Hi sisters, I have to say, first, that I'm sorry that I have not had the time to take pics of the katans yet. I will have them for sure by Monday and post them up here.
Second, I am a firm believer that Tzitzit's are most definately meant for women, and that women must wear them, as it is a command for all generations. Since I've only been barely studying Hebraic roots for about 8 months now, and am still only touching the surface, I am doing what I can to be as obedient as I can, to everything that I learn about, as I learn it. And Tzitzit's were pretty much the first thing that I came across as I read through the Tanakh, that I learned was a command for all generations. At first, I believed it was for both men and women. I spent a couple of months trying so hard to figure out some sort of "outer garment" to wear them on, still wearing them on a vest, in the meantime. But then as the months went on, the more I spoke with Messianic believers, the more I learned that wearing Tzitzit's "was not a command for women". Well that through me for a loop, as you can imagine. People were telling me that they were a mens garment and that since I was wearing them I was an "abomination" to Yahweh because any woman who wears a mens garment, well, would be an abomination to Yahweh. (Deut 22:5). Ok so I went and got rid of all of the Tzitzit's that I had made, and got on my face, and cried out to Yahweh begging His forgiveness for being an abomination to Him. Well, I will tell you this, I've never felt the Ruach speak to me, as much as I did right then. I heard what I thought sounded like ben-eye. Ok well I thought, how weird is that?? So, I went on a google search, typing in the word phonetically, praying that He would lead me to what He was trying to show me. Well I spent a whole day digging through google, and I opened up the Complete Jewish Bible, the Strongs, the Treasure of Scripture Knowledge, the Hebrew Lexicon, the Greek Lexicon, the Hebrew Interlinear bible, the Greek Interlinear bible, and Bible Gateway and prayed for Ruach to open my eyes to this and lead me to His truth on the subject. After a days worth of studying, I came across so many scriptures. I will put in here what I learned.
In numbers 15:38-40 it says, "Speak to the (children) of Israel, tell them to make tassels on the corners of their garments. (It's in Deut 22:12 where I learned that it must be a four cornered outer garment.) Anyway, I went to the other books I had in front of me and saw that the word for (children) in Hebrew was Bni. BINGO! There was the word I heard in my head when I was apologizing! Well, from the Strongs I learned that this word has many meanings. It means children as in male (and/or) female, and also people as in group or nation. It also means son/grandson, or child, a member of a group or nation, young (as in animals), and a member of a guild, order or class. It even refers to lifeless things such as in sparks, stars, or arrows.
I want to show you both a few scriptures where this same word, (1121) is used. ok?
Exodus 31:13 "Speak thou, unto the (children) of Israel saying, 'verily my Sabbaths you shall keep, for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations , that you may know that I am Adonai that sanctifies you.
Do you see the similarities in this verse and the one about Tzitzit's? It uses the same word children as this does. If Tzitzti's were only meant for men, then so would keeping the Sabbath, would only be for men, and we know this isn't so, so it can't be so, for Tzitzit's either.
It is the Oral Law that tells us that Tzitzit wearing is only meant for men. It's from the Talmud, the Orthodox Jews who decided to expound on the Written Law, (as if Yahweh didn't do a good enough job with His own Written Law).
Here are a few other scriptures which use the same word, bni, 1121.
Exodus 29:45 "I will dwell among the (children) of Israel and will be their Elohim."
If this same word, children 1121 bni meant only for men, then this would mean that Elohim meant that He would only dwell among the men of Israel. Do you see it yet?
And in Leviticus 18:2 "Speak to the (children of Israel) and say to them, 'I am Adonai your Elohim' ". It would also mean that this verse is only meant for men.
All of the scriptures that I listed here, and there are more too, use the word "children". (the number 1121 in the Strongs, the letters bn in Hebrew. These are intended to address the "nation" of Israel as a whole, just like in Numbers 15:37-40 about the Tzitzit's.
If Yahweh wanted to refer specifically to men in the verse about Tzitzit's then dont you think that He would have used the Hebrew word for men? aner, Strong's G435. The use of this word is referred to in reference to a particular sex, so as to distinguish men from women. It also refers to age to distinguish between a man and a boy, or when mentioning something usually done by men and not women. The specific Strong's number when referring to women is 1135 and the Strong's number for the word Female is 5347. And there are many scriptures to prove those.
Back during the time of dispersion the Israelite s took on the styles of clothing of the heathen around them. The style of 'outer garment' used by the people in bible days was an outer cloak, which was a full wrap around garment that went down to the ground from the bottom of the front to the bottom of the back. (sorta just the way a katan is now but much longer). Somewhere during the 17th century, the Orthodox Jews initiated the command to wear Tzitzit's again, as it was lost during their disbursement. Instead of just wearing them on their outer garments, like Yahweh originally told them to do, they decided to come up with a garment that would be the same for everyone, and that they'd make it only for men. (P.S. it is in the Talmud where you read all of the 'extra' instructions and supposed "commands" from Yahweh that women aren't supposed to wear them. ) Anyway this outer garment that the Orthodox Jews came up with, that would be one for everyone, was the Tallit. They decided that it would only be meant for special prayer times, and only during Synagogue prayer. Well that's all wrong, and totally against Torah. In Tanakh you can see it so clearly, that Yahweh meant for the Tzitzit's to be on our outer garments 'with which we cover ourselves'. Speifically so that we will see them while we are awake and remember His commands.
Which brings me to another point. Do you really believe that Yahweh meant for only men to have to wear something that would remind them of His commands? I don't believe so. I believe He meant that everyone, including women, would have to have the Tzitzit's as daily reminders to keep His commands. He does tell us that we are a forgetful people, and that's the reason He wanted us to wear them, along with being separate from the heathens.
These garments, are meant to be a garment we use to cover ourselves, so in trying to keep to His command I tried and tried to find on the internet at least a katan that I could wear over my clothes, to hang my Tzitzit's on. I couldnt find any. I found one, a white and pink one, pretty too, but it was for girls and they didnt have any womans sizes. (most likely because the world has gone so far from Yahwehs true commands). Anyway since I couldnt find any for women I was led by Ruach to make them. So I did. Now I have a line of womens katans called 'Togs'. (Tzitzit Outer Garments). These garments are cute. They are meant to be worn as an outer garment. They are sorta like an apron, only they are waist length. They do look just like katans, a one piece rectangle with a neck hole in the center, so that they drape down the front and back.
I make the Tzitzit's 10-5-6-5. But I can make them the other way as well. I use either Satin thread or 100% cotton thread. All with a blue Techelet in them. I'm sorry I haven't had the chance to post pics yet, but I will get to that, by Monday.
Whew, ok, I've talked long enough.
Please post your thoughts. Anything you'd like to say, I'd like to hear.
Yeshua bless you.
Elishiva