Benjamin ties his own Tzit Tzit

We made a video of me helping Benjamin, 5 years old at the time, tie his tzit tzit.  He made all four of them and we had a fun time doing it.

Numbers 15:37-41 says, Again the LORD (Yhwh) spoke to Moses, saying,"Speak to the children of Israel:  Tell them to make tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and to put a blue thread in the tassels of the corners.  And you shall have the tassel, that you may look upon it and remember all the commandments of the LORD (Yhwh) and do them, and that you may not follow the harlotry to which your own heart and your own eyes are inclined, and that you may remember and do all My commandments, and be holy for your God.  I am the LORD (Yhwh) your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God:  I am the LORD (Yhwh) your God."
Because the Bible doesn't give us specific instructions on how to make our tassels (in Hebrew it's tzit tzit, singular and tzitziot plural), I believe we are free to be creative as long as they have a blue thread.  Here is how Benjamin made his:
Cut 3 threads of any color 24 inches long.  Cut a blue thread 30 inches long.  The longer blue thread should be even with the other threads at one end.  Make a loop about an inch and a half long in the top (this can be braided) and tie a square knot.  Take the longer blue thread and wrap it around the others ones.  Benjamin wrapped it 10, 5, 6, and 5 times with a square knot between each set.  These numbers correspond to the letters of the Hebrew alphabet that spell God's name, Yhwh, Yod, Hey, Vav, Hey.  Instead of just wrapping the threads, you can make the longer blue thread even with itself and then tie macrame half knots.  This causes the blue thread to make a cool spiral.  If you do that, make your blue thread a little longer, about 32 inches.  After he finished all four tassels, Benjamin cut the ends so they were even.
I like to think of tzitziot as God's version of WWJD (What Would Jesus Do) bracelets.  The New Testament refers to Jesus wearing them and God Himself tells us to wear them to remind us to do what He wants us to.


The song in the background was written and sung by David Martin, Davidsinstrumentsofpraise.com
It's taken from Psalms 119:165-166.

Shalom Have They Which Love Thy Torah

Shalom have they which love Thy Torah
Nothing shall offend them at all
Yahuwah I have longed for Thy Yeshua (salvation)
And done Thy Mitsvah!  (Commandment)

Yeshua, Yeshua, He is our hope
Yeshua, Yeshua, He is our joy
And in Him does rest
All our hope of redemption!

Benjamin turns 6

We had fun celebrating Benjamin's 6th birthday.  My baby boy is growing up!  

The kids decorated with paper airplanes

I don't even think they knew he was getting an airplane for his birthday... 

The next 3 shots are of Benjamin dunking in the freezing cold, glacier fed lake!!!

 

 
Benjamin is an incredible little man.  He's full of life and joy and he truly wants to please Yhwh. He ties his own tzitziot and he understands that they are to remind him to love Jesus and obey His commands.  He is our expert on which animals are clean and unclean :)

If you get our post emailed to you, you might have missed the fact that we posted a video of us putting up our salmon.  (My mom missed it).  It didn't show up in the email.  You have to click on it from our blog page or click on this link.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=-mXd8l0K7lA
Enjoy! we had a lot of fun making it.

Putting up Salmon

Every year during the month of July the Red Sockeye Salmon stream past the lake in front of our home.  They were born here four to eight years ago and left to make their way to the Pacific Ocean.  When they are full grown they swim through Bristol Bay, up the Kvijack River into Lake Iliamna, then up the Newhalen River and into Six Mile Lake where we live.  The fish that make it past the thousands of fisherman trying to catch them find the spot they were born and lay their eggs and then they die.  Up until that point they are silver on the outside and their meat is a deep red. Before they die they turn a deep red and their meat turns almost white.  They are one of the healthiest things you can eat and we praise Yhwh for his provision for us.

Getting the jars ready for the salmon

Sometimes we put our net out right in front of our house and sometimes we take it a ways down the river.

Abigail gutting the salmon

Everyone helps as we catch and process the salmon.

Deborah cutting the salmon to fit them into jars.

The seagulls eat well during the salmon run

The fishbox keeps the salmon nice and cold as we process them.

We (mostly Abigail) put together some video clips so you can see all the fun we had catching and processing our salmon this year.  Enjoy!

Some Pictures

One wasn't enough.

Benjamin

Sarah and Hazel being goofy.

Crazy Kids

Joshua

Sarah and Anna

:-)