Blue's Beckoning
Adapted by Channie Koplowitz Stein
Parshat Shelach includes the mitzvah of tzitzit, of the fringes on a four cornered garment Orthodox Jewish men wear daily. According to Torah law, a thread of techeilet/turquoise wool is to be placed in each corner along with the other threads. The purpose of these tzitzit with this turquoise thread is, "So that you may see it and remember all the commandments of Hashem and perform them..." [Sadly, we lost knowledge of the source of this special dye, and only recently have we found what is argued to be the source of techeilet.] What is the significance of this blue thread?
Rabbi Asher Weiss offers a beautiful and simple explanation for this special blue thread. Rabbi Weiss notes that this blue was the color of royal garments. He suggests that since Bnei Yisroel is a "kingdom" of priests, we wear a blue thread as a constant reminder of our status and our mission of service to Hakodosh Boruch Hu to perform His mitzvoth.
Alternately, Rabbi Meir taught the well known medrash that techeilet resembles the sea, the sea resembles the Heavens, and the Heavens resemble the Throne of Glory which was like blue, sapphire bricks. On this medrash, Rabbi Zaidel Epstein asks, if the goal was to remember God's throne of Glory, why not state that immediately, why go through these intermediate steps? Further, notes Rabbi Druck in Aish Tomid, these associations are weak. How do they suggest this sequence? But the problem is not so much with the associations as with the mindset of the viewer. Our thoughts tend to wander in the direction of our mindset. In fact, this is the premise behind the Rorschach inkblot test or the muse of a poet looking at the clouds. Looking at the same image, different people will see in it completely different objects depending on what occupies their mind.
The tzitzit are meant to be a tool to train us to focus on our holy mission and remember the mitzvoth. Every Jew has within him the Godly soul that is attuned to Torah and mitzvoth. As long as that soul burns within him, as long as he is alive, he can continue to do mitzvoth and work on his relationship with his Creator. This idea was impressed on Rabbi Yisroel Salanter. One late night as he was walking home, he noticed a shoemaker still at work. Rabbi Salanter asked the shoemaker why he was working so late. The shoemaker replied that as long as the candle continues to burn, he can keep working. As we know, the root of the word tzitzit may also be tzitz/look [through the slats, the cracks. Shir Hashirim]
The verse seems to continue this meaning by emphasizing, "You will see it and remember all the commandments..." Rabbi Yerucham Levovitz offers a suggestion on how to train yourself toward this mindset. He suggests a person should always envision himself at a crossroads. One path leads to a totally Jewish values environment, while the other path is a different environment. Sanctity and impurity, although opposites, generally do not exist in this world in their pure form. Just as these two exist intermingled in the world, so do they exist intermingled and indistinct in our minds. To which of these "cities" will we direct our minds? Tzitzit is about teaching us where to focus, which "city" to enter. What the eye sees, the body soon follows. One glance at an inappropriate website can lead the mind far astray. Keep focused on the tzitzit.
Now that we know what the goal is, why not go directly to this goal? Why does the medrash list these intermediate steps? Because, as Rabbi Dunner observes in Mikdash Halevi, the path is not easy. It can only be reached through incremental steps, level by level. As Rabbi Yekutiel Weiss writes in Ziv Hechachmah, the path is like a ladder which must be climbed one step at a time. The steps are properly spaced to help you ascend. Begin at the bottom, with an easy step, writes Rabbenu Tam. Your success will inspire you to continue climbing. Rabbenu Tam here gives an interesting interpretation to mitzvah gorreret mitzvah/ one mitzvah pulls another mitzvah behind it - having mastered one step, you are confident to try the next step. Success comes in small, incremental steps, not in one, massive leap.
As proof of this point, Rabbi Weiss cites the narrative quoted by Rabbi Yisroel Salanter. One of our greatest Sages, Rabbi Akiva, was a witness to this phenomenon and used it to transform his life. Rabbi Akiva was an ignorant shepherd. When he was forty years old, he noticed a hole in a rock by a stream. He observed that the hole was made not by a massive downpour, but by the constant drip of water, one drop at a time over an extended period. This observation inspired him to begin studying, starting with the smallest step of learning to read, and continuing, step by step, until he became one of the Torah leaders of his generation and beyond.
R. Zaidel Epstein notes, that through our path in life, we must minimize our challenges and celebrate every small victory against the yetzer hora, every step in rising higher in our awe of and service to Hashem. In davening, begin by concentrating on only one or two verses. Only after succeeding and mastering and celebrating that success and kavanah /focus should you expand your focus on expanding it further.
In Aleh Shor, Rabbi Wolbe expands on the idea we have been discussing. He notes that just as everything in the physical world is made up of tiny particles, atoms and cells, that join together to create a whole, so is our spiritual life and service also made up of small parts that connect to each other to form a whole. Just as medicine is generally effective only when taken in measured, small doses over time and is often dangerous or lethal if the entire prescription is taken all at once, so must one be also be careful with our spiritual "medicine," taking it in small doses so that we do not to overwhelm our spiritual system.
Rabbi Wolbe suggests yet another strategy. If we take very small steps in our spiritual work, the yetzer hora will ignore it, thinking it is insignificant. We will be flying "under the radar" of the yetzer hora, as the Israeli Army flew under Egyptian radar during the Six Day War, purposely failing to get the attention of the Egyptians. The point is to do small, seemingly insignificant things regularly, that cumulatively create a pattern of connection to Hakodosh Boruch Hu. The Netivot Shalom suggests reciting or singing Ani Ma'amin [or other spiritual song, verse or mantra] at odd moments during the day to maintain the connection.
Why are the blue sea and the blue sky specifically used in this medrash? The Shvilei Pinchas R. Elimelech of Lizhensk, and explains, using various verses, that the sea represents serving Hashem through fear, while the celestial sun represents serving Hashem through love. By synthesizing the two, by serving Hashem through both fear and love, we rise toward the Kisei Hakavod/Throne of Glory.
Rabbi Nevenzahl asks us to ponder the entire concept of the sea and the sky having physical color. After all, if we take water from the sea, it appears clear in the glass, and if we go into space, the sky is black air. It is only our perception that color is brought through the reflection of light from particulates. Certainly, the Kisei Hakavod has no physical presence and therefore has no color. Therefore, these three must have an inner dimension represented by techeilet that connects these three. Just as the blue of the sea and of the sky are how we physically perceive their reflections, so should we realize that everything on the physical earth reflects its parallel in the spiritual sphere of heaven. This world, explains Rabbi Tatz, is a reflection of the true, Divine world as a mirror or a photo is a reflection of the three-dimensional object it captures.
Like a child away in sleepaway camp, the neshamah longs to go back home. But this world, being a reflection of the true world from whence we came, gives us clues and reminds us of the Kingly Throne from where our neshamos came. While we are here, we can pick up mitzvoth, the "breadcrumbs" that mark our path back to our Source.
Our job is to learn about Hashem through the world, writes the Sifsei Chaim. We are meant to perceive the world through a spiritual lens, to see the entire world and the human being as a manifestation of Hashem Himself and of the Kisei Hakavod.
It is not the "world leaders" who are running the world; it is Hashem The tzitzit remind us of this reality, of this truth. It is the blue thread, the תכלת, that drives home that truth. It is the blue thread that represents the תכלית, the purpose of the world. If you look at the techeilet, the purpose of the world, you will see the eternal struggle between good and evil, between Amalek and Yisroel, being fought under the Throne of Hashem. There is much more to blue and to truth that lies beyond our perception.
The techeilet is meant to train us to see the spiritual source of all reality, to see beyond physical sight and connect us to the Source of all.