Wealth and its Uses
And Hashem spoke to Moshe, saying: Speak to the children of Israel and you shall say to them that they shall make for themselves fringes on the corners of their garments, throughout their generations, and they shall affix a thread of sky blue [wool] on the fringe of each corner. (Sefer BaMidbar 15:37-38)
I. The Commandment of Tzitzit
Parshat Shelach concludes with the commandment of Tzitzit. This commandment requires placement of fringes on each corner of a four-cornered garment. Our talitot – prayer shawls – are examples of garments that require tzitzit.
The mitzvah of Tzitzit requires that when a person wears a four-cornered garment, it must have tzitzit on each of its corners. In other words, we are not obligated to wear a garment with tzitzit. Only if one is attired in a four-cornered garment is one required to tie tzitzit to its corners. Nonetheless, Shulchan Aruch – the standard code of Torah law – explains that our practice is to obligate ourselves in tzitzit by wearing a four-cornered garment.[1]
II. Reason for Obligating Oneself in Tzitzit
Sefer Mitzvot Gadol provides an odd explanation for this practice:
“The support for this practice is… that Moshe our Master said, ‘Please allow me to pass over and I will see the good land, this good mountain and the Lebanon.’ And did Moshe our master lust to eat from its fruits and to be satiated from its goodness? Rather, this is what Moshe said: There are a number of commandments that are fulfilled in the Land (of Israel) that are not practiced outside of the Land. I will enter the Land so that its commandments will be fulfilled by me.”[2]
Sefer Mitzvot Gadol – S’MaG – compares the practice of obligating ourselves in tzitzit to Moshe’s desire to obligate himself in those commandments that are observed only in the Land of Israel. However, this analogy seems strained. We can understand Moshe’s attitude. The Torah is designed to be observed in the Land of Israel. Only there is it completely actualized. Moshe wished to observe the Torah in its complete form. In contrast, some commandments are responses to specific circumstances. If one is in such a circumstance, then the commandment must be observed. It does not follow that one’s observance of the Torah is incomplete without placing oneself in such a circumstance.
A few examples will illustrate the apparent absurdity of S’MaG’s reasoning. The bonds of marriage are dissolved though the mitzvah of divorce. Does it follow that every person should engage in divorce at least once in order to fulfill this commandment? Should we encourage everyone to perform shechitah – the ritual slaughter of an animal?[3] The mitzvah of Tzitzit is dependent upon a circumstance – that one dresses in a four-cornered garment. Why should one be required to place oneself in this circumstance?
III. Exempting or not Obligating Oneself
Rambam – Maimonides – hints to a first step in answering this question.
“Even though a person is not required to acquire a (four-cornered) cloak in which to enwrap oneself so that he should make on it tzitit, it is not appropriate for a righteous person to exempt himself from this commandment. Rather, a person should always endeavor to be enwrapped in a garment that is obligated in tzitzit so that he may fulfill this mitzvah…”[4]
Rambam is stating the ruling of Shulchan Aruch. Even though one is not required to secure a garment that requires tzitzit, a righteous person will always wear a garment subject to tzitzit. In other words, the appropriate practice differs from the technical obligation.
Rambam’s formulation of this principle is troublesome. He says that a righteous person does not exempt himself from the mitzvah. This is an odd statement. One who does not wear a four-cornered garment has not exempted himself from the commandment. He has not taken action to escape the obligation. It is more correct to say that the person has not obligated himself.
An illustration makes clearer the difficulty in Rambam’s phrasing. Consider two homeowners. Each would like to renovate his home but does not wish to engage in the permitting process. One decides to forego the renovations rather than secure the necessary permits. The other considers what renovations can be made without requiring a permit and makes only those. How should we characterize the difference between these two individuals? The second has actually revised his plans to exempt himself from the permitting process. The first has not taken action to exempt himself. He has simply not engaged in the project and not obligated himself.
To which of these homeowners should we compare a person who does not have a four-cornered garment? He is similar to the homeowner who decides to abandon the renovation process. He has not obligated himself in tzitzit. Yet, Rambam compares him to the second homeowner. He characterizes him as seeking to exempt himself from the commandment. How can we explain Rambam’s phrasing?
IV. A mitzvah’s objective and formulation
It seems that according to Rambam, there is a difference between the objective of the mitzvah of tzitzit and its specific formulation. The specific formulation of the mitzvah is that one who wears a four-cornered garment must place upon it tzitzit. However, the mitzvah presumes that one will wear such a garment.[5] The intent or objective of the mitzvah is that one will wear a four-cornered garment and tzitzit every day. Therefore, Rambam characterizes one who does not wear such a garment as seeking to exempt oneself from the mitzvah. Since it is presumed that one wears a four-corner garment and this person has chosen to not wear such a garment, he is exempting himself from the mitzvah of Tzitzit.
Again, an illustration will clarify Rambam’s reasoning. A person reads that it is healthy to drink a glass of red wine each day. He decides that he will include in his daily dinner a glass of wine. Occasionally, he works late and he misses dinner. On these nights, he comes home late from his office and he does not have a glass of wine before going to sleep. The wine is part of dinner. If he misses dinner, he forgoes the glass of wine. What is the intent of the practice that this person has established? His intent is to have a glass of wine each day. However, he has formulated his practice in a specific manner. The glass of wine is part of his dinner.
Rambam understands the mitzvah of tzitzit in the same manner. The intent of the mitzvah is that one should wear tzitzit each day. However, the specific formulation is that tzitzit is required only on a four-cornered garment. It is presumed that one will wear such a garment, just as in our illustration the person presumes he will eat dinner each day. Because of this presumption it is correct to say that one who does not wear a four-cornered garment has exempted himself from the mitzvah.
V. Tzitzit is not a response to circumstance
Now, let us return to our original question. S’MaG observes that Moshe wished to enter the Land of Israel in order to observe those commandments that are specific to it. Similarly, one should wear a four-cornered garment in order to be obligate oneself in tzitzit. Does this argument suggest one should seek the opportunity to engage in divorce? The answer lies in the distinction between the mitzvah’s objective and its formulation. In its formulation the mitzvah of tzitzit depends upon the circumstance of wearing a four-cornered garment. However, the mitzvah’s intent is that one should wear tzitzit every day. This is not the intent of the mitzvah of divorce. Divorce is a response to a circumstance and is intended to be practiced only in that circumstance.
VI. The message of the mitzvah’s formulation
This raises an interesting question. Why is the specific formulation of the mitzvah of tzitzit not more consistent with its objective? Why did the Torah not simply command us to wear a garment with tzitzit? Why did the Torah instead formulate the obligation as a response to the circumstance of wearing a four-cornered garment?
It is difficult to answer this question with certainty. However, it is noteworthy that the formulation suggests an implicit message that would be lost if the mitzvah was not dependent upon circumstance. If we were commanded secure an appropriate garment, place tzitzit upon it, and wear the garment, then the relationship between the garment and the tzitzit would be deemphasized. The garment would be reduced to a prerequisite for fulfillment of the commandment. The focus of the commandment would be upon the tzitzit and the garment would simply be a necessary medium from which to hang the required tzitzit.
In its actual formulation, the role of the garment is elevated and emphasized. The Torah does not mandate a daily obligation to wear tzitzit. Instead, when one wears a four-cornered garment, it must be adorned with the tzitzit.[6] The formulation communicates that the tzitzit are related to the garment in some fundamental manner. Wearing the garment creates the obligation to observe the mitzvah of tzitzit. What is the message in the relationship between the garment and its tzitzit?
So that you shall remember and perform all My commandments and you shall be sacred to your L-rd. I am Hashem, your L-rd, Who took you out of the Land of Egypt to be your L-rd; I am Hashem, your L-rd. (Sefer BaMidbar 15:40-41)
VII. The uses of wealth
Why is this emphasis on the garment important? The above passage explains tzitzit reminds us of the mitzvot and our obligation to observe them. Emphasis upon the garment adds nuance to this message. Our garment – representative of our material possessions – must be transformed into a vehicle for observance of the commandments. In other words, if the garment was not emphasized, then the tzitzit would remind us of our obligation to observe the mitzvot. However, with the emphasis on the garment, the message is expanded. Our material wealth must be enlisted in our commitment to observance.
This Torah section dealing with the mitzvah of tzitzit is part of the commandment of Kriyat Shema – the twice-daily recital of the Shema affirmation. Kriyat Shema affirms our acceptance of the “yoke of the kingdom of heaven”. Through recital of the three paragraphs of Kriyat Shema, we declare our acceptance of Hashem as our king and our absolute obligation to observe His commandments. In this context, the Tzitzit section communicates that our material wealth must be employed in a manner that is consistent with our service to Hashem – our King. The implication of this message is that if accumulation of material wealth and possessions is regarded as an end in itself, then one has compromised one’s acceptance of Hashem’s sovereignty. Conversely, through using one’s wealth in service of our obligation to observe the commandments we affirm our acceptance of Hashem’s sovereignty.
[1] Rav Yosef Karo, Shulchan Aruch, Orech Chayim 24:1.
[2] Rabbeinu Moshe of Kotzi, Sefer Mitzvot Gadol, Mitzvat Aseh 26.
[3] See: Rav Yaakov Emden, Mor U’Ketziah, Orah Chayim 24. Rav Emden suggests that the reasoning applied here to obligating oneself in tzitzit should be extended to other mitzvot. He cites shiluach hakan as an example. It is not clear from his comment to which mitzvot he would extend the SMaG’s principle. Obviously, he would not suggest that every person engage in divorce.
[4] Rabbeinu Moshe ben Maimon (Rambam / Maimonides) Mishneh Torah, Hilchot Tzitzit 3:11.
[5] See: Rabbeinu Mordechai bar Hillel Ashkenazi, Sefer Mordechai, Halachot Ketanot, chapter 945. Rabbeinu Mordechai explains that in Talmudic times it was customary to wear a four-cornered garment. Presumably, this was the practice also in the Biblical era.
[6] Does the practice of obligating ourselves in tzitzit obscure the relationship between the garment and its tzitzit? This depends upon one’s understanding of our practice. If one understands that he is obligating himself by dressing in the garment, then the relationship is preserved. One who believes that he is wearing tzitzit because the fundamental Torah obligation is to wear them every day, deemphasizes the relationship between the garment and its tzitzit. If follows that we should take care in training our children in this mitzvah. We should explain that we are obligating ourselves in tzitzit by wearing a four-cornered garment.