Shelach L’cha
When my son, Eric, was young, he attended summer camp at Silver Gan Israel, a day camp run by Chabad. After the first or second day, he came home and informed me that he wanted to wear a tallit katan, a small tallit, just like the other boys. I was thrilled that he wanted to embrace this Jewish “uniform” as a part of his daily outfit, and ran out to buy it for him. He proudly wore it for the duration of his time at camp. I recently came across that little tallit and was reminded of Eric’s pride in Judaism at that young age.
In bringing home the contents of my TBT office when I retired, I brought home the various tallitot that I had collected over the years that now needed to be stored elsewhere. The tallit I am wearing tonight is one that my dad bought me when I first started wearing one. It reminds me of him, and how, as a child, I took great delight at playing with his tzitzit to keep myself amused during the long services we would attend together. And I am reminded of the tzitzit that we removed from my father-in-law’s tallit when he was laid to rest in 1986. Over the years I acquired other tallitot – my Miriam tallit that Lila bought me in Israel. My pink tallit worn for our Shabbat honoring breast cancer awareness. My photo tallit with pictures of my ancestors on one side and children on the other.Truly the tallit and tzitzit have a strong symbolism for me in my Jewish identity.
But not all Jews feel comfortable wrapping themselves in Jewish fringes as part of their ritual practice. Reform Judaism has evolved considerably since the Pittsburgh Platform of 1885 which introduced the tenets of Reform. The fourth tenet stated: “We hold that all such Mosaic and rabbinical laws as regulate diet, priestly purity, and dress originated in ages and under the influence of ideas entirely foreign to our present mental and spiritual state. They fail to impress the modern Jew with a spirit of priestly holiness; their observance in our days is apt rather to obstruct than to further modern spiritual elevation.”
Along the way, though, Jews started to feel the tug towards something more grounding. And this week’s parasha, Shelach Lecha, as the Israelites get ready to scout out the Promised Land, gives us the mitzvah for wearing the tzitzit. Why would this be the time and place for introducing this mitzvah? It’s the hot desert, with a lot of conquering left to do. Adding another layer of clothing, and fringes blowing in the wind, can certainly get in the way of all that is to be done for these Wandering Jews. And yet, this is precisely why the tzitzit become important. A tangible reminder of the past close to 40 years provides motivation for how we are to behave as we move into this new chapter in Jewish history. And the tzitzit contain such strong symbolism in how each is created.
Let’s take a look at the symbolism of the tzitzit, a sort of Jewish macramé. In Jewish gematria or numerology, each letter has a numerical value. So ALEF = 1, BET = 2, and so on. The word TZITZIT = 600. As you can see, there are 8 strands and 5 sets of knots in each. Added together, we have 613, the number of mitzvot.
As part of the Sh’ma and V’ahavta, we read the mitzvah of tzitzit, as laid out in our parasha:
“The Eternal One said 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 [lo taturu] your heart and eyes to whore after them [zonim achareihem]. Thus you shall be reminded to observe all My commandments and be holy to your God. I am the Eternal your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God: I, the Eternal your God.” (Numbers 15:37-41)
The tzitzit are a physical reminder of the totality of all that God commands us to be and to do. Each time we gather the tzitzit into our hands, we bring together the four corners of the earth, all those who stood at Mt. Sinai to receive Torah, past, present, and future. We affirm God’s oneness and uniqueness, and individually as well as collectively we travel from slavery through wandering, looking towards a Promised Land.
On this Shabbat and always, may we find comfort in being wrapped in the folds of the tallit, creating a sacred space for holiness. And may the expanse of the fabric be seen as Judaism’s big tent, where there is room enough for us all. Ken yehi ratzon – may it be God’s will.
