Wednesday, July 9, 2008

korach mutiny #2

It seems that the Jewish body politic,despite its cultural resistance to visions, has its own unique vulnerability. The westerner's immaturity reflects itself in a desire to be taken care of by a seemingly powerful and beneficent leader in material affairs. Like a child, the immature nefesh yearns for the strong leader to magically release him from the effort involved in attaining his material needs in the realities of the causal world. The immature nefesh of the westerner wants to play, free of the mental focus and prudence needed to materially succeed.

While the Jews share the immaturity of wanting their needs to be attained magically, their focus lies not in immediate material need, but rather in the area of mind. The Jews desire a mental achievement and moral development attained without toil. This is the meaning of the area of tzizit that Rashi pinpoints.

לט וְהָיָה לָכֶם, לְצִיצִת, וּרְאִיתֶם אֹתוֹ וּזְכַרְתֶּם אֶת-כָּל-מִצְו‍ֹת יְהוָה, וַעֲשִׂיתֶם אֹתָם; וְלֹא-תָתוּרוּ אַחֲרֵי לְבַבְכֶם, וְאַחֲרֵי עֵינֵיכֶם, אֲשֶׁר-אַתֶּם זֹנִים, אַחֲרֵיהֶם. מ לְמַעַן תִּזְכְּרוּ, וַעֲשִׂיתֶם אֶת-כָּל-מִצְו‍ֹתָי; וִהְיִיתֶם קְדֹשִׁים, לֵאלֹהֵיכֶם

The significance of tzizit lies in “zechira” constantly remembering the immense effort needed to truly succeed in mental attainment and moral maturity. This “zechira” feature of tzizit is amplified by Chazal in Menachot 43b.

‮‘‬That ye may look upon it‮’‬‭? ‬‮—‬‭ ‬They require it for the following teaching‭: ‬‮‘‬‭ ‬That ye may look upon it‭, ‬and remember‮’‬‭, ‬that is‭, ‬look upon this precept and remember another precept that is dependent upon it‭, ‬namely‭, ‬the reading of the Shema‮’‬‭. ‬As we have learnt‭: ‬From what time in the morning may the Shema‮’‬‭ ‬be read‭? ‬From the time that one can distinguish between blue and white‭.‬ And another‭ [‬Baraitha‭] ‬taught‭: ‬‮‘‬That ye may look upon it and remember all the commandments of the Lord‮’‬‭: ‬this precept is equal to all the precepts together.8‭ ‬And another‭ [‬Baraitha‭] ‬taught‭: ‬‮‘‬That ye may look upon it and remember‭ . . . ‬and do them‮’‬‭: ‬looking‭ [‬upon it‭] ‬leads to remembering‭ [‬the commandments‭], ‬and remembering leads to doing them‭. ‬R‭. ‬Simeon b‭. ‬Yohai says‭, ‬Whosoever is scrupulous in the observance of this precept is worthy to receive the Divine presence‭, ‬for it is written here‭, ‬‮‘‬That ye may look upon it‮’‬‭, ‬and there it is written‭, ‬Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God‭, ‬and Him shalt thou serve.

‭ ‬ Our Rabbis taught‭: ‬Beloved are Israel‭, ‬for the Holy One‭, ‬blessed be He‭, ‬surrounded them with precepts‭: ‬tefillin on their heads‭, ‬tefillin on their arms‭, ‬zizith on their garments‭, ‬and mezuzoth on their door-posts‭; ‬concerning these David said‭, ‬Seven times a day do I praise Thee‭, ‬because of Thy righteous ordinances.‭ ‬And as David entered the bath and saw himself standing naked‭, ‬he exclaimed‭, ‬‮‘‬Woe is me that I stand naked without any precepts about me‭!‬‮’‬‭ ‬But when he reminded himself of the circumcision in his flesh his mind was set at ease‭. ‬And when he came out he sang a hymn of praise concerning it‭, ‬as it is written‭, ‬For the Leader‭; [‬with stringmusic‭;] ‬on the Eighth‭. ‬A Psalm of David‭ ‬that is‭, ‬concerning circumcision which was given eighth.

‭ ‬ R‭. ‬Eliezer b‭. ‬Jacob said‭, ‬Whosoever has the tefillin on his head‭, ‬the tefillin on his arm‭, ‬the zizith on his garment‭, ‬and the mezuzah on his doorpost‭, ‬is in absolute security against sinning‭, ‬for it is written‭, ‬And a threefold cord is not quickly broken;‭ ‬and it is also written‭, ‬The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear Him‭, ‬and delivereth them.

‭ ‬ It was taught‭: ‬R‭. ‬Meir used to say‭, ‬Why is blue specified from all the other colours‭ [‬for this precept‭]? ‬Because blue resembles the colour of the sea‭, ‬and the sea resembles the colour of the sky‭, ‬and the sky resembles the colour of‭ [‬a sapphire‭, ‬and a sapphire resembles the colour of]‭ ‬the Throne of Glory‭, ‬as it is said‭, ‬And there was under his feet as it were a paved work of sapphire stone,‭ ‬and it is also written‭, ‬The likeness of a throne as the appearance of a sapphire stone.

3 comments:

Rabbi Joshua Maroof said...

I think I see where you are going with this, since Korach had issues with the zechira mitsvot and believed that kedusha was easily and equally attainable for all Jews.

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks said...

Exactly. Next post we will work through the applications of this principle.

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks said...

R Maroof

We will also have to explain the specific issue of תכלת and it's
relationship to זכירה.