie the strings from my new Tzitzit and tie my strings, of which I have no more. I have to be very careful with the strings. No problem: There are pockets on each corner in which to stuff the strings so they don’t get tangled up. You can put them in the washing machine and they come out beautifully…at least in theory. My strings never stay in the pocket. So, I decided to use a lingerie bag. Didn’t work. I tie them up with a rubber band, but they still get all tangled. The final straw was when I took my Tzitzit out of the washing machine and they were rusty brown; dirtier than when I put them to wash. It seems that a water main broke and colored the water and my Tzitzit. I mentioned my problem to a friend and he suggested that I should not be using the washing machine; “If the point is to act as did your father; you should still be washing them by hand!” He got it wrong! The point is not to act as did my father, but to be actively involved in beautifying my Tzitzit, something I learned from my father. However, I still have to wonder whether using the washing machine is the same as washing by hand. It’s not enough to spend extra money buying the “best” Tzitzit; we have to actively make them beautiful, including the way we wash them.
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