Chasidut for Menachot 86:1
האי אשר תכסה בה מאי עבדי ליה מיבעי להו לכדתניא (דברים כב, יב) על ארבע כנפות כסותך ארבע ולא שלש
for what purpose do they use the expression 'Wherewith thou coverest thyself'? - They require it for the following Baraitha that was taught: Upon the four corners of thy covering;<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Deut. XXII, 12.');"><sup>1</sup></span> four, but not three.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., a three-cornered garment is not subject to zizith.');"><sup>2</sup></span>
Kedushat Levi
Exodus 26,4. “you are to make loops made from blue wool;” this verse can be understood when we consider the following statement in the Talmud Sotah 17. “תכלת, wool dyed blue, resembles the ocean, which in turn is a reflection of the colour of the sky, which in its turn is a reflection of the throne of G’d.”
Speaking allegorically, when a person begins with constructing a building, he commences with an outline of the appearance of the finished building in his mind. After that he draws up plans for the building, and only as a last step does he proceed with the actual construction. When the building is complete it is assigned its original purpose, i.e. given to the person or persons who will inhabit it. In other words, the project has undergone four distinct stages. 1) original mental image of the project; 2) clarification of the details, etc. 3) translating thought into deed. 4) carrying out the intention which originally prompted the project. When the original mental image of the project is seen reflected after its successful completion, the person inhabiting this building will experience a sense of satisfaction and joy.
Speaking allegorically, when a person begins with constructing a building, he commences with an outline of the appearance of the finished building in his mind. After that he draws up plans for the building, and only as a last step does he proceed with the actual construction. When the building is complete it is assigned its original purpose, i.e. given to the person or persons who will inhabit it. In other words, the project has undergone four distinct stages. 1) original mental image of the project; 2) clarification of the details, etc. 3) translating thought into deed. 4) carrying out the intention which originally prompted the project. When the original mental image of the project is seen reflected after its successful completion, the person inhabiting this building will experience a sense of satisfaction and joy.
The Creator experienced similar feelings from the moment He had imagined the universe He was about to create and the creatures which He planned would live in the completed universe. Seeing that, as we pointed out repeatedly, the entire project called “universe” had been planned only for the sake of the Jewish people, it is clear that the Jewish people as the end-product loomed large in His thinking. It follows that as soon as the Jewish people realized that they had been the focal point of all of G’d’s endeavours, they would be filled with immense joy. If G’d performed so many overt miracles for the Jewish people, this was in order to convince them of their pivotal role in this universe. The author refers to a commentary on the word מגילה in the benediction read before reading the scroll containing the Purim story, in which he understood the word מגילה not simply as “scroll,” but as a revelation, i.e. מגלה i.e. revealing events and their purpose. The letter י in the word מגילה he understands as an allusion to the heavenly involvement, though it was covert, in all that happened at that time. He follows up by interpreting the word תכלת usually translated as “wool dyed blue,” as being a derivative of the word תכלית i.e. תכלת with the letter י added; this conveys the same idea as the letter י in the word מגילה as we just explained. When the sages in Sotah 17 referred to four sages of tracing back the end-product תכלת+י, they taught us about the four stages involved in creating the world, the four stages also paralleling the four letters in the holy name of G’d in the tetragram as well as the name spelled א-ד-נ-י. The final letter ה in the tetragram alludes to the stage of the actual building, whereas the first letters יה alludes to G’d’s thought processes, and the letter ו refers to the stage when the plans are drawn up. The name א-ד-נ-י refers to the completed product fulfilling its function, תכלית.
Speaking allegorically, when a person begins with constructing a building, he commences with an outline of the appearance of the finished building in his mind. After that he draws up plans for the building, and only as a last step does he proceed with the actual construction. When the building is complete it is assigned its original purpose, i.e. given to the person or persons who will inhabit it. In other words, the project has undergone four distinct stages. 1) original mental image of the project; 2) clarification of the details, etc. 3) translating thought into deed. 4) carrying out the intention which originally prompted the project. When the original mental image of the project is seen reflected after its successful completion, the person inhabiting this building will experience a sense of satisfaction and joy.
Speaking allegorically, when a person begins with constructing a building, he commences with an outline of the appearance of the finished building in his mind. After that he draws up plans for the building, and only as a last step does he proceed with the actual construction. When the building is complete it is assigned its original purpose, i.e. given to the person or persons who will inhabit it. In other words, the project has undergone four distinct stages. 1) original mental image of the project; 2) clarification of the details, etc. 3) translating thought into deed. 4) carrying out the intention which originally prompted the project. When the original mental image of the project is seen reflected after its successful completion, the person inhabiting this building will experience a sense of satisfaction and joy.
The Creator experienced similar feelings from the moment He had imagined the universe He was about to create and the creatures which He planned would live in the completed universe. Seeing that, as we pointed out repeatedly, the entire project called “universe” had been planned only for the sake of the Jewish people, it is clear that the Jewish people as the end-product loomed large in His thinking. It follows that as soon as the Jewish people realized that they had been the focal point of all of G’d’s endeavours, they would be filled with immense joy. If G’d performed so many overt miracles for the Jewish people, this was in order to convince them of their pivotal role in this universe. The author refers to a commentary on the word מגילה in the benediction read before reading the scroll containing the Purim story, in which he understood the word מגילה not simply as “scroll,” but as a revelation, i.e. מגלה i.e. revealing events and their purpose. The letter י in the word מגילה he understands as an allusion to the heavenly involvement, though it was covert, in all that happened at that time. He follows up by interpreting the word תכלת usually translated as “wool dyed blue,” as being a derivative of the word תכלית i.e. תכלת with the letter י added; this conveys the same idea as the letter י in the word מגילה as we just explained. When the sages in Sotah 17 referred to four sages of tracing back the end-product תכלת+י, they taught us about the four stages involved in creating the world, the four stages also paralleling the four letters in the holy name of G’d in the tetragram as well as the name spelled א-ד-נ-י. The final letter ה in the tetragram alludes to the stage of the actual building, whereas the first letters יה alludes to G’d’s thought processes, and the letter ו refers to the stage when the plans are drawn up. The name א-ד-נ-י refers to the completed product fulfilling its function, תכלית.
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