The Tzitzit of Harmony

At the end of this week's parshah, we learn about the commandment to wear Tzizit (fringes) at the edges of our (four-cornered) garments. The paragraph that describes the commandment is the very same paragraph that we recite twice daily (morning and night) in our prayers in the section of the "Shema". Wearing Tzitzit is a crucial and fundamental commandment to the Jewish people, and through this commandment we are meant to "remember all the commandments of Hashem (God) and perform them" (Numbers: 15: 39). In order to understand the commandment on a deeper level it will be necessary to see the paragraph in its entirety; the Torah writes:

"And Hashem (God) spoke unto Moses, saying: 'Speak unto the children of Israel, and say to them that they are to make themselves Tzitzit on the corners of their garments, throughout their generations, and that they put with the Tzitzit of each corner a thread of tcheiles (a type of turquoise color). And it shall constitue Tzitzit for you, that you may see it, and remember all the commandments of Hashem, and perform them; and that you not explore after your heart and your eyes, after which you stray; So that you may remember and perform all My commandments, and be holy to your God. I am Hashem your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God; I am Hashem your God.' "[Numbers: 15: 37 – 41]

There are a few core questions that come to mind when observing these verses: In the verse "And Hashem (God) spoke unto Moses, saying", the last word "saying" seems, at first, superfluous. However, this kind of sentence occurs very often in the Torah and the Rabbis have explained that the extra "saying" implies that Moses is meant to repeat it (what God is about to tell him) to the Jewish people. If this is so, then the sentence that follows "Speak unto the children of Israel, and say to them" is definitely superfluous. If we have already established, from the first verse, that Moses is meant to convey this over to the Jewish people, why the need to repeat it!? The paragraph should have started out as something like "And Hashem (God) spoke unto Moses, saying: The children of Israel are to make themselves Tzitzit…' "! From the way the Torah has presented it, it seems that Moses is meant to tell this commandment to the Jewish people twice! Why is that necessary!?

There are two more sentences that appear repetitive as well (as highlighted in bold). The paragraph mentions the idea of "remembering and performing the commandments of Hashem" twice. Why? And in the final sentence, God says "I am Hashem your God" twice as well. Again, why? From the fact that all our questions concern redundancy, there seems to be an underlying theme in the commandment of Tzitzit: duplicity. What is the nature of this duplicity?

Ideally, there is meant to be two types of Jew: The majority of Jews fall into the category that is engaged in pursuing a career and making a living; we can call this the "worldly" Jew. The other, less frequent, kind of Jew is the one that has dedicated his life entirely to studying Torah and clinging to God; we can call this the "Torah" Jew. Looking back on our first question, Moses indeed was meant to convey the commandment of Tzitzit twice! The commandment of Tzitzit was meant to be directed to the two different types of Jew!

To the "wordly" Jew, Hashem commanded that they " remember all the commandments of Hashem, and perform them; and that you not explore after your heart and your eyes, after which you stray". Because this type of Jew must go out of the confines of his Jewish home and environment into the work force, he is most likely to become exposed to the corruption and materialistic desires of the secular world. It is this Jew that requires the special warning of "that you not explore after your heart and your eyes, after which you stray" in order to follow God's commandments. Furthermore, when God tells this Jew that "I am Hashem, your God", he is also reminded that God "brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God". Because the "worldly" Jew is in danger of becoming attached to immorality, God reminds him of the immorality of Egypt from which he was rescued. By remembering the spiritual bonds and wickedness of Egypt, the "worldly" Jew will avoid the danger of "exploring after his heart and eyes".

The "Torah" Jew, however, is told to "remember and perform all My commandments, and be holy to your God". Unlike the "worldly" Jew, the "Torah" Jew stays within the walls of his Jewish neighborhood and strives to spend his hours in the houses of Jewish study and prayer. To him, the caution of "not exploring after the heart and eyes" is less likely to apply. Because his lifestyle seeks to come closer to God, he is told that, through keeping the commandments, he will become "holy to your God". (*please see footnote*)

This idea is not only expressed in the verses that pertain to the commandment of Tzitzit, but it is also expressed in the actual Tzitzit themselves! The Tzitzit are composed of two types of string; the more common white string (there are 7 of them), and the less common turquoise string (there is only one of them). Although there are two different types of string, the Torah nevertheless uses the "singular" terminology for Tzitzit ("Tzitzit" is really translated as "fringe" in the singular; "fringes" in the plural would be "Tzitziyot" in Hebrew)

Getting back to our idea; the more common white string represents the more common "worldly" Jew, while the less common turquoise string represents the less common "Torah" Jew. Throughout Jewish history, there has and will inevitably exist this branching of "worldly" and "Torah" Jew. But despite these differences, there is undoubtedly an obligation amongst us, as Jewish people, to fuse together and intertwine these two strings into one harmonious string of unity.

(Inspired by a teaching from Naftali Tzvi Yehudah Berlin of Volozhin, 1817 - 1893)

Good Shabbos,

NZL


*It is a common teaching amongst the sages that the beginning and end of the Torah parshah are related to one another. Since the commandment of Tzitzit is at the end of our parshah, they must relate in some fashion to the opening topic of our parshah: the sin of the spies. I believe the sin of the spies demonstrates how each type of Jew ("worldly" and "Torah") are in danger of falling into sin.

To the "worldly" Jew, the sin of the spies shows what can happen when one leaves the confines of his Jewish surroundings. The spies left the Jewish encampment in the desert to spy out the land of Israel, and because they were distanced from their Jewish homes and families they were more susceptible to the dangers of confusion and dullness of heart, which eventually led them to sin. To the "Torah" Jew, the sin of the spies shows how men of such immense righteousness and grandeur (as the Rabbis explain; the spies were the most righteous individuals from each tribe), who have completely dedicated their lives to serving God, can still fall prey to sin as well.

There is yet another connection; the only spies who didn't sin were Yehoshua and Calev. I believe that Yehoshua and Calev represent the "worldly" and "Torah" Jew. If one is interested in this, please email me.