As Rabbi Scheinerman explains in her website, http://www.scheinerman.net/judaism, there are a number of explanations for why the fringes, the tzitzit, are tied with 7, 8, 11, and then 13 winds between a series of double knots:

Each set of windings corresponds to one of the four letters in God's name.

The numbers 7-8-11-13 each have special meaning: 7+8=15, which in Hebrew is written yod-hay, the first two letters of God's name (the Tetragrammaton); 11=vav+hay, the third and fourth letters of God's name. Hence the first three windings "spell" God's holy name. Thirteen, the last set of windings, is equivalent in value to the word "echad" which means "one." Hence, all four windings can be interpreted to say, "God is one."

The first three numbers, added together, equal 26, which is numerically equivalent to the Tetragrammaton and the remaining number, 13, is equivalent to "echad" ("one). Hence the windings tell us that God is One. If we take the sum of the first three numbers (7+8+11)
and equate that with God's Name, then the 13 which remain can also be interpreted to reflect the 13 attributes of God, as articulated by Moses Maimonides and set to verse in
the Yigdal.

The Gematria value of the word "Tzitzit" (tzadi-yod-tzitzit-yod-taf) is 600. To this we add the eight strands plus the five knots, totaling 613 in all. According to tradition, God gave us 613 mitzvot (commandments) in the Torah. Just looking at the tallit with its Tzitzit, therefore, reminds us of the commandments, as the Torah says, "You should see them and remember all God's commandments and do them."

Regardless, the fringes remind us of our faith to God. Handwoven tallises are a beautiful way to remember that commitment. Return to the tallis page.