Roiteh bendel, pronounced ROYtih BENdil, is
Yiddish for "red string". This traditional
Jewish segulah, or
talisman, consists of a thin red string worn tied around one's left wrist. The string can be worn all the time, but is considered especially neccessary for
vulnerable people or at vulnerable, celebratory times- i.e. when things are good, and one is afraid of change for the worse. So, the string is most commonly worn by babies,
bar mitzvah boys, and brides and grooms.
This
superstition may have arisen from the
Bible's description of both
Esau and
David as having red,
ruddy complexion. The string functions to ward off the
Ayin Harah,
Hebrew for "
evil eye", a sinister
force that can be transmitted by jealous
neighbors as well as
spiritual beings. It has been suggested by
Rabbi Nachman of Breslov that the red string serves firstly to "absorb" any evil eye within the
immediate environment, the evil eye being the typical weapon used by Esau, and secondly to remind the wearer to emulate David and only look at others with a
good eye.
The
roiteh bendel is only considered efficacious if it has been cut from a larger string or rope which has been carried 7 times around
Rachel's Tomb, outside of
Bethlehem in
Israel. Rachel is traditionally regarded as a maternal protector of the exiled Jews; this depiction first arises in
Jeremiah 31:15, "A voice was heard in
Ramah, wailing and loud
lamentation;
Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be consoled, because they were no more." These strings are sold for about 25 cents within Israel. Outside of Israel, where there is never any
verification that the strings have even been near Rachel's tomb, they can go for $20. Bogus and not so bogus Jewish
charities often give out roiteh bendels to their
contributors, much the same way that
public television stations give out tote bags.