Komentarz do Liczb 15:40

למען תזכרו, so that you would be free from thoughts of vain matters; once you are no longer concerned with the pursuit of the transient material allusions n this life, you will be receptive to the marvelous ways of the Torah, through the study of which you will come to recognise the greatness of the Creator and His amazing love for His creatures.

למען תזכרו ועשיתם את כל מצותי, “in order that you will remember and carry out all My commandments.” The Jerusalem Talmud Berachot 2,4, discussing the requirement to recite the קריאת שמע both mornings and evenings, explains that when reciting this verse the letter ז in the word תזכרו has to be drawn out somewhat when enunciated. The reason is to avoid that the word sounds like תשכרו, i.e. “you will secure compensation,” as one should not perform the commandments only in order to receive the reward promised (Avot,1,3). In this connection we may add that dwelling on that letter ז may also bring to mind the Torah which consists of 7 books (when we include the verses in Numbers 10,35-36 which were introduced by the inverted letters נ to show that the Book of Numbers are actually three books, giving us a total of seven Books of Moses). Seeing that the commandment of tzitzit is equal in moral weight to that of all the other commandments combined, such a thought when drawing out the letter ז is quite near at hand.
Another thought that may surface when we pronounce the letter ז in the word תזכרו as urged to do by the Jerusalem Talmud Berachot is that it conjures up thoughts of the שבת הגדול, the “great” Sabbath. The subject matter of the whole verse then is: “I have commanded you to perform this commandment involving the blue thread here on earth in order that corresponding to your activity on earth you will also remember that in the celestial regions there is an emanation which is part of the emanation הכל which is also known as the שבת הגדול. The words which follow, i.e. ועשיתם אותם, “and you will perform them,” mean that when you concentrate on these various meanings of the letter ז in the word תזכרו you will in effect be thinking of all the commandments.

V. 40. למען תוכרו וגו׳. V. 39 sprach von der durch den Anblick der Zizitfäden zu erzeugenden Erinnerung an Gott und an sein durch uns zu erfüllendes Gesetz. Diese Erinnerung selbst aber hat zum Zweck, למען תזכרו וגו׳, dass wir auch ohne dies Erinnerungsmittel von innen heraus der Gebote Gottes stets eingedenk bleiben und sie erfüllen. V. 39 ist das Zizitsymbol gegenwärtig und bringt uns die Gebote Gottes, des in dem Momente unserem Bewusstsein nicht gegenwärtigen, daher מצות ד׳, nicht מצותי, in Erinnerung. V. 40 setzt aber das Ziel, dass uns nicht das Symbol, sondern Gott in seiner besonderen Beziehung zu uns — אלקיכם ,מצותי — gegenwärtig sei, und also unser Inneres stets und ganz erfülle, dass wir im lebendigen Bewusstsein unserer Pflicht wandeln und handeln und mit unserem ganzen Wesen, mit allem unserem Sein und Wollen unserem Gotte rückhaltslos und einheitsvoll zu eigen, d. i. "heilig" werden. V. 39 sichert uns die Stufe als Mensch, V. 40 erhebt uns zu der Bestimmung als Jude.

, למען תזכרו ועשיתם את כל מצותי, “so that you will remember and carry out all My commandments, and not violate them.” This paragraph has been inserted next to the paragraph that dealt with the person collecting kindling on the Sabbath, so that you will remember what happened to that person for violating My commandment. After having witnessed this, the people might have thought: “how can we ever observe the laws of the Sabbath after having witnessed that this man was executed for a minor infraction?” At least when it comes to the observance of the festivals there are symbols on that day that remind us of the nature of it, but what distinguishes the Sabbath from the weekdays so that it could serve as a reminder? Therefore the Torah gave us the commandment of fringes as a symbol of clothing that would be worn on the Sabbath, although it would be inconvenient to wear such garment on weekdays when we have to go about our work. Our sages have formulated it thus: “anyone who does not wear a Tallit with fringes on the Sabbath is comparable to the person who collected kindling on the Sabbath. [This is a quote from Tossaphot, sages who were contemporaries of our author. Ed.]

ועשיתם את כל מצותיו, as a result you will perform all His commandments from both love and reverence for Him.

והייתם קדושים לאלוקיכם, “and then you will be holy for your G-d.” And who is this G-d of yours?

והייתם קדושים לאלוקיכם, as a corollary you will be holy unto your G’d, deserving eternal life as He had meant for you to qualify for when He had said in Exodus 19,6 that “you should become for Him a nation of priests and a holy people.”