Are Rambam tzitzit kosher?

We get a substantial number of orders for tzitzit (especially techelet) tied according to the Rambam, sometimes referred to as Yemenite tzitzit.

Recently a customer sent us the following remark:

Hi. I ordered a tzitzit from you with techelet tied Rambam style. A rabbi told me that it was not kosher because it didn't have 4 knots or something (I don't know much about the halacha of tzitzit). But it seems all Rambam strings are tied this way so I'm just wondering if you could as an expert explain to me how the Rambam style is kosher. Thanks

At first I was a bit peeved by the remark the rabbi mentioned above, but when I calmed down I realized that in the U.S. you are unlikely to ever see Rambam tzitzit tying.

 

The Gemara discusses how to tie tzitzit in Masechet Menachot, in a chapter called Hatchelet. It gives us several guidelines. Probably the most notable are the following:

1. The first and last windings must be white
2. There must be a minimum of seven chulyot and a maximum of thirteen.

A chulyah is usually understood to be a group of 3 windings.

The Rishonim interpret these guidelines in a number of different ways. Examples of many of them can be seen here.

Most of them do have five double knots (not four), but this is not mentioned in the Gemara. If you open up the Rambam (Hil. Tzitzit, 1, 6-8) you will see that he makes no mention of any double knots.

There are some Rishonim who say that one double knot is required by Torah law. Most hold that this is referring to the first double knot closest to the garment.

Can one rely on the Rambam? Many Yemenite Jews tie their tzitzit according to the Rambam (i.e. just like the ones we tied for you, except all white) to this day. In fact, I myself learned to tie Rambam by going to several Yemenite Jews in my neighborhood, who learned from their father. Some people claim that many of the traditions handed down by the Yemenites are the most faithful to the early masorah.

Rabbi Dov Lior holds that techelet should be tied according to the Rambam, regardless of whether you are Yemenite, Sephardic or Ashkenazi.