Shlach Drash

In this weeks Parashat Schlach, we read about several occasions in which Bnei-Yisrael was not faithful and some times out right rebellious. The parashat ends with Hashem instructing Bnei-Yisrael to make tzitzit upon their garments to remind them of the mitzvot of Hashem so they will obey them and be holy for Hashem.

Holy Scriptures: Tree of Life Version Chapter 15

37ADONAI spoke to Moses saying, 38“Speak to Bnei-Yisrael. Say to them that they are to make for themselves tzitzit on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and they are to put a blue cord on each tzitzit. 39It will be your own tzitzit—so whenever you look at them, you will remember all the mitzvot of ADONAI and do them and not go spying out after your own hearts and your own eyes, prostituting yourselves.

For those that may not know tzitzit are fringes or tassels attached to the corners of a garment. Today these are commonly seen on tallit, commonly called a prayer shawl, and tallit Katan, a shirt like garment warn under an outer shirt.

In Luke 8 it is recorded that Yeshua wore them and it was through the tzitzit that a woman was healed after years of bleeding.

Holy Scriptures: Tree of Life Version Chapter 8

43And there was a woman with a blood flow for twelve years, who could not be healed by anyone. 44She came up from behind and touched the tzitzit of Yeshua’s garment. Immediately, her blood flow stopped.

As part of my wardrobe I wear tzitzit every day. It has surprised me, though it should not have, how Hashem has used the tzitzit to not just keep me obedient to his mitzvot but also those around me.

My first encounter wearing tzitzit was a blessing that was entirely unexpected. About 8 years ago I had decided to wear tzitzit everyday. After a few weeks, my youngest daughter who was almost 3 asked me “Daddy what are those?” pointing to the tzitzit at my side. I responded “Those are tzitzit.” She giggled as these phonetics are not common in English and it sounded funny to her. She then asked “Daddy why do you have tzitzit?” I responded with “To remind us of the commandments.” Then she asked “Daddy what are the commandments?” It was as if relief and extreme pressure hit me at the same time. Here is a defining moment in my daughters life. I have the opportunity to introduce her to the creator of the universe. I did not fabricate this moment. I did not set out this day to have this moment. I was simply obedient and Hashem gifted us this moment. With tears in my eyes I responded “The first commandment is Hashem alone is our God.” I do not know how many of you have tried to have a conversation with an almost 3 year old, but she listened the entire way as I listed each of the 10 utterances to her. To this day she can not tell you when she first learned about God, she has always known him.

Later as I would wear the tzitzits at work and they would be visible. Other people would ask me about them. I would tell them this story. I was never laughed at. No one ever scoffed. In fact when I walked in to a room, foul language stopped. People no longer told inappropriate jokes around me and crass stories came to an end.

One day I was assigned a project working with a coworker who had a reputation as one of the most confrontational and hateful people at work. In our very first meeting he snarled at me what was at my side. I shared with him the same story I just shared with all of you. His response was surprising. He cried. He said his wife had left him and taken the children and moved many states away. He only got to see them twice a year at most and he spent his time trying to teach them about God. He said what I shared with him was beautiful and he wished he could have experienced it.

From that day forward I was determined to wear my tzitzit. It was not about me only, it was about the world around me. Through being obedient to Hashem about some simple threads at my side I was experiencing first hand the Tikkun HaOlam the repair of the world.