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Tekhelet



Tekhelet (Hebrew תכלת) is a colour die which the Tanakh commands the Jews to wear use for one, more or all of the fringes on Tzitzit, a Jewish religious garment worn at all times by religious Jews: "Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them, that they shall make themselves fringes [tzitzit] on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and they shall put on the corner fringe a blue [tekhelet] thread" (Numbers 15:38).

According to the Talmud, tekhelet which appears 48 times in the Tanakh is a specific dye of blue produced from a creature referred to as a chilazon, other blue dyes being unacceptable (Tosefta). At some point in Jewish history, the source of the dye was lost and since then, Jews have worn plain white tzitziyot without any dyes. Some explain the black stripes found on many traditional prayer shawls as representing the loss of this dye.

In remembrance of the commandment to use the tekhelet dye, it became common for Jews to have blue or purple stripes on their tallit. The tekhelet die was used for making the Tabernacle: "Moreover you shall make the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine twisted linen, and blue [tekhelet] and purple and scarlet" (Exodus 26:1).

It was what inspired the Zionist movement's design for the flag of Israel.