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We all need all the help we can get to stay true to our chosen path, whatever that path may be. Lessons for Today
The Eternal spoke to Moses, as follows: Speak to the Israelite people and instruct them to make for themselves fringes on the corners of their garments throughout the ages; let them attach a cord of blue to the fringe at each corner. That shall be your fringe; look at it and recall all the commandments of the Eternal and observe them, so that you do not follow your heart and eyes in your lustful urge. Thus you shall be reminded to observe all My commandment and to be holy to your God. I the Eternal am your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God: I, the Eternal your God. (Numbers 15:37-41)
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Ibn Ezra gives a strong opinion about this commandment to wear tzitzit:
"Now this commandment states that everyone who has a four-cornered garment shall always cover himself with it during the day. He shall not remove it so that he remembers the commandments. Those who pray with a tallit during the time of prayers do so because they read in the Shema, "And it shall be unto you for a fringe" (Numbers15:39) and, "that they make them throughout their generations fringes" (Numbers 15:38).
However, I believe that one is more obligated to enwrap oneself in fringes when he is not at prayer than during the time of prayer, so that he remembers the commandments and does not err and trespass during the other hours of the day, for in the hour of prayer one will not sin.
THAT YOU MAY LOOK UPON IT. The commandment requires that the fringes be seen.
AFTER YOUR OWN HEART. Which lusts. The eye sees and the heart desires. The fringes thus serve as a sign and a mark that a person should not pursue the thoughts of his heart and all that his eyes desire.
AFTER WHICH YOU USE TO GO ASTRAY. For one who follows his desires goes astray from the service of his God.
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Dr. Ellen Frankel gives a woman’s perspective on the mitzvah of wearing tzitzit in The Five Books of Miriam, A Woman's Commentary on the Torah. She writes,
"THE RABBIS TEACH: God commands, The Israelite people...to make for themselves fringes on the corners of their garments (Numbers 15:38), to remind them not to stray from the right path. These fringes, originally incorporated as part of a man's daily clothing, in time evolved into the tallit, a man's traditional Jewish prayer shawl.
OUR DAUGHTERS ASK: Since women - until very recently and still only in liberal Jewish communities - have traditionally been exempted (and conventionally forbidden) from wearing a tallit, how are we supposed to respond to these verses, recited twice a day as part of the traditional liturgy? If we're forbidden to look upon these fringes, how are we suppose to remind ourselves, to be holy, instead of yielding to our own impulses? Is the Torah implying that we women have no lustful urge for our hearts and eyes to follow?
LILITH THE REBEL JUMPS IN: Which is, of course, utterly ridiculous! We all need spiritual compasses to keep our bearings.
MIRIAM THE PROPHET EXPLAINS: The tallit provides a wonderful opportunity for women's spiritual expression. Into it we can weave our dreams, our visions, our prayers, and our secrets for Shekhinah's ears alone.
ESTHER THE HIDDEN ONE TEACHES: Rabbinic tradition has already invested the tallit, especially the tzitzit, the fringes, with mystical symbolism. Women can now embroider our own symbols into the knots and windings, the colours, shape, and design, and the atarah (decorative collar). And there, under the sheltering canopy of our tallit, we can encounter the Holy-One-Who-Dwells-Within."
Ellen Frankel, The Five Books of Miriam, A Woman's Commentary on the Torah. (San Francisco: Harper Collins, 1998), p.217-218.
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This week’s text is a familiar one, contained as part of the third paragraph of the Shema, which is included as part of our daily worship. It includes the commandment regarding the wearing of tzitzit , the fringes which adorn the corner of the tallit, the shawl that Jews wear during morning prayer, and which are also found on the corners of the tallit katan, the small garment with fringes on the corners which many traditional Jews (almost exclusively men) wear on a daily basis underneath their clothing. The tzitzit are pulled out to be visible to the wearer. The combination of the threads and knots that make up the tzitzit add up to the number 613, the number of mitzvot or commandments that are contained in the Torah. The purpose of the tzitzit are to serve as a reminder of the mitzvot, and the Jews obligation to maintain them. It is a visible reminder, and is hence considered to be for the daytime, when the tzitzit can be seen, and thus serve their symbolic purpose.
And herein lies our commentator’s concern about our text and its application to daily life. Ibn Ezra reminds us, Now this commandment states that everyone who has a four-cornered garment shall always cover himself with it during the day. He shall not remove it so that he remembers the commandments. Ibn Ezra suggests that the proper fulfilment of the mitzvah is to wear the tzitzit all the time, to be constantly mindful of the commandments. Yet he also knows that, even in his day as well as today, many Jews only wore the tzitzit during morning prayer. Ibn Ezra plays a bit of a rabbinic trick by seeming to support this notion by quoting the text itself. But then his real opinion comes out. Bluntly. And as a keen observer of human nature, Ibn Ezra’s position makes total sense.
If, he suggests, the tzitzit are designed to remind us to observe the commandments, then they serve that purpose best at those times when we may be distracted by events of our day to day activities. At the time of prayer, when we are worshipping, focussing on our relationship with God and those things which God asks of us, when we are in synagogue and surrounding by the many symbols and reminders of our tradition and its basis in Torah and mitzvot, then the tzitzit seem almost redundant. We don't need additional reminders. Temptation is in check.
It is out in the world, where temptation is rife and the inclination to go astray is presented to us constantly, that we most need help to stay mindful and strengthen our resolve to remain true to the commandments. This is where something as simple as the tzitzit is most powerful. Ibn Ezra goes on to reiterate that the tzitzit are a visual symbol and are required to be seen (and not just tucked in and felt) because it is our eyes and sight that lead most lead to lust and covetness. We want what we see, he suggests, and this visual temptation is best countered by a visible reminder of how we are to act. If our eyes are filled with a reminder of the commandments, then we can not be led astray from the path of God. In a way, this demonstrates a great insight into human nature and the roots of desire. Desire and temptation can plague even the strongest person all day long. It helps to have a visual cue to remind us of what is really important to us, especially at times of distraction and weakness.
Lessons for Today
Many people find tokens to serve as reminders of what they want to do. The classic string around the finger, something that is unusual and not normally found on the finger, which is right before our eyes, serves to jog our memory back to something we need to remember to do. I know people who constantly surround themselves with little reminders on Post-It notes or who have alarms ringing from watches and PDAs to indicate to them what they need to remember. Our lives are busy and we have so many demands on our time and concentration . It is hard to remember everything we need to do, and so we find external ways to keep important matters in mind. It helps to have a reminder.
Jewish tradition has always appreciated the importance of visual reminders. A kippah on the head, a mezzuzah on the doorpost, and certainly tzitzit on the corners of our garments specifically serve the purpose of maintaining our awareness of God and our commitment to the mitzvot. These symbols have no real intrinsic purpose of their own; they don't do anything or have any inherent meaning of their own. They simply exist to remind us, in our coming and our going, our waking and sleeping, our Jewish time and our secular time, of the presence of God and what God asks of us as Jews. For, in the end, there really is no division of all these categories. We are Jews always, at worship, work or play, at home, in the synagogue or out in the street, engaging in ritual acts, or simple acts of everyday activity. Our obligation is no less, and the temptations are no less, in any of these times. Anything we can find to help us remain aware and conscious of our commitments will strengthen us as Jews and help keep God before us always. We all need all the help we can get to stay true to our chosen path, whatever that path may be. Our tradition prescribes certain symbols to serve as recognizable Jewish reminders. We can find others as well, that are helpful and meaningful to us. The key, though, is not is the reminders itself; it is how the reminders help us stay true to who we are.
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