Parashat Korach, Numbers 16:1-18:32

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It is uncomfortable to feel like a 'perpetual misfit,' but otherwise we run the risk of our religious experience losing its 'edge.'

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In the mail this week we received information about Toronto's 'Fringe Festival.' This is alternative, edgy theatre that showcases many interesting and off-beat performances by talented performers that wouldn't make it to mainstream Broadway productions. I was struck by this 'synchronicity' because at the conclusion of last week's parasha, is the commandment to wear 'fringes' on our garments. I have written about the history and significance of the blue thread in several previous parashiyot: Metzora, Shlach 5756 and Shlach 5765. This week I don't want to focus on the blue thread so much as the fringes themselves.

Actually, there seem to be two separate 'fringes' that the Torah refers to with two separate terms: the more familiar tzitizit, and the unusual term g'dilim, (usually translated as 'tassels') that appears in Deuteronomy (22:12). These two terms are telescoped by the rabbis into one, but probably refered to two separate things. The first is a running fringe commonly found along the edge of fabrics. Many tallitot have such gathered knots of threads to finish the garment. Today and in ancient times, it was not unusual for garments to have such 'fringes.' The latter term g'dilim, which probably refers to the knotted strands on the corner, though, seems more unique to the ancient Israelites. It was among the latter fringes that there was to be one tekhelet (azure-blue) thread. Confusingly, today we use the first term tzitizit to refer to this second set of fringes, and the running 'fringes' have no particular religious significance. In fact while many tallitot have them, they are not required; it is only the four corner fringes that make a tallit kosher.

Although it is a mitzvah to wear tzitzit, wearing them is not obligatory either (like tefillin are). Only if one wears a four corner garment must one wear fringes; hence the creation of the smaller arba kanfot, (or tallit katan), an undergarment with four corners. If you never wear a four corner garment-- which fell out of fashion about two thousand years ago-- you do not have to wear tzitzit! Consequently, except among observant Jews (who deliberately wear a four cornered garment in order to have the opportunity to perform this mitzvah) the wearing of this fringed garment has become associated with prayer as an (optional) ritual garment. Note that the two garments, the prayer tallit and the tallit katan have different blessings; a very unusual instance of a single mitzvah with two different versions! Even Maimonides admits that this mitzvah of tzitizit is conditional, not compulsory, "Even though one is not obligated to acquire a robe and wrap oneself in it in order to fulfill the mitzvah of tzitzit, it is not fitting for a pious individual to exempt himself from this command." Ibn Ezra, however, strongly disagrees: "However, I believe that one is more obligated to enwrap oneself in fringes when one is not at prayer than during the time of prayer, so that one 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." Ibn Ezra argues that we don't need to remember the commandments while we are praying, so much as when we are engaged in the regular world. He makes a strong point; most of us don't sin while in synagogue!

But how would fringes help us from sinning? The Torah specifies that we are to 'look at the fringes and remember all the commandments.' But how does looking at the fringes help us remember them? Are the knots and fringes like some kind of Jewish "rosary" or prayer beads? Perhaps. Because the purpose of the mitzvah is to 'look' at them, they are only worn during the day (with the exception of erev Yom Kippur). This is why many Orthodox Jews who wear them let the fringes hang out. The Rabbis suggest two ways that looking at the fringes helps us remember the mitzvot. By adding up the numbers of knots and windings, they connect the tzitizit to the number 613- the number of mitzvot in the Torah, and to the numerical value (using gematria) of Adonai Echad (God is One). Indeed the blue thread is supposed to be a reminder of the sky (and heaven) which reminds us of God. I would like to suggest one other purpose to the fringes. Fringes, of course, highlight the edges of fabric or of one's garment. The Torah and Judaism are concerned with boundaries, so  'looking at fringes' (ie. looking at the boundary) serves as a reminder of those edges and of the commandments which concern those boundaries (such as milk and meat, Shabbat and the rest of the week, etc.).

Today, the word 'fringe' has a new meaning. I wish I had thought of the title "Life on the Fringes", to describe living Jewishly, but Haviva Ner David came up with it first as the title of her book on growing up as an Orthodox feminist. There is even an entertaining 'blog' called 'On the Fringe' (Al Tzitzit) written by another woman who describes herself as "a perpetual misfit" (in her words as a "tallit-and-tefillin-wearing woman in a traditional Conservative synagogue?!"). Since Abraham, Jews have been 'on the fringe.' Abraham rejected the popular, prevalent view, to espouse a new, radical idea. In the rabbinic period, Jews rejected Hellenism, and for two thousand years of our history, Jews have either consciously lived on the margins, or have been marginalized by society. Being on the margins has allowed Jews to have a critical perspective of mainstream culture. Being Jewish is to be 'counter-cultural.' For example, turning off our TVs, our phones, and our computers, not driving one day a week or resisting the all consuming consumerism of shopping malls by resting on Shabbat. Judaism can provide a healthy and much-needed balance to the unhealthy trends and pulls of society. Being on the fringe has its 'fringe benefits.'

But If one thread of blue is good, is a whole garment of tekhelet better? Now most of us wouldn't be able to afford this; tekhelet was a sign of royalty and was extremely expensive. Korach was so wealthy he could afford a garment made entirely of tekhelet, (hence the Hebrew equivalent of the expression 'rich as Croesus' is ashir kmo Korach, as wealthy as Korach). This is the argument put in the mouth of Korach (by the Rabbis), the protagonist of this week's portion. The Rabbis connect last week's portion of tzitzit with this week's parasha. The 18th century Ladino anthology Me'am Lo'ez quotes a Ladino folk tale that tells a story of Korach and his wife:

When Moses told the children of Israel about the commandment of tzitzit given him by the Holy Blessed One, Korach's wife asked Korach, "What new thing did you learn today in the Yeshivah of Moses our Teacher?" Korach answered her, "He gave us a new commandment today, the commandment concerning the tzitzit with blue in it." "What is this commandment about blue tzitzit?" his wife asked him. Korach replied, "Moses told them that the Holy Blessed One, instructed us to place three white fringes and one blue fringe on the four corners of our garments." "He is laughing at you," his wife said, "every day dreaming up some new commandment that the Holy Blessed One, commanded. If blue is so important, why did he not command you to make a garment that is entirely blue? Now I shall go and sew you and all your people garments that are entirely blue. Go to him and see what he has to say to you, and you will see immediately how everything he commands you is dreamed up in his own head. In this way he has taken all the honor and prestige to himself and has made himself king, and his brother he has appointed High Priest and his brother's family assistant priests."

Korach and his wife miss the point. If we make the whole garment out of blue, we are no longer accentuating the edge of the garment. Korach, ostensibly the 'people's candidate' argues with Moses over leadership and authority. But in his challenge, he is suggesting that if a little religion is good, then more religion is better. Korach (and some folks today) want to live in a world of absolutes, a world that is all 'blue,' and where his own interpretation of God and religion defines everything. But that is not the Jewish way. The blue and white threads have many possible meanings, but one interpretation from the Rambam is that the contrasting two colours represent God's presence (the blue) in the world (white). Our tzitzit remind us that we are a little bit on the outside. However, Judaism demands from us an engagement not only on the margins of the larger society, but sometimes right in the middle. Judaism does not allow us to withdraw from the world entirely even though sometimes we must stand on the sidelines.

There is often a warning label on medicine, 'Take as directed.' This is because we might mistakenly think, "if one pill makes me a little bit better, two pills should make me a lot better!" "One blue thread" is enough to chip away at complacency, stand up to authority, and challenge the system.

Yes, I know it is uncomfortable to feel like a 'perpetual misfit,' but otherwise we run the risk of our religious experience losing its 'edge.'

Shabbat Shalom

BDS