Comentário sobre Números 15:39

That is that He commanded us to make tzitzit (fringes). And that is His, may He be exalted, saying, "to make for themselves fringes [...] let them attach to the fringe at each corner" (Numbers 15:38). And [the two colors of strings are] not counted as two commandments, even though the main understanding for us is that the blue-purple does not impede the white and the white does not impede the blue-purple. For it is said in the Sifrei, "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' - it is one commandment and not two commandments." And women are not obligated in it, as is explained in the first [chapter] of Kiddushin (Kiddushin 33b). And the regulations of this commandment were already explained in the fourth chapter of Menachot. (See Parashat Shelach; Mishneh Torah, Fringes 1.)

וזכרתם את כל מצות ה׳ AND YE SHALL REMEMBER ALL THE COMMANDMENTS OF THE LORD — The ציצית will remind one of all the commandments because the numerical value of the letters of the word ציצית is six hundred, and there are eight threads and five knots in the fringes, so that you have six hundred and thirteen, which is also the number of the commandments of the Torah.

Scripture states, and that ye go not after your own heart,²²²Verse 39 here. — And since Kol (All) is the all-inclusive attribute it therefore contains all the commandments of the Eternal, and hence the Rabbis have said that the commandment of Tzitzith is of equal importance to the total number of the commandments (Beiur Ha’lvush to Ricanti, quoting the text of Ramban). in order that one should take care concerning it and not err through it.²²⁵I.e., by “mutilating the shoots” of faith, and thereby undermining the principle of the Unity (Tziyoni). See further my Hebrew commentary, p. 254, and see also Vol. I, p. 155. It is for this reason that our Rabbis have interpreted:²²⁶Sifre, Shelach 115; Berachoth 12a. “After your own heart. This refers to scepticism. After which ye use to go astray. This refers to idolatry.” That is to say, through the t’cheileth he should not think [in his heart] of any scepticism or idolatry, but it shall all be unto you for ‘tzitzith’ — that ye may look upon it, and remember. The Rabbis have also said:²²⁶Sifre, Shelach 115; Berachoth 12a. “After your own eyes. This refers to immorality,” similar to that which is written, I am He that knoweth, and am witness, saith the Eternal.²²⁷Jeremiah 29:23. The student learned [in the mysteries of the Cabala] will understand.
In the Midrash of Rabbi Nechunya the son of Hakanah²²⁸Sefer Habahir, 96. it is stated with reference to the verse, and the profit of ‘eretz’ (earth) is ‘bakol’ (in all):²²⁹Ecclesiastes 5:8. “And what is the eretz? It is that from which the heavens were hewn, and it is the Throne of the Holy One, blessed be He, and it is ‘the precious stone,’ and ‘the sea of wisdom,’²³⁰These are Cabalistic synonyms for the all-inclusive attribute of Kol. — The Ma’or V’shamesh [a commentary by Shem Tob ben Gaon on the Cabalistic passages in Ramban’s commentary] continues, on this basis, to explain a basic law in the commandment of Tzitzith, namely, that it applies only at daytime and not at night. Thus he writes: “Hence [i.e., since the t’cheileth in the Fringes represents the all-inclusive attribute, and we are commanded to look upon it, and remember etc.] the commandment applies only at daytime and not at night, for at night physical features are indistinguishable and nothing can be seen in its entirety, while only at daytime the wholeness and perfect harmony of the t’cheileth can be seen and contemplated for its profound meaning].” and corresponding to it is the blue thread in a garment of Fringes, for Rabbi Meir has said: ‘Why was blue chosen? etc.’” [as quoted above].

'וראיתם אותו וזכרתם את כל מצות ה, you will be reminded that you are G’d’s servants whose commandments you have accepted reinforced by oaths known as אלה and שבועה. This reminder will be due to your looking at the “fringes” that may be viewed as if their king had placed a stamp on your bodies confirming that the wearer is one of his subjects.

והיה לכם לציצית, "And it shall be unto you as a fringe, etc." It is not quite clear what the words "it shall be a fringe" is meant to convey. Menachot 43, where the view of Rabbi Meir that the penalty for not fulfilling the commandment with the white fringes is greater than the penalty for not fulfilling the commandment with the blue thread is discussed, illustrates this as follows: "Imagine a king who commanded two servants to bring him a golden seal or a clay seal, respectively. Both of them failed to bring him either kind of seal. Which one of the servants will be punished more severely? Clearly, the one who received the instruction to bring a seal of clay will be punished more severely because that command was easy to fulfil. Tossaphot comment that the reason Rabbi Meir chose this parable as illustration for the commandment of ציצית is that one places one's' seal on slaves as a mark of ownership. When the Israelites wear fringes this is evidence that they are servants of the Lord. We have further proof of this in Shabbat 57 where a slave's chain is not permitted to be carried from one domain to another domain on the Sabbath. Thus far Tossaphot. The words והיה לכם לציצית mean that wearing the ציצית will be proof that you are the Lord's servants just as wearing a slave's chain would be proof of whose slaves you are.

והיה לכם לציצית, the string known as tzitzit serves to attract your visual attention. The word is used in a similar sense to Song of Songs 2,9 מציץ מן החרכים, “peering” through the lattices. I have found that Sifri on our verse explains the word in similar fashion, quoting above verse from Song of Songs.

The numerical value of tzitzis is 600. Re’m writes: It appears to me that Rashi’s explanation is according to the opinion that one expounds a verse according to the way the words are read. Here one reads ציצית as if it was written in full with two yuds (rather than ציצת as it is actually written).

V. 39. והיה לכם לציצת. Nachdem es bereits heißt: ונתנו על ,ועשו להם ציצת so muss der Begriff Zizit ,והיה לכם לציצת וגו׳ :und das Gesetz nun fortfährt ,ציצת וגו׳ sowohl die äußere Beschaffenheit der Darstellung als die Bestimmung dieser Fäden ausdrücken und diese Bestimmung durch וראיתם אתו usw. ihre Erfüllung erreichen (siehe unten). — וראיתם אתו setzt die Tageszeit, die Zeit der Wahrnehmung der Objekte vermittelst des Gesichtssinnes als die Zeit der Zizitpflicht voraus, פרט לכסות לילה (Menachot 43 a). Das Zizitgebot ist daher ein durch die Zeit bedingtes, מצות עשה שהזמן גרמה Frauenzimmer sind daher nicht zu diesem Gebote verpflichtet (daselbst siehe zu Wajikra S. 545). In dem Verständnis dieser Beschränkung der Zizitpflicht auf den Tag mit Ausschluss der Nacht gehen die Auffassungen auseinander. Nach רש׳׳י und רמב׳׳ם ist die Zeit entscheidend, am Tage ist selbst ein Nachtkleid pflichtig, nachts selbst ein Tagkleid frei. Nach ר׳׳ת und רא׳׳ש ist die Bestimmung des Kleides entscheidend, ein Nachtkleid ist selbst am Tage frei, ein Tagkleid selbst nachts pflichtig (siehe Tur א׳׳ח 18) Nach der rezipierten Halacha ist übrigens Zizit חובת גברא und nicht חובת טלית, d.h. die Pflicht tritt nur in dem Momente der Bekleidung ein, כלי קופסא, das Kleid im Schranke ist nicht pflichtig (Menachot 42a). Dagegen ist כסות סומא, das Kleid eines Blinden, pflichtig. וראיתם אתו setzt nur die Zeit der ראיה im allgemeinen voraus, bezeichnet nur die Tageszeit im allgemeinen, wenn auch der betreffende einzelne des Sehvermögens beraubt ist. ישנה בראיה אצל אחרים (Menachot 43a). Es ist aber die Zizitmizwa kein apodiktisches Gebot. Das Gesetz verpflichtet nicht, ein zizitpflichtiges Kleid zu tragen. Es knüpft die Pflicht an die Voraussetzung, dass wir uns mit einem zizitpflichtigen Gewande bekleiden, und erwartet, dass wir uns von selbst zu dieser Verpflichtung bringen (Menachot 41a; — siehe zu V. 38).

וראיתם אותו, “when you see it, etc.;” since being able to look at the tzitzit when you wear them is of the essence, garments worn only at night are not required to have such fringes attached to them. This is also why a blind person is not required to attach fringes to his garments. In other words, the commandment to look at the fringes is meant for people able to see them. (Menachot folio 43). If you look at the fringes with the proper concentration it is considered as if you looked at the throne of G–d, which is supposed to look like wool dyed blue. Rabbi Meir, in describing the difference between that tint of blue from all other colours, said it is because it is closest to the blue of the horizon, which by definition is a reminder of the heaven beyond it. He bases this on Exodus 24,10 as interpreted in the Talmud, tractate Menachot, folio 10, where the elders are described of having looked at a Divine apparition which they described as looking like bricks made of sapphire. The colour of a sapphire is supposed to be just like the colour of the horizon. The sequence of three verbs in our verse, i.e. “you will see,” “you will remember,” and “you will do, i.e. perform,” explains the importance of this commandment and how fulfilling it will stimulate our heart and eyes to be loyal to G–d.

'וזכרתם את כל מצות ה, “so that you will remember all the commandments of the Lord;” Rashi explains this line by pointing out that the numerical value of the word ציצית is 600; when you add the eight fringes and the five knots required to attach them in the traditional manner you have 613, the number of the commandments of the Torah. Seeing that the last three times the word ציצ(י)ת appears in this paragraph the letter י is missing, each time that word appears it reminds us of the number 613.

ולא תתרו אחרי לבבכם — The verb has the same meaning as in (Numbers 13:25), “and they returned from searching (מתור) the land”. (The translation therefore is: AND YE SHALL NOT SEARCH AFTER YOUR OWN HEART). The heart and the eyes are the “spies” of the body — they act as its agents for sinning: the eye sees, the heart covets and the body commits the sin (Midrash Tanchuma, Sh'lach 15; cf. Talmud Yerushalmi Berakhot 1:8).

This in turn will lead to your ceasing to follow the inclination of your hearts and eyes to indulge your diverse urges, originating in your bodies. Without these fringes as a constant reminder of your purpose on earth, you would be likely to fall prey to these urges inspired by the evil urge.

פתיל תכלת, our sages explained the reason for the blue colour as designed to remind the viewer of the blueness of the ocean, which in turn resembles the blueness of the sky reminding man of the throne of G’d’s glory situated in the celestial spheres.(compare Sifri on our verse).

And the eight threads … equal 613. Not that the Torah’s intent was so, because there are opinions that one can use sixteen threads. Similarly regarding the knots, though under Torah law one only needs one knot, one can make more [than five]. Rather it was the intention of the Rabbinic enactment that there be five knots, no more and no less, in order to complete the sum [of 613] such that there would be a greater remembrance of the mitzvos when one looked at the tzitzis and the knots. Thus Rashi explains the verse according to the situation after the enactment rather that before so.

וראיתם אתו, "and when you look at it, etc." When you look at the ציציות the symbol of your servitude to the Lord, you will remind yourselves that you are not totally free to do as you please in matters of food, clothing, etc., but you will remember all your duties, i.e. the commandments of the Torah.

וראיתם וגו׳. In dieser Wirkung erreichen die Fäden die Bestimmung, die für sie in dem vorangehenden והיה לכם לציצת ausgesprochen ist. Ihre Wahrnehmung soll ein Erinnerungsmittel an alle Gebote Gottes werden, und zwar ein solches, das den Entschluss zu deren Erfüllung erzeugt. ראיה מביאה לידי זכירה זכירה מביאה לידי מעשה (Menachot 43b).

'וזכרתם את כל מצות ה, “you will remember all of the Lord’s commandments;” Rashi points out that the numerical value of the letters in the word ציצית is 600, (he is aware that the word is spelled defective, with one letter י missing, so that it is really only 590.) The word appears three times in the paragraph, once with the prefix ל, the numerical value of which is 30, so that we may consider these three words as all having been spelled perfectly. I have also heard that the manner in which some people arrange the fringes are separated from one section to another with knots and ringlets around each section, each of a different number of ringlets amount to a total of 613, so that the wearer is constantly aware that he is clothed symbolically in the 613 commandments. The Talmud in Menachot folio 39 goes into all the details.

"And you shall see it [the tzitzit] and remember". That it was only made for recollection, and when you see it the mitzvah recalls and reminds you of the rest of the mitzvot. Because tzitzit are like a seal on the clothes that are made for a servant, a sign that he is serving his master. And when they see Israel remembers that they are servants to God and that it is incumbent upon them to perform all God's commandments. And the value of tzitzit is 600 in gematria, and there are eight threads and five knots [per fringe] -- behold, this is 613 like the 613 commandments. And when one sees it [the fringe], it reminds one of all the commandments, and gives God a symbol to signify that they are God's servants, and a sign on their clothing and a sign [on] their houses and they are called a "seal" on it, and tefillin on their heads and arms to signify that they are servants. For the four signs surround a person: brit milah in front of them, a mezuzah at their right, tefillin on their left, tzitzit on their clothing that are dragged on their clothing behind them as they walk.

ולא תתורו אחרי לבבכם ואחרי עיניכם, “and you must not go about after your hearts and after your eyes;” whenever you look at one of My commandments you are to remember that you are My servants and are not free to follow your inclinations when they deviate from My commandments.

This would eventually diminish the influence of your mind over your body to such an extent that it would lead to your premature death both in this world and in the hereafter.

ולא תתורו אחרי לבבכם, "and you will not deviate to follow the desires of your heart, etc." Normally, man employs his eyes to activate his desires. G'd's commandments frequently require us to do precisely the opposite of what we would like to do. This leads to an inner conflict in man. When we wear the fringes and are reminded to whom we owe obeisance, this makes it easier to comply with G'd's laws. If it were not for the commandment of ציצית we would often find it too hard to deny what our eyes have found alluring.

ולא תתורו וגו׳. Wir haben bereits zu Kap. 13, 2 gezeigt, wie תור mit subjektivem Zwecke ein Streben nach Erkenntnis der Dinge bezeichnet, insofern sie uns nützlich und förderlich zu werden vermögen. Die mit תור bezeichnete Geistestätigkeit sucht die Erkenntnis nach dem uns Guten und Nichtguten. לכב, das Herz bildet Wünsche, עינים die Augen suchen die Gegenstände für Befriedigung dieser Wünsche. Und zwar, sich selbst überlassen, bildet nur das eigene Ich mit allen seinen Bedürfnissen, Neigungen und Verlangen die Motive dieses wünschenden Herzens, und das Auge erkennt nur die sinnlichen Beziehungen der sinnlichen Welt. Im Dienste dieses wünschenden Herzens und erkennenden Auges wird das Urteil des Verstandes התר אחרי הלב והעין alles das "gut" nennen, was seinen sinnlichen Eigenschaften gemäß dem Herzen Befriedigung gewährt, und "schlecht" wird ihm alles sein, was nichts für diese Befriedigung bietet oder gar dieser Befriedigung hindernd in den Weg tritt. Auch für die Erreichung des Wünschenswerten und die Abwehr des den Wünschen Hinderlichen wird der nur durch die Brille des Herzens und der Augen "spähende und kundschaftende" Verstand die Dinge nur nach deren Verhalten zu dem eigenen Machtbereich messen und schätzen und Furcht und Hoffnung nach dem Ergebnis dieses Urteils pflegen. Wo aber das Wollen und Meiden, das Fürchten und Hoffen nur unter dem Diktate des nach dem Urteile des "Herzens und Auges" richtenden Verstandes sich gestaltet, da ist kein Raum mehr für den Gedanken an Gott und sein Gesetz, kein Raum für den Gedanken an Gott als Leiter unserer Taten und Lenker unserer Geschicke, kein Raum für Gottes Einfluss auf unser Wollen und Meiden, auf unser Fürchten und Hoffen, Herzens- und Augendienst verträgt sich nicht mit dem Dienste Gottes, אחרי לבבכם ואחרי עיניכם אתם זנים, Herz und Augen folgend, bricht man Gott die Treue.

ולא תתורו אחרי לבבכם ואחרי עיניכם, “do not follow your heart and your eyes in a lustful urge.” The Jersualem Talmud, tractate B’rachot chapter 1, halachah 5 describes the heart and the eyes as the principal agents of the evil urge within us.

למען תזכרו ועשיתם, "so that you will remember to do, etc." This is best understood by means of the example given in Menachot 44 of how the fringes kept its wearer from demeaning himself with a harlot. The Torah promises that the fringes themselves will protect you against committing all kinds of transgressions. In this instance the word ועשיתם "you will do," is to be understood as in Kidushin 39 where we were told that when a person is tempted to commit a sin and he resists it, i.e. he does nothing, it is accounted for him as if he had fulfilled one of the positive commandments. Our verse continues with והייתם קדושים, "you will be holy, etc." This may be understood in line with the statement in Vayikra Rabbah 24, that one is not awarded the title "holy" unless one had separated oneself from all matters of sexual licentiousness. The Torah goes on to say: I am the Lord your G'd, etc." This verse establishes G'd's credentials for all that He demands from us. Seeing He had taken us out of Egypt, from underneath far worse conditions of bondage, He is certainly entitled to place the mark of the fringes on us to demonstrate that we are obligated to be His servants. I have explained why the line "I am the Lord your G'd" is repeated at the end of Parshat Behar on the line: "for the children of Israel are. My servants" (Leviticus 25,55).

Ein ganz anderes aber ist es, wenn "Gott und sein Gesetz" als die Grundtatsache aller Tatsachen die Basis und den Ausgangspunkt aller unserer Betrachtungen, Gedanken- und Urteilsschöpfungen bildet, wenn wir uns mit unserem ganzen wollenden und erkennenden Wesen, mit Herz und Auge in dem Dienste eines Höheren, in dem Dienste Gottes begreifen, in Seinen Dienst mit Herz und Auge uns stellen, das Wollen und Nichtwollen unseres Herzens dem Wollen und Nichtwollen Seines Willens unterordnen, unsern Willen in Seinem Willen aufgehen lassen — dann wird auch unser "Auge" und unser erkennender und urteilender Verstand, indem sie die Dinge unserer Welt in ihrem Wert oder Unwert für die Befriedigung unseres Herzens "erkunden", sie eben nur nach ihrem Wert oder Unwert für die Befriedigung des göttlichen Willens erforschen, weil unser Wollen, an dem Willen Gottes geläutert, aufgegangen ist in den göttlichen Willen, — dann werden wir auch für das Erreichen oder Nichterreichen unserer Wünsche nicht in erster Linie die Macht und Ohnmacht der Dinge unserer Macht oder Ohnmacht gegenüber ermessen, über uns und der Welt der Dinge um uns steht uns Gott und sein heiliger Wille, nicht sinnliche und geistige Macht und Größe an sich ist uns mächtig und groß, nur in Übereinstimmung mit Seinem Willen und nur in der Erfüllung Seines Wollens, nicht in dem Sinnlichen und Geistigen, in dem Sittlichen wohnt uns Macht und Größe, mit Gott fühlen wir einer Welt gegenüber uns stark, ohne Gott schwindet uns die riesigste Größe zu einem Pygmäenschatten zusammen — und wie unser Wollen und Meiden, so wird auch unser Fürchten und Hoffen völlig umwandelt, wenn wir statt im Dienste unseres Herzens und Auges, mit Herz und Auge in den Dienst Gottes, des alleinigen Leiters unserer Taten und Lenkers unserer Geschicke treten. Und eine solche Umwandlung unseres ganzen wollenden und meidenden, fürchtenden und hoffenden Wesens, eine solche Umwandlung unseres ganzen seelischen und sinnlichen Seins, ist das Ziel der Zizitsprossen an unseren Gewändern.

Now we shall try to understand the mystical dimension of why this whole commandment applies only to garments which are four-cornered. Inasmuch as the fringes are a symbol of our being servants of the Lord, G'd commanded that the symbol should also testify as to who is our Master. Other nations too have their symbols by means of which they can identify who is a servant of whom. G'd decreed therefore that we must not attach these fringes to garments which are not four-cornered so as to symbolize that we are the servants of the Master whose Kingdom extends to the four corners of the globe. This symbolism would be lost if we attached fringes to three-cornered or rounded garments.

So wird unsere Stelle auch Berachot 12b erläutert: אחרי לבבכם זו מינות וכה׳׳א אמר נבל בלבו אין אלקים אחרי עיניכם זו הרהור עבירה שנאמר אותה קח לי כי היא ישרה בעיני אתם זנים זה הרהור ע׳׳ז וכה׳׳א ויזנו אחרי הבעלים und ist da die tiefe Wahrheit niedergelegt, dass das Gott leugnende מינות nicht, wie es sich vorgeblich rühmt, der Vater, sondern das Erzeugnis eines vom Sittengesetze frei sein wollenden Herzens ist. Der נבל, "der sittlich Welke" sucht eine Beruhigung im Nichtdaseingottesglauben. Und ferner, dass מינות, Gottesleugnen, in ע׳׳ז, in Polytheismus umschlägt. Nur das Gottesbewusstsein macht auch geistig frei. In das Joch blindwürfelnder בעלים, blindwaltender Naturmächte und Naturnotwendigkeiten, als Spielball einer Legion von Herren wirft sich der, der, um sich der Herrschaft des einen zu entschlagen, kurzer Hand sein Dasein leugnet. — Wir bemerken noch eines. Wir haben wiederholt die Tatsache zu besprechen gehabt, dass עולה zugleich מכפר sei על עשה und על הרהור הלב, und meinten, dass sündhafte Wahngedanken nicht sowohl als ein positives Hingeben an das Irrige und Sündige, als vielmehr als ein Unterlassen der Pflege der Gedanken des Wahren und Guten aufzufassen seien. Wo die auf das Wahre und Gute gerichtete geistige Energie fehlt, keimt der Wahngedanke des Irrtums und der Sünde von selbst auf. Auch hier wird das לא תתורו אחרי לבבכם וגו׳ nur als Wirkung der auf עשית כל מצות ד׳ gerichteten ראיה und זכירה erwartet. —

G'd commanded that the threads be white to symbolise G'd's attributes of Mercy and goodness, something traditionally symbolised by the colour white. The colour blue symbolises G'd's mastery in the Celestial Regions, seeing the colour blue is similar to the colour of the sky. The number of threads i.e. 8 or 4 folded over, also symbolise His Holy name of four letters. His uniqueness in His Sanctuary is equivalent to the number 8, i.e. a combination of two of His names, י־ה־ו־ה plus א־ד־נ־י. According to Menachot 39 it is a mystical dimension of the halachah that the knot with which the blue thread is tied together with the white threads symbolises the mystical dimensions of kindness and mercy respectively. This is the mystical dimension of what constitutes heaven. This dimension is related to our patriarch Jacob who represents the attribute of תפארת, harmony. Kabbalists who have studied the mystical elements of the written Torah claim that the attribute of תפארת yearns for the attribute of חסד, kindness, the quality attributed to Abraham. This is the reason that the blue thread winds around the white threads, i.e. mercy coils itself around kindness, love. The relationship of the two is similar to the relationship of רוח to נשמה.

I wanted to explain why G'd did not permit any blue except that which is derived from a fish which comes out of the sea, and not from any other source which is itself blue. Perhaps this is what the sages meant when they said in Chulin 89 that the sea resembles the sky. We should also understand that mercy is rooted in the Torah which itself is allegorically compared to the sea.