הלכה על במדבר 15:39

And this principle is very subtle in its understanding. And I will explain the nature of its subtlety: It is understood concerning everything about which the Sages, may their memory be blessed, said, "X and y impede one another" - like the four species of the lulav - that it is one commandment. Likewise the bread of display and the pure frankincense that is made with it - as their words about this are (Menachot 27a), "The bread of display and the bowls (of frankincense) impede one another." So it is clear that it is one commandment. Likewise anything about which it is understood that the desired outcome is not accomplished by one of the parts - it is then understood that their combination is the matter that is counted. This is like recognition of someone with tsaraat; as it is understood by you that were his clothes rent, but he did not leave his head bare, and he did not cover over his upper lip and he did not call out, "Impure, impure" - he will not have done anything. For his recognition will not be accomplished until he does all of them. And likewise is his purification not accomplished without all that is mentioned about the birds, the cedar wood, the fabric dyed scarlet and the shaving. However the point of difficulty is in the things about which they said, "They do not impede one another." For one would have thought that since each one of these parts do not require their counterpart, each one would be a separate commandment. As with their saying (Menachot 38a), "The blue-purple (tekhelet) is not impeded by the white, and the white is not impeded by the blue-purple" - it would have been possible for us to say that the white and the blue-purple be counted as two commandments. This is if we had not found a clear statement [otherwise] from them in the Mekhilta of Rabbi Yishmael. It says there, "It is possible that they are two commandments, the commandment of the white and the commandment of the blue-purple. [Hence] we learn to say (Numbers 15:39), 'That shall be your tzitzit (fringes)' - it is one commandment and not two commandments." So it has been already made clear to you that even parts that do not impede one another sometimes constitute one commandment - when their content is singular. For the intention of the tzitzit, is "in order that you should remember" (Numbers 15:40). If so - that the principle of the required thing is the remembering - it is counted as one commandment. Behold that it follows that in the count of the commandments, we may not look at their saying, it impedes or it does not impede - but rather only at the content. Is the content singular or is it multiple? [This is] as we explained in the ninth principle of these principles that we are trying to elucidate.

And so that it will not be difficult for a person to learn all the mitzvos he did at once, I advised to study half of them on Monday of the week and half of them on Thursday of the week, and he will do every week and week, And then he will do the same in the Levin, learning half of them on Monday of the week and half of them on the Thursday of the week, until later on all the Levin will have to live in his mouth who should be wary of them. And whenever you come across one of these commandments he will remember Cayman, and as the sages said about the verse (in the wilderness of Tu, Let): "And you saw him and remembered all the commandments of God and did

Who Is Obligated in ציצית. Containing 3 Se'ifim:
Even though [the verse] states "And you shall look upon it" (Numbers 15:39), a blind man is [still] obligated in ציצית since the [verse] of "that you cover with" (Deuteronomy 22:12) comes to include [a blind man]. And the verse of "And you shall look upon it" is needed to exclude a nighttime garment.

The Time of ציצית. Containing 3 Se'ifim:
Night is not the time of tsitsit, because [the obligation is] limited by [the verse] "and you shall see it" (Numbers 15:39). According to the Rambam, anything that is worn at night is exempt, even if it is designated for daytime use, and that which is worn in the day is required [to have ציצית], even if it is designated for nighttime use. And according to the Rosh, a garment which is designated for nighttime is exempt, even if it is worn in the day, and a garment designated for daytime, or both day and nighttime, is required [to have ציצית] even if it is worn at night. Rem"a: And a doubt regarding blessings is ruled leniently - therefore one shouldn't make a blessing on it unless it is worn in the daytime and it is designated for daytime (Hagahot Maimoni). And after the evening prayers, even if it is still day, one shouldn't say the blessing on it (Piskei Mahar"i, 121). And on the night of Yom Kippur one should put on the garment while it is still day and say the blessing on it (Tashbetz).

Twenty-four things interfere with repentance.¹Maimonides, Hilkhoth Teshuvah, 4:1. These are they: (1) gossiping evil, (2) slandering, (3) anger, (4) thinking evil, (5) fraternizing with the wicked, (6) eating at a table a meal that does not even suffice for the host, (7) staring at lewdness, (8) dividing spoils with a thief, (9) saying, “I will sin and the Day of Atonement will atone,” (10) disregarding one’s teachers, (11) cursing the community, (12) withholding the community from performing a meritorious deed is also included in this sin, (13) deflecting one’s friend from a meritorious deed to an act of transgression, (14) making use of the poor man’s pledge, (15) accepting bribes to pervert the law, (16) finding a lost object and not announcing it publicly so that it can be returned to its rightful owners, (17) seeing one’s son going out to a bad environment and not reprimanding him, (18) eating the plunder of the poor and widows, (19) separating oneself from the community, (20) transgressing the words of the sages, (21) honoring oneself at the expense of a friend’s disgrace, (22) suspecting the innocent, (23) despising reproof, (24) scorning the commandments. All these twenty-four things withhold repentance. Repentance is not withheld if he has repented of them,²Repented of the twenty-four items listed here. for he is then a penitent and has a share in the world to come.
And these things are differentiated in their various aspects. They are not all equal in punishment or with regard to repentance. There are aspects of them that close the path of repentance before their doers: “One who separates himself from the path of the community,” that at the time that they do penance he will not be with them, and he will not share with them in the good deeds that they perform; “One who contests the words of the sages,” because argument causes him to separate from them and he does not know repentance; “one who disregards his teachers,” because this causes him to be banished from the world, and in the time that he is being driven from the world he will not find a teacher to show him the path of truth;³Joseph Albo, Sefer ha-Ikkarim (Book of Principles), ed. Isaac Husik (5 Vols.; Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1946), I, 99. “One who mocks the commandments,” since they are despised in his eyes he will never pursue them, will not love them and will not perform them; “One who abhors reproof,” since he despises his reprover he will never find a reprover to lead him in the good path. Reproofs cause repentance, for at the time that they let the man know of his sin and shame him he then regrets his actions⁴“His actions,” is the preferred reading. and returns (to God) in repentance. And so we find with Moses when he would admonish Israel he would remind them of all their transgressions, “Ye have been rebellious” (Deut. 9:7), in order to cause them to repent, and (in this manner) all of the prophets reproved Israel. Therefore it is necessary to set up in each and all of Israel’s communities a person, an elder, wise and God-fearing from his youth onward and beloved to the people of his city, to reprove them and return them (to God) in repentance. And this one despises reproof and does not listen to his words therefore he will remain in his sins, which in his eyes are good. There are things which are great transgressions and him who does one of them the Holy One, blessed be He, does not let repent because of the gravity of his sin. These are they: one who leads the community astray and included in this perversity is one who restrains the community from performing a meritorious act; one who leads his neighbor from a good to an evil path, such as an instigator and seducer. One who sees his son conducting an evil life and does not reprimand him and his son is still in his care. For if he were to reprimand him, he would mend his ways; this is therefore tantamount to causing him to sin. Included in this perversion is each one who has the power to rebuke others, both the community and individuals, and has not done so;⁵Shabbath 54b. it is as though he placed the snare with his own hands; also he who says, “I will sin and repent,” “I will sin and the Day of Atonement will atone.” There are some things for which he who does them is unable to do complete penance, because they are between him and his fellowman; for example, when he does not know the person against whom he has sinned in order to ask for his forgiveness or, if he has stolen, to whom to make restitution. These⁶In the text, “he does not know” is lacking. are they :one who curses the community and has not cursed a specific individual, to be able to approach him, appease him and ask of him forgiveness; one who shares with a thief, because he does not know from whom the theft was taken because he⁷“The thief.” steals from all people and brings it to him and he accepts it therefore he doesn’t know to whom to make restitution, moreover, he strengthens the hands of the thief and causes him to sin; one who finds a lost object and does not proclaim it in order to return it to the owners, after a while when he does make penance he does not know to whom to return it; one who eats the loot taken from poor people, orphans and widows, these unfortunate people are not known and wander from city to city and there is no one that knows them to know to whom to return it; he who accepts a bribe to pervert justice, he does not know the extent of the perversion and what loss is involved in order to make a proper restitution moreover, he strengthens the hand of the pervert and causes him to sin.
These are very bad things and he who does them in all probability will not return (to God) because they are simple in the eyes of most people and it appears to them that it is no perversion but it is a decisive sin and perversion. These are they: one who eats at the table a meal that does not even suffice for the host, which is a great sin but he who eats thinks in his heart, “What is my sin, I ate only with his permission”; he who uses the pledge of the poor man, for instance he loans to the poor man on his ax and the creditor chops wood without the poor man’s permission and says, “What is my sin if I have chopped with it, he loses nothing thereby.”⁸Baba Metzia 82b. One who stares at lewdness, thinks in his heart, “What is my transgression, wherein is my sin, if I did look at my kinsman have I then fornicated with her?” He does not know or understand that he causes sin to the person involved, as it is written, “That ye go not about after your own heart and your own eyes after which ye used to go astray” (Num. 15:39). And in the book of Ben Sira he says, “Avert your eyes from a beautiful woman.”⁹Yebamoth 63b; Ben Sira 9:5.
The rabbis commented on the verse, “He shutteth his eyes from looking on evil” (Isa. 33:15), that he closes his eyes from looking at women.¹⁰Baba Bathra 57b. A woman’s leg is a sexual incitement.¹¹Berakoth 24a. The voice of a woman is indecency.¹²Ibid. As our sages have said, “He who stares at the small finger of a woman is as if staring at the pudenda.”¹³Ibid. They also have said, “Even at the colored clothing of a woman stretched out on the wall, if he recognizes the owner he is prohibited from looking.”¹⁴Abodah Zarah 20b.
He who honors himself through the shame of his neighbor says in his heart he is not sinning in that he does not embarrass him and did not bring him to his shame. In what manner does he do this? He compares his deeds with his neighbor’s wisdom, and his wisdom with the deeds of his friend, in order that it may appear therefrom that he is honored and his friend disgraced.
To him “who suspects the innocent,” it appears that he is not sinning, but he needs to learn from Moses, our teacher, who spoke evil and suspected the innocent in that he said, “But behold they will not believe me” (Exod. 4:1), (and) immediately he was stricken with leprosy.¹⁵Shabbath 97a. There are five things to which he who does them will remain addicted and from which he will find it difficult to separate himself. Therefore a man must beware of them and remove himself in order not to cleave to them, for they are extremely bad. And these are they: talking evil, going about tale-bearing, anger, thinking evil and associating with a wicked person because he learns from his ways, and they are marked in his heart, “ But the companion of fools shall smart for it” (Prov. 13:20).¹⁶Midrash Rabbah, ed. Soncino, Ecclesiastes, VIII, 80.

The laws of the commandment and its details are elucidated in many scattered places in the Gemara, such that they, may their memory be blessed, warned us about it, not to ponder thoughts of idolatry (i.e. Berakhot 12b); and they, may their memory be blessed, said that it is not only the thought of idolatry that is forbidden, but rather any thought that causes a person to uproot something from the Torah. And Scripture prohibited this explicitly, as it is written (Numbers 15:39), "and you shall not stray after your hearts." And they may their memories be blessed, said (Kiddushin 40a) that for Israel, the Holy One, blessed be He, does not consider a thought of sin to be like the act - except for the thought of idolatry, which is considered for a man to be like the act (see Mishneh Torah, Laws of Foreign Worship and Customs of the Nations 2).

The root of the commandment is revealed in the verse: It is in order that we always remember all of the commandments of God. And there is no better reminder in the world than carrying the seal of the Master on the clothes that one wears at all times, as a person is [always attentive] to his clothes. And this is what is stated in the verse (Numbers 15:39), "and you will recall all the commandments of the Lord." And they, may their memory be blessed, said (Midrash Tanchuma, Korach 12) that the word 'tsitsit' alludes to the six hundred and thirteen commandments (in the numerical equivalent of the letters) when combined with the eight strings of the fringes and their five knots. And my heart also tells me that there is a reminder and allusion here that the soul and body of man all belong to God, Blessed be He. As the white portion corresponds to the body which is from the land, which was made from the snow, which is white, as we find in Pirkei D'Rabbi Eliezer 3, "From where is the land from? From the snow that is under the Holy Throne.” And the threads [also] allude to the body, as the matter that they said, that the initial formation of a body is like threads. [It is] as they, may their memory be blessed, said (Niddah 25b), "Rabbi Amram said, 'The two thighs are like two strands of crimson, the two forearms are like two strands of crimson.'" The blue (tekhelet), the appearance of which, is like the appearance of the sky hints to the soul which is from the upper beings. And they hinted to this in their saying (Menachot 47b), "What [makes] tekhelet different than all other colors? Because tekhelet is like the sea, and the sea is like the sky, and the sky is like the Throne of Glory, as it is stated (Exodus 24:10), 'And they saw the God of Israel, etc.' and it states (Ezekiel 1:26), 'The Throne appeared as sapphire stone'" - and the souls of the righteous are stored underneath the Throne. And because of this, they said (Menachot 39a) that we wrap the string of tekhelet around the white, as the soul is above and the body below. They said that we make seven or thirteen windings [around the white strings] to allude to the heavens and the divisions between them. And it is as they said (Menachot 39a), "It is taught, 'One who wishes to do fewer should not do fewer than seven, nor should he add more than thirteen, corresponding to the seven heavens and the six air-spaces between them.'"

To not wander after the thoughts of the heart and the vision of the eyes: That we not wander after the thoughts of the heart and the vision of the eyes, as it is stated (Numbers 15:39), "Do not wander after your hearts and your eyes." The content of this negative commandment is that we were prevented from dedicating our thoughts to think about opinions that are antithetical to the ones on which the Torah is built, as that may lead one to apostasy. Rather, if the spirit to pursue these bad opinions should arise, one should minimize his thinking about them, and redouble his efforts to contemplate the true and good ways of the Torah. Similarly, one should not pursue the things he sees; and included in this is that we not pursue after the desires of this world, for in the end they are evil and 'there is much shame and wrath.' This is [the meaning of] what they, may their memory be blessed, said (Berakhot 12b), "'Do not stray after your hearts' refers to apostasy. 'After your eyes' refers to licentiousness, as it is stated (Judges 14:3), 'And Samson said to his father, "Take her for me, as she is right in my eyes."'"