Yeshivat Noam middle school held a father-son tzizit making event for Tzahal on the morning of Jan 1, and invited the entire community to join them. The event was a huge success raising money to sponsor over 300 pairs of tzizit and the boys/men involved were able to knot over 70 pairs of tzizit on the spot. Fathers and son pairs joined brothers, grandparents and grandsons, and in some cases three generations sat together making tzizit for the chayalim.
One event participant remarked, “You never know, who will wear these tzizit we are making and where they will go. I was just imagining soldiers jumping off planes, defending a border, saving a life, protecting Am Yisrael, wearing these tzizit. When I saw the completed tzizit stacked on the table, I envisioned them being filled with the giborim of the Jewish nation.”
Another observed, that “This activity essentially required parents/grandparents to be fully present with their child/children. You had to stay focused on the mitzvah at hand and work together until it was done. There was almost no parent-to-parent socializing, and instead the room was quiet with Jewish music playing in the background and an amazing parent/child connection that formed which made the event extraordinary.”
Another commented, “Since my son had already learned last year how to make tzizit with his rebbe at Yeshivat Noam, quite possibly for the first time ever, I sat there learning from my son instead of the other way around and I kvelled from seeing his care and patience at this task.”
One grandparent said, “If my father could have seen this, yeshiva kids in America spending their time on New Year’s Day making tzizit for Israeli soldiers, he would have never believed it.”