גר”א (ר’ אליהו בן שלומה בן זלמן, 1720-1797 ווילנא) … ואמר ח”י קשרים כו’ מכאן דאף בי”ג חוליין רק ה’ קשרים והוא בד’ חוליין קשר א’ וזאת קשר האחרון והוא שמא די”ב בחוליין ג”פ ד’ בחיות ושבטים ותקופות וכיוצא וכן בכל קשר בכריכות וז”ש והפוחת ב’ חוליות לכל קשר לבן ותכלת. ומ”ש וצריך לקשור על כו’ היינו בפוחת אבל צריך לעשות לכתחילה כהמוסיף כמ”ש כאן וקאי אחוליות ולא אכריכות כפירוש ראשון שבתוס’
The Gra (Rabbi Eliyahu ben Shlomo Zalman, 1720–1797, Vilna) writes: “…and it says eighteen knots, etc. From here we see that even when there are thirteen chulyot, there are only five knots. There is one knot for every four chulyot, with the exception of the final knot. This corresponds to the concept of twelve, with the chulyot arranged as three groups of four, similar to the chayot, and the tribes, the seasons, and the like. The same pattern applies to the wraps within each knot. This is what is meant by the statement that one who minimizes makes two chulyot for each knot, one white and one Tekhelet. And when it says that one must tie upon etc., that refers to one who minimizes. Ideally, however, one should follow the arrangement of one who adds, as explained here. The discussion refers to the chulyot, and not to the individual wraps, unlike the first explanation in Tosafot.”
1. A “single knot” is made by taking the four strings on one side of the tzitzit and the four strings on the other side and tying them together with a simple knot.
2. A white chulya is made by wrapping one white string around the other seven strings three times. The longer string, commonly called the shamash, is generally used for this wrapping, and the same string can then be used for the remaining white chulyot as well, although there is no halachic requirement to continue using the same string.
3. A Tekhelet chulya is made in the same manner as a white one, except that a Tekhelet string is used for the wrapping.
