Vessel used for ritual hand-washing

The first ritual of the morning is to pour water over the right and left hands alternately three times, ideally using a two-handled vessel such as this, known as a keli (see discussion of Extract 16). The handles ensure that a clean hand does not touch a surface touched by an unwashed hand. Since people perform ritual hand-washing at various other times, such as before meals, after using the toilet, or on leaving a cemetery, twohandled hand-washing vessels are commonly available in Jewish homes and public places. They may be made from different materials, ranging from the luxurious (ornate engraved silver) to the rudimentary (plastic). This particular example, made in the 1990s by a Polish Jewish craftsman living in Israel, is hammered out of sheet brass.

The arba kanfot—the four-cornered undergarment

This lightweight poncho-like garment, known as arba kanfot, literally ‘four corners’, is worn to enable fulfilment of the biblical injunction to attach ‘fringes to the corners of your garments’ (Num. 15: 38), even though most garments no longer have four corners. Traditionally it is worn by males over the age of 3, either as an undergarment or, in some hasidic traditions, over the shirt, though today some women wear it too.

The most important element of this garment is the four fringes, or tsitsiyot. Most commonly, these are made by looping four thin woollen cords through a corner of the garment and knotting them twice. One longer cord is then bound seven times round the others, and all four knotted again. The cord is bound a further eight, eleven, and thirteen times, each group separated by a double knot, leaving the remainder of the eight cords free. The number symbolism is discussed in the context of Extracts 2–6.

This particular example, with black stripes similar to those on a talit (see Plate 3), is large enough for the fringes to be worn visibly, hanging outside the shirt and down each leg, even if the garment itself is concealed beneath the shirt. Some people wear smaller ones and keep the fringes inside their clothes. The garment and the blessing recited when putting it on are discussed in the context of Extract 2.