The Hem of His Garment

Speak to the children of Israel, and instruct them they should make, through all their generations, Tzizityot[tzizityot is the plural form of the noun Tzizit] on the corners [KaN'Fey or KaNoF] of their garments, and to put with the Tzitzit on each corner a thread of blue. It is to be a Tzitzit for you to look at and thereby remember all of YHVH's commandments and obey them, so that you won't go around wherever your own heart and eyes lead you to prostitute yourselves; but it will help you remember and obey all My commandments and be holy for your God. Numbers 15:38

We find in the book of Luke 8:43-48, Yeshua was on His way to the house of Yairus. Yairus was the president of the synagogue and his daughter had fallen very ill, to the point of death. As the Great Rabbi was pressed in the crowd, he stopped and looked around and asked, “Who touched Me?” A woman, who had been suffering for twelve years with a continual hemorrhage of blood, fell at His feet and said, “I knew if I could just touch the Tzitzit of your garment, I would be healed.”

She had most likely heard her father and her husband recite the commandment about Tzizit many times.  She had also heard the rabbis read a passage from the prophet Mal'akhi. Mal'akhi the prophet had prophesied, “The Sun of Righteousness will arise with healing in His wings.” In looking at the word, corner in Hebrew, we find it has the same definition as wings. The Hebrew root word is KaNoF. We find the Apostle Sha'ul or Paul saying, "Faith comes by hearing, and hearing of the Word of God." Romans 10:17

In Matthew 23, Yeshua condemns the acts of some of the Pharisees. He starts by condemning for lengthening their Tzitzit and making their Tefillin [Phylacteries] broad. The Tzitziyot are meant as reminders to keep the commandments. Much the same as tying a red ribbon around your finger so that you won't forget and appointment. The Pharisees, however, felt that the Tzitziyot would be more effective if they were longer. But rather than doing it for a pure reason, they were lengthening the fringes only to be seen by men as “holier than thou”.

The way the Tzitziyot are tied in Orthodox Judaism is in four sections. The string is wrapped so many times between each section to equal a Hebrew number which is equivalent to a Hebrew letter. In mainstream Orthodoxy, this spells the Name of God in Hebrew YHVH. So, when the woman with the issue of blood reached out to touch the hem of His garment, she was in essence touching the Name of God, by faith in the Word of God.