B"H
Thursday, Sivan 24, 5779 / June 27, 2019
At the end of Parshat Shelach, the Torah tells us about the mitzvah of Tzitzit (fringes).
The Torah says, "And the L-rd spoke to Moshe saying: Speak to the children of Israel and say unto them that they make fringes in the corners of their garments... that you may look upon it and remember all the commandments of the L-rd, and observe them..."
We perform this mitzvah by wearing the Tallit (prayer shawl), a four cornered garment, during prayer.
We also wear a Tallit Katan (small Tallit) all day so that we perform the mitzvah all the time. Many Jews wear their Tzitzit on the outside, so that they will always be visible.
Q. What is the reason to keep the Tzitzit visible at all times?
A. The Torah states the reason for the mitzvah of Tzitzit, "So that you may look upon it and remember all the commandments of the L-rd". By exposing the Tzitzit, one can "look upon it" and thus “remember” all the mitzvot.
Q. How does one remember all the Mitzvot (commandments) when looking at the Tzitzit?
A.There are 613 mitzvot in the Torah. The numerical value of the Hebrew word Tzitzit (90+10+90+10+400) is 600. Each of the Tzitzit has 8 strings and 5 knots. Together (5+8) they add up to 613 which is the total amount of mitzvot.
Thus, by looking at the Tzitzit, we remember all the mitzvot.
Q. What is the significance of placing the Tzitzit on the four corners of the Tallit?
A. This reminds us that wherever a Jew finds himself, in the four corners of the world, they must focus on the mitzvot.
Q. Every weekday (except for Shabbat and holidays) men over Bar Mitzvah wear the Tallit and Tefillin during the morning prayers. We first wrap ourselves with the Tallit and then put on the Tefillin. Why in this order?
A. The general rule is that when we have to perform two mitzvot, the mitzvah which we perform more regularly comes first.
Being that the Tallit is worn each day of the year, including Shabbat and holidays, and the Tefillin are worn only on the weekdays (not on Shabbat and holidays), thus, we perform the mitzvah of Tallit first.
HAVE A VERY GOOD, HAPPY, HEALTHY AND SUCCESSFUL DAY