Musar על במדבר 15:39

The fourth principle is pain in [his] actions, as it is stated (Joel 2:12), "'Yet even now' - says the Lord - 'Turn back to Me with all your hearts, and with fasting, weeping, and lamenting." And they, may their memory be blessed, said (Yerushalmi Berakhot 1:4), "The heart and the eyes are the two intermediaries of sin." And so is it written (Numbers 15:39), "and you shall not go astray after your hearts and after your eyes." Hence with this will the sin of the intermediaries be atoned - with the measure of repentance according to the measure of the affliction. For the iniquity of the heart is atoned by its bitterness and sighing - with the brokenness with which it is broken, as it is stated (Isaiah 57:16), "when spirits in front of Me cover themselves." And it is [also] written (Psalms 51:19), "God, You will not despise a contrite and crushed heart." And the parable about this is from the [impure] vessels - when they are broken, they are purified, as it is stated (Leviticus 11:35), "an oven or stove shall be smashed." And the iniquity of the eyes is atoned by tears, as it is stated (Psalms 119:136), "My eyes shed streams of water, because they do not obey Your Torah ." It does not state, "because I do not obey Your Torah," but rather states, "they do not obey"; since they were what caused the sin - therefore, I shed streams of waters.

To what may this be compared? To one whose house is full of mud and mire. Even if he will bring into his house the finest golden vessels, it will not be beautified thereby. He must first remove the mud and mire and then bring in the vessels. And so is it in our instance. The Jew has been given the power through his cleaving to Torah and mitzvoth to root in his soul the holiness of the L-rd, as it is written (Bamidbar 35:34): "I, the L-rd, dwell in the midst of Israel." But when is this? When he does not allow the yetzer to reside there through his false ideas or filthy thoughts. And this is the intent of "And you shall not go astray after your hearts and after your eyes, after which you stray." (That is, [this will occur] only if you guard yourselves in the future against your straying). "so that you remember and do all of My mitzvoth, etc." That is, if you are careful not to go astray, as mentioned above, the great result will follow that through the doing of the mitzvoth you will be holy to the L-rd. (As the Men of the Great Assembly have formulated for the blessing over a mitzvah: "who sanctified us with His mitzvoth." ["so that" refers to "and you will be holy" (i.e., "so that, in remembering and doing My mitzvoth, you will be holy to your G-d")]. But if, G-d forbid, you do go astray, the mitzvoth will not avail for your becoming holy. And this is the prophet's intent in (Jeremiah 4:3): "Plow for yourselves a furrow and do not sow upon thorns." Happy is he who reflects upon this. It will be good for him in this world and in the next.

But still, one should not despair, even one for whom it is difficult to cleanse his thoughts and to entirely remove lewd thoughts from his heart. For if so, even His mitzvoth and his Torah would not avail to sanctify his soul, and how would he ever attain his end? But the major element here is Chazal's formula: "If one comes to cleanse himself he is helped [by Heaven]." And if he desires with his whole heart to remove lewd thoughts from it, he will certainly be aided by Heaven to do this, and he must not, G-d forbid, nullify any mitzvah or Torah, even though his thoughts are not entirely pure. In this connection Chazal have said (Pesachim 50b): "Let one always occupy himself with Torah and mitzvoth, even lo lishmah [not for the sake of Heaven], for from lo lishmah, lishmah [for the sake of Heaven] will follow." That is, the holiness of the Torah and the mitzvah will help him, so that it will be in his power to do and to learn for the sake of Heaven, too. And this is what is alluded to in the above verse itself. For, in the beginning it is written (Bamidbar 15:39): "And you will remember all the mitzvoth of the L-rd and you will do them." "the mitzvoth of the L-rd," implying for the sake of the L-rd, is written only in respect to remembering, but not in respect to doing, his not yet having attained purity of thought in the doing of the mitzvoth. In any event, the doing of these acts will bring him to remove the [impure] thoughts of the heart and to overcome his lusts, after which he will reach the level of (Ibid. 40): "and you will do all of My mitzvoth," the doing, too, being exclusively for the sake of the L-rd; and this will bring him to the level of holiness— "and you will be holy." However, all of this obtains only with one who comes to purify himself and strengthens himself to remove the lewd thoughts and to keep himself from [the gratification of] his lusts. (Only) then does "He who comes to purify himself" obtain.]

The commandment of ציצית fulfills a similar function. It is directed to all four directions of the globe, and the total numerical value of the word, adding the eight threads of the actual fringes plus the five knots we tie when attaching them to the garment, give us a total of 613, i.e. reminds us of all the commandments of the Torah. They also act as reminder of the Celestial Regions, a reminder of the soul which originates immediately beneath the "throne of G–d." Our sages in Chullin 89, have phrased it thus: "The blue wool resembles the ocean, the ocean resembles the colour of the sky, the sky resembles the purity of the sapphire, and the sapphire resembles the throne of G–d." We find therefore that this commandment is an instrument designed to refine the non-material, spiritual part of man, his נפש. The two prohibitions then are designed to prevent mental and physical excesses, to ensure that the Jew has a pure mind and body.

I have come, further, to awaken ourselves to [the significance of] something we say every day in the section of tzitzith (Bamidbar 15:39): "And you shall see it, and you shall remember all the mitzvoth of the L-rd." Our Rabbis of blessed memory have said concerning this (Menachoth 43b): "Seeing leads to remembering and remembering leads to doing." But when is this of avail? When he studies and knows the mitzvoth but is afraid that he might forget them. Tzitzith avails for this, that he will remember them and not forget them, and, as a matter of course, he will come to fulfill them. But if he does not know the mitzvoth, how will tzitzith avail him? Therefore, it is very desirable that one learn all of the book, Mitzvoth Hashem, or, at least, Kitzur Sefer Charedim which is included in Zichru Torath Mosheh of the Chayeh Adam. He will thereby know the mitzvoth and will fulfill correctly the mitzvah of tzitzith.

“So that you do not follow your heart and your eyes” (Numbers 15:39). We were warned with this not to think to do a transgression (or upon any) [or any] prohibition or sin - like the matter that is stated (Proverbs 24:8), “He who thinks to do evil” - and not to think about words of heresy, lest one stumble and be drawn after them. And when he places upon his heart that God, may He be blessed, examines the heart and investigates the kidneys (understood as the seat of wisdom), how can he dare to defile his heart and [have] a ruffian matter lodged upon it? And King Solomon, peace be upon him, said (Proverbs 24:9), “The schemes of folly are sin.” He also said (Proverbs 6:16-18), “Six things the Lord hates; seven are an abomination to His soul: [...] A mind that hatches evil plots.”

And many are also ensnared and trapped in profaning their glorious senses - the sense of seeing and the sense of hearing. And it is stated about the sense of seeing (Numbers 15:39), “so that you do not follow your heart and eyes.” We were commanded with this that a man should not stare at a married woman or at other sexual prohibitions, lest he be ensnared by them.

Commandment 387 is not to follow the inclination of one's eyes or heart, since the Torah commands in 15,39: "so that you do not follow the inclinations of your eyes or your heart which you are in the habit of following after. This prohibition concerns our not adopting attitudes that are at variance with Torah principles. Once one concentrates on such ideas, one easily errs in one's practice also. The moment one feels persuaded by such alien ideas one must desist from pursuing them, and change back to contemplate what Torah views are on the subject matter concerned. It amounts to a warning not to pursue desires that are of a transient nature if fulfilled and which are bound to lead one to an unhappy end. This is what our sages had in mind when they said that the meaning of the words "after your hearts," is not to pursue heresy. The meaning of "after your eyes" is not to indulge in sexual licentiousness (Berachot 12b). We have an allusion to this when the book of Judges 14,3, says of Samson "he said to his father: "take this one for me for she is good in my eyes."

The objective of these commandments is to refine body and soul, and the purpose of that refinement is to establish, or better re-establish a close relationship with one's roots, ראשית. Since we have traversed many stages, ספירות, from the original roots, ראשית, this is a difficult task. Nonetheless as the Torah testifies in Deut. 4,4, it can be done, and it confers a superior quality of life on one. דבקות can be defined as the return of the branch to the stem, to the root. However far removed one has been from the source, the Torah exhorts us never to forget our roots, i.e.: וזכרת כי ה' אלוקיך הוא הנותן לך כח לעשות חיל. "You shall remember that it is the Lord your G–d who gives you strength to do valiantly." (Deut. 8,18). The fact that the מצוה of ציצית also features the exhortation וזכרתם, "you shall remember," demonstrates that a similar purpose underlies that commandment. When we follow accepted methods of exegesis, we have both the similar sounding words, i.e. גזרה שוה, present in those two מצות, as well as the references to לדורותיכם, "throughout your generations," which, when applied to former generations, is similar in meaning to ראשית, beginning, or root. The thrust of all this is to remind us that ultimately all our capabilities are rooted in G–d.

Therefore, I say that according to the strength of the soul and according to its sweetness, will the power of thought be seen. And if thought inclines to lofty things, then the acts which come from its power will incline towards piety and righteousness, and the acts of the five senses which we have mentioned will be drawn towards righteousness and piety. These five senses are like channels or arteries through which the blood courses to quench the thirst of all the limbs of the body. Similarly, the emotions are channels through which the powers of thought flow in order to quench the thirst of the soul. Concerning this, it is said: (Numbers 15:39), “And that ye go not about after your own heart and your own eyes.” And so did our Sages, of blessed memory, say in the first chapter of the Jerusalem Talmud, “The heart and the eye are two agents of sin, and when evil deeds are mingled in the soul, they corrupt its acts until they turn away from their regimen.” Just as extraneous juices corrupt the structure of the body, so do evil thoughts corrupt the function of the soul. The functions of the soul are knowledge, intelligence, speech, humility, fear and hope, and other good qualities. But when evil lust is mingled with the soul, it destroys all of these good qualities; just as extraneous juices destroy the structure of the body, so does the mixture of lust destroy the work of the soul. Therefore, we must heal the sickness in the same way as we heal the body—just as the sickness which comes from mixtures of the humors needs at the very beginning medicines that will cleanse and purify the wound from within so that the medicine from outside will be of value. For if you should give to the patient a medicament or an ointment or a bandage and the wound is still clearly discernible, the medicament will be of no advantage. It will only unite with the extraneous juices and increase the damage, as it is written (Exodus 1:10), “… and they also will join themselves unto our enemies.” Moreover, what can healing do from the outside when the enemy lurks in ambush from within. He spoils that which you would correct, and between the onslaught of both of them, the body perishes. Therefore, it is necessary to cleanse the body, and when the body is clean, the medicine will be effective. Just as with a soiled curtain—if you want to dye it, the dye will not be fast because of the stains. But if you wash it well it becomes clean. Then, according to its cleanliness, it will receive the dye well. So it is with the soul. When we wash away from it the taints of an evil thought and the lust which stains, then the power of repentance will cleave to it like to a garment which has been washed. And on this subject, King Solomon, peace be unto him, said (Ecclesiastes 9:8), “Let thy garments be always white.” By this, he means cleanliness of the heart, which is to say that your intention at all times should be that your heart be pure, and then you will be able to receive good deeds. So did the prophet say concerning repentance (Isaiah 55:7), “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the man of iniquity his thoughts, and let him return unto the Lord, and He will have compassion upon him.”

To return to our main subject: that imperfections in this world are reflected by disturbances of the harmony in the Celestial Regions. The dislocation experienced by Jacob in his thigh joint had its impact in the "higher" world. If the episode foreshadows the destruction of the terrestrial Temple, it also foreshadows the negative vibes of that event felt in Heaven. Our sages state that the מצוה of ציצית alludes to all 613 commandments visually by means of the blue thread which symbolizes the sea, which in turn symbolizes the sky which in turn symbolizes the throne of G–d (Jerusalem Talmud Berachot 1, 2 on Numbers 15, 39). Our sages also hint that the examples quoted allude to three distinctions Israel acquired as a result of its cleaving to G–d. Jacob achieved these distinctions first and Israel later on.

We hold that the first and foremost of the senses is that of the eye, since its position with regard to the body is like that of the sun to the universe.¹Cf. Horovitz (p. 138, note 140). It is a sense which never fails to perceive an object without (the lapse of) time, i.e., its perception of that which is near to it is as quick as its perception of that which is far from it; nor does any time elapse between its perception of the near and its perception of the far,²Cf. Kaufmann ("Sinne," pp. 117, 118, note 55, and p. 120, note 61), and Horovitz. (p. 13;. note 1.4.1). as is the case with the other senses. The eye alights upon its objects of perception as long as it is open.³Horovitz (p. 139, note 143). Therefore, sleep is impossible unless it be closed. How wondrous is the saying of a philosopher with regard to the sense of the eye!" The soul has spiritual tints, which sometimes become apparent in the motion of the eyelid."⁴Platonic doctrine. Cf. Horovitz (p. 139. note 142), and Dukes ("Phil.," p. 78, note i). Again he said, "Keep watch over the sense of sight: verily it may lead to various kinds of wrong: by some of its motions it may testify to your (having) pride and haughtiness, and by others to your possession of meekness and humility.¹Platonic Dukes (pp. 97, 98) shows the thought, "Humility dwells in the eye," to be Aristotelian. Cf. "Ethics," i. 3, where two maxims of Aristotle are quoted in the paragraph, which restates the thesis, that pride and meekness are closely related to the sense of sight. Therefore, compel it to make the very best movements and restrain it from the most ignoble." "Furthermore," he said, "social intercourse does not exist for the pleasure of the eye, but the enjoyment of the mind." The learned man will understand this saying. How beautiful is the agreement of this utterance with the word of God, exalted and magnified be He (Num. xv. 39), "Do ye not seek after your own heart and your own eyes."

The former two entice the mind and draw it towards ulterior motives, like an adulterous wife who, while still married to her husband, takes other men. Ulterior thoughts are referred to as "lewdness of the heart", as written: "and you shall not stray after your hearts and after your eyes which you go after promiscuously (Zonim)" (Bamidbar 15:39). For the heart strays from the whole aspiration which it should have bonded to, and turns instead to the worthless and imaginary falsehood.

They do not realize that even while a bit of these things may be needed for sinners engaged in repentance and some for those who practice Separation (Perushim), but piety is not founded on these matters at all. Only the good of these practices are fit to accompany Piety.

This is the way this matter is explained in the book Ma'asseh Hashem on Deut. 7,17: "When you will say: "these nations are very numerous, how can I possibly drive them out?" G–d's answer was: "Do not be afraid of them" (verse 18), meaning that when you have these doubts and fears, what is meant is that if G–d were not to be on your side, you would have ample reason to think in those terms. When you rely on G–d, you will be fearless. If, however, you ascribe your success to your own efforts and prowess, then you will become very frightened when facing such people in battle. The word כי at the beginning of verse 17, is quite clear then and Rashi would not need to trouble himself to explain it as meaning "maybe." At any rate, this was G–d's purpose in authorising the despatch of the spies and His hope of strengthening the Jewish people's belief in Him. Moses, of course, had every reason to agree then. This is the reason that both G–d and Moses employ the term ויתורו as describing the function of the spies. This word is usually used when there is a concensus between the heart and the mind. An example is the last pragraph in the קריאת שמע, where we are warned לא תתורו אחרי לבבכם "not to follow your hearts."

Memory is a very lofty quality and it is an instrument that strengthens all the commandments and all the Torah. Concerning the fringes, it is said, "And remember all the commandments of the Lord and do them … that ye may remember and do all My commandments" (Num. 15:39-40). Concerning the tefillin, it is said, "And it shall be for a sign upon thee upon thy hand, and for a memorial between thine eyes, that the law of the Lord may be in thy mouth" (Ex. 13:9). And it is written, "And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in Egypt; and thou shalt observe and do these statutes (Deut. 16:12).

We have completed our brief list of the things a man ought to remember always. But everyone should continue to meditate on these according to his wisdom, and he will learn from them all sorts of good and pure qualities, and these will cleanse the soul and will beautify its ugliness. Be ever alert to remember them, and this will bring out in you a superior strength you never knew before. And a man is obligated to keep all of these thoughts in mind constantly, at every hour, at every moment. And he should be careful to remember them with his every breath so that he may never lose his awe and fear and shame before God, who looks upon him at all times. Go forth and learn from what the Torah warned the king to do, as it is written, … "that he shall write him a copy of this law in a book, out of that which is before the priests the Levites. And it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life" (Deut. 17:18-19). And it is written, "This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth, but thou shalt meditate therein day and night" (Josh. 1:8). And it is written, "And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be upon thy heart; and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thy house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thy hand, and they shall be for frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the door-posts of thy house, and upon thy gates" (Deut. 6:6—9). And he has emphasized this matter in connection with the fringes, for it is written, "And it shall be unto you for a fringe, that ye may look upon it, and remember all the commandments of the Lord, and do them" (Num. 15:39—40). And according to this it is proper to remember God at every moment. And it is written, "Let thy garments be always white" (Eccl. 9:8).

You should know that remembering leads one to right action, as it is written, "and remember… and do" (Num. 15:39). Therefore be very careful in exercising the quality of remembering, and with respect to every single precept remember for Whose sake you perform it, and Who is the Master of your work.

The fourth principle in repentance is the sorrow and the pain caused by the actual doing of the deeds of repentance. Thus far we have spoken about the pain and sorrow of the heart, but this concerns the pain and the sorrow of the repentant act itself, as it is said, "Yet even now, saith the Lord, turn ye unto Me with all your heart, and with fasting and with weeping, and with lamentation" (Joel 2:12). And a man must show the signs of pain and sorrow in his garments, for example, to put on sackcloth, as it is said, "For this gird you with sackcloth, lament and wail" (Jer. 4:8). And as it is said, "But let them be covered with sackcloth, both man and beast" (Jonah 3:8). And he must remove his lovely garments from him and he must reduce his pleasures, in the kinds of food he eats and in his drink and in strolling about. And our Sages said, "The heart and the eyes are the two agents of sin" (T.P. Berakoth 1:8). And thus is it written, "And that ye go not about after your own heart and your own eyes" (Num. 15:39). Therefore only in this way can the sin brought about by these agents be atoned for : the sin of the agent of the heart, by bitterness and pain, and the wrong of the agent of the eyes, by tears. As it is said, "Mine eyes run down with rivers of water, because they observe not Thy law" (Ps. 119:136). It is not said, "because I observe not," but "because they observe not." The plural form refers to the eyes, that spied out to explore sin, therefore have I caused rivers of water to descend from my eyes. When he weeps over his sins, he should say, "May my tears quench the wrath of your anger and may my repentant deeds turn away your anger from me, and let my table, which I have not set because of my sorrow, be considered as an altar arranged for sacrifice, and the pot which I did not place upon the coals, as fire burning upon Thy altar. And may the lack of my blood, the diminution resulting from fasting, atone as the blood which is offered on the corners of the altar. And may the lessening of my fat be as the fat which is offered from the sacrifices, and the sound of my weeping as the psalms of the poets, and the aroma of my soul's hunger as the aroma of the incense, and the weakness of my limbs as the cutting of portions for the sacrifice, and may my broken heart tear the books in which my sins are recorded. And may the change of my good garments for garments of mourning be as acceptable to you as are the garments of the priesthood, and my restraint from washing (because of my sorow)as though I had sanctified my hands and feet, and may my repentance restore me to Thee, for I am truly remorseful for the evil of my deeds that I did and I shall not return to do evil before Thee.

And of these twenty-four things which impede repentance, five have to do with one who has no inclination to repent, because they are things that are unimportant in the eyes of most people. Consequently, the person sins but it appears to him as though he had not sinned. And these are the things : He who eats of a meal that does not suffice for its owners. For example, a man enters the house of a poor man, and the poor man prepares very much food for his guest, not out of the willingness of his heart but because he is ashamed to invite his guest to partake of little. And the visitor does not think that he has sinned in this, because he thinks that he is eating with the permission of the master of the house, and not against his real will. And he who uses an object which has been given to him in pledge by a poor man, even if it is only an axe or a plow, and he says in his heart, "I did not take anything away from them; I did not rob." And he who looks upon indecent acts, for the one who gazes thinks in his heart that there is nothing evil in this, saying "Did I participate in this act, or did I draw near to it?" And he does not know that even looking at lewness with the eye is a great sin, for it leads a person to violate the laws of chastity, as it is said, "That ye go not about after your own heart and your own eyes" (Num. 15:39). And he who obtains honor through the shame of his companion. He says in his heart that he has not sinned because his companion is not in his presence, and therefore the shameful deed really did not effect his companion and that he did not in fact shame him, but that he has merely evaluated his own good deeds, his wisdom, and his keenness higher than the deeds, the wisdom and the keenness of his companion. But in the eyes of the one who hears his words, he will be the honored one, and his companion the shamed one. And he who suspects the innocent. He says in his heart that that is no sin, for he says, "What did I do to him? I did not do anything to him; it was just a mere suspicion." He does not know that this is a great sin, to picture an innocent person in his own mind as though he were a sinful man.

Accordingly, if one is not heedful in his lifetime of his faculty of sight, and permits himself to gaze at what the Torah forbade, he should know with certainty that in time to come he will be like a blind man, unable to gaze upon the light of the L-rd, just as one who is sick in his eyes cannot see by the light of his soul. And the degree of the injury to his eyes is proportional to the degree of his [self-abandonment].

The reason that the Torah reports the quarrel of Korach immediately after having taught us the laws about ציצית is explained by Rashi, who says that ציצית teaches the unity of G–d, His existence, and that He created the world ex nihilo. It also teaches that the origin of Torah is in Heaven, that it is not man made. It teaches that there is a system of reward and punishment which operates in this world. Concerning ציצית the Torah says in Numbers 15,39: "when you see Him i.e. אותו, etc." There are eight threads above the blue thread and eight threads below the blue thread which is threaded through the corner of the garment. [4 threads on each corner of the 4- cornered garment, before the threads are bent double. Ed.] Subsequently we attach five knots, each one being a double knot making a total of ten. Thus we arrive at a total of sixteen threads and ten knots, the numerical value of the Ineffable Name of G–d. This name teaches that He is, was, and will be, and that He is the Cause of all Existence.

The matter that all Rabbis are agreed on is that there are a total of 248 positive and 365 negative commandments. Midrash Tanchuma sees an allusion to this in the numerical value of the word ציצית when combined with the 8 threads and 5 knots that are part of that commandment. Since the Torah uses that commandment as an example of remembering all the commandments, the number 613 seems appropriately mentioned (compare Numbers 15,39 and Tanchuma on that verse). At the end of tractate Makkot folio 23, Nedarim 25, as well as in numerous other places in the Talmud, in the Zohar and other ancient sources, this number is unequivocally accepted by all scholars as the correct number of positive and negative commandments respectively. If the codifiers of the 613 commandments display slight variations from one another in their method of counting these commandments, this only reflects differences that existed already in Mishnaic times.

He prayed for the דבקות to become manifest already before the conquest of the land of Canaan. As long as Israel carries out G–d's wishes this affinity exists, and the name of G–d as well as the throne of G–d is complete. When Israel sinned with the golden calf, one of the four supports of G–d's throne, i.e. the פני השור, "slipped," causing G–d's throne and His name to become impaired. As long as Israel carry out G–d's desires, they are the carriers of the Presence of G–d, they serve as the throne. As long as such a situation continues they are called אדם, i.e. they represent the פני אדם mentioned in Ezekiel's vision as one of the four carriers of G–d's throne (Ezekiel 1,10). The study of the Torah is one leg of the four legs supporting G–d's throne, the one called פני השור. This is based on ורב תבואות בכח השור (Proverbs 14,4). Our sages have said that one should apply oneself to Torah study as an ox applies himself to the yoke (Avodah Zarah 5). When it comes to the practical performance of what is written in the Torah one should behave like a lion and an eagle, as we know from Rabbi Yehudah ben Teyma in Avot 5,20. The Rabbi refers to the sharp eye possessed by the eagle and the courage possessed by the lion, a function of the heart. The Torah itself warns us not to allow our eyes and our hearts to make us stray from the path of Torah (Numbers 15,39), evidence that these two organs are of prime importance in carrying out G–d's commandments. Should Israel fail to live up to these obligations, also these two legs of G–d's throne would collapse.

In this connection I find the words of Rabbi Yitzchak Arama, the author of עקדת יצחק, most astonishing. The author of this book [chapter 90, see my translation. Ed.] questions how the Torah can command us to remember something at all; after all, man is subject to lapses of memory, and therefore such a commandment is beyond his control to observe! How can the Torah command us to perform acts beyond our control? Torah precepts involving vision do not apply to the blind because they cannot see, neither do Torah precepts involving hearing apply to the deaf since they cannot hear! The same rule should apply to precepts involving memory. Rabbi Arama answers this question saying that every remembrance has been preceded by an actual happening. It is the happening which triggers one's memory, and therefore the Torah is entitled to command us to use our memory. He quotes as an example the remembrance of the Sabbath legislation in the Kiddush. The mere fact that one observes the commandment of שמירת שבת, abstains from work, etc., acts as a memory jogger. It is therefore not true to say that the Torah commands only our memory. When we put on the phylacteries, that very act helps us to remember what the phylacteries stand for, as demanded by the Torah (Deut. 6,8); the same is true when we wear the ציצית, another commandment which the Torah has linked to memory (Numbers 15,39-40). The sages of the Great Assembly acted in consonance with this principle when they wanted to insure that the miracle which occurred in the days of Mordechai and Esther should be commemorated for all times. Since the Torah had not fixed a specific day for remembering Amalek, they decided to anchor this remembrance by some easily recognisable act and they instituted the reading of פרשת זכור in conjunction with the holiday of Purim. As long as the commandment was not connected with the anniversary of an anti-Jewish act committed by a descendant of Amalek, the commandment itself was in danger of being forgotten. According to the explanation by the Baal Akeydah the question is why the sages of the Great Assembly did not arrange to have the reading of פרשת זכור after Purim, after we had all remembered what the evil Haman had planned?