Musar על חולין 177:67

The commandment of ציצית fulfills a similar function. It is directed to all four directions of the globe, and the total numerical value of the word, adding the eight threads of the actual fringes plus the five knots we tie when attaching them to the garment, give us a total of 613, i.e. reminds us of all the commandments of the Torah. They also act as reminder of the Celestial Regions, a reminder of the soul which originates immediately beneath the "throne of G–d." Our sages in Chullin 89, have phrased it thus: "The blue wool resembles the ocean, the ocean resembles the colour of the sky, the sky resembles the purity of the sapphire, and the sapphire resembles the throne of G–d." We find therefore that this commandment is an instrument designed to refine the non-material, spiritual part of man, his נפש. The two prohibitions then are designed to prevent mental and physical excesses, to ensure that the Jew has a pure mind and body.

Therefore, I exhort you to train yourself to sit as much as possible, because the sin of the tongue is the most severe, as our Sages said (Tosefta Pe'ah 1): "These are the things...and lashon hara is equivalent to them all." I don't have to elaborate on this most serious sin of all. "All man's toil is for his mouth" (Koheles 6:7). Our Sages said that all man's mitzvos and teachings are not enough to counterbalance what comes out of his mouth. "What should be a man's pursuit in this world? He should be silent" (Chullin 89a). One must seal his lips as tight as two millstones. Idle words are like powerful weapons which can reach from one end of the world to the other. Now, this is true concerning mere excessive speech. Where forbidden speech is concerned - e.g. lashon hara, mocking, swearing, vowing, fighting and cursing - especially in the synagogue, and on Shabbos and Yom Tov - for every utterance of this type it is impossible to imagine the pain and suffering one will receive (Zohar)! No word is lost; everything is recorded. Winged beings attach themselves to everyone, recording all they say. "For a bird of the skies may carry the sound, and some winged creature may tell the matter" (Koheles 10:20). "Let not your mouth cause your flesh to sin, and do not tell the messenger that it was an error. Why should G-d be angered by your speech and destroy the work of your hands?" (ibid. 5:5). Purchase all your needs through a messenger, even if this would cost two or three times as much. "Is there a limit to what G-d can provide?" (Bamidbar 11:23). Hashem feeds all creatures, from the greatest to the smallest (see A.Z. 3), and provides all their needs. And on Shabbos and Yom Tov do not speak at all about things that are not urgent, and be brief even with what is important, for the Shabbos is very holy and our Sages barely permitted the exchange of greetings on it (Yerushalmi Shabbos, and Tosfos Shab. 113). See how strict they were concerning even a single expression! Continue to give great honor to the Shabbos as when I was there. Do not cut back [on your Shabbos] expenses, since "Man's entire sustenance [for the year is fixed for him from Rosh Hashana to Yom Kippur,] except [the expenditure for Sabbaths and Festivals,] etc." (Beitzah 16a).

To return to our main subject: that imperfections in this world are reflected by disturbances of the harmony in the Celestial Regions. The dislocation experienced by Jacob in his thigh joint had its impact in the "higher" world. If the episode foreshadows the destruction of the terrestrial Temple, it also foreshadows the negative vibes of that event felt in Heaven. Our sages state that the מצוה of ציצית alludes to all 613 commandments visually by means of the blue thread which symbolizes the sea, which in turn symbolizes the sky which in turn symbolizes the throne of G–d (Jerusalem Talmud Berachot 1, 2 on Numbers 15, 39). Our sages also hint that the examples quoted allude to three distinctions Israel acquired as a result of its cleaving to G–d. Jacob achieved these distinctions first and Israel later on.

Our sages of blessed memory said (Chullin 89a):"'who hangs the earth on nothing (belima)' (Iyov 26:7) - [the earth endures on the merit of] one who restrains (bolem) his mouth during a dispute". Namely, his nature has roused him to anger and through strengthening himself over it, he restrains his tongue.

They further said (Chulin 89a): "'It was not because you were greater than any people that the L-rd desired in you and chose you' (Devarim 7:7) - the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Israel, 'My sons, I desire you because even when I bestow greatness upon you, you humble yourselves before Me. I bestowed greatness upon Avraham, yet he said to Me, 'I am but dust and ashes' (Gen.18:27); Upon Moses and Aharon, yet they said: 'And we are nothing' (Ex.16:7); upon David, yet he said: 'I am but a worm and no man' (Tehilim 22:7)"

And there is stealing that is not considered stealing by the laws of people, but is considered stealing by the laws of heaven, such as one who decides in one's mind to enter in judgment with one's friend in order to collect money from the friend without doing violence, just because one's eyes deceived him, and one brings monetary damage to the friend, even without a fight or misuse, just by the simple emotion, having clean hands, and even if from the decision the friend would be forced to pay all, the spirit of the Place does not abide with him, and does this as a tax owed by the friend, one transgresses "love your neighbor as yourself" which is a general rule in the Torah, and it is in instances like this that they said "a person is known by their pocket" (Eruvin 65b). And according to the basic material, stealing is forbidden and the teshuvah is difficult, behold it says "one who steals even a cent from one's friend is likened to one who stole the soul from the friend, and the soul from the friend's sons and daughters" (Bava Kamma 119a) and while the stolen money is in one's hands there is no possible atonement, and it is very difficult to return food that was stolen (Chulin 99a). And behold a person who fears Hashem will be cautious and will guard oneself very much from anything that is forbidden in any aspect it can exist, and will deal all one's business faithfully, and even when a good opportunity appears, and those who sell are being stricken with harsh punishments, one will never extend one's hands towards stealing God forbid, because it is better for a person to die of starvation than to become an evildoer even for an hour in the Place's eyes, and "those who seek Hashem do not lack what is good" (Ps. 34:11) because God does not withhold good to those who walk in simple ways.

The Baal HaTurim draws our attention to the opening verse of our פרשה, and compares it with the last verse in the previous פרשה which speaks about performance of the commandments. He arrives at the conclusion that whereas the commandment has to be performed in this life, the reward for its performance, עקב, will have to await the Hereafter. Whereas the Baal HaTurim arrives at the same conclusion as the Talmud in Eruvin 22a where the word היום is stressed as opposed to the מחר, i.e. the Hereafter, when the reward is to be collected, he derives it from a different nuance in the text of the Torah. The reason may be that the Baal HaTurim found some problems with the exegesis of the Talmud. Had the interpretation of the Talmud been correct then all the Torah had to write in 7,11 is the whole verse without the word לעשותם at the end Furthermore, the Torah could simply have written לעשות instead of לעשותם. It seems therefore that the suffix ם is to contrast the difference between לעשותם and לעשותך. The difference between these two wordings is an allusion to the motivation which governs performance of the commandments. The Torah does not want us to perform the commandments for the sake of the eventual reward but לעשותם, for their own sake, i.e. לשמה. The fact that a new פרשה begins with the reference to the reward emphasizes that the reward is a corollary, a consequence of performance, but is not in a relationship of על מנת, "on condition that," to our performance of the מצוה. The humility implied in performance of the commandments on the basis of לעשותם (as we have explained the word) is further underlined by the Torah in 7,7: לא מרובכם מכל העמים .. כי אתם המעט מכל העמים, "It is not because you are the most numerous of all the nations that G–d took a liking to you….indeed you are the smallest of all the nations, etc." There was no need for the Torah to write that we are not the most numerous nation and to follow it up with the statement that we are the smallest nation. The last statement would have sufficed. The Talmud Chulin 89a concludes from this that the Torah's choice of language means that G–d likes us because, even when we are granted importance by G–d, we do not make this a pretext to become haughty, but we deprecate ourselves, behave humbly and modestly, ממעטים את עצמכם. This is reinforced in the lesson that Rabbi Levitas in Avot 4,4 urges us to heed: מאד מאד הוה שפל רוח, "Be exceedingly humble in spirit."

The Baal HaTurim draws our attention to the opening verse of our פרשה, and compares it with the last verse in the previous פרשה which speaks about performance of the commandments. He arrives at the conclusion that whereas the commandment has to be performed in this life, the reward for its performance, עקב, will have to await the Hereafter. Whereas the Baal HaTurim arrives at the same conclusion as the Talmud in Eruvin 22a where the word היום is stressed as opposed to the מחר, i.e. the Hereafter, when the reward is to be collected, he derives it from a different nuance in the text of the Torah. The reason may be that the Baal HaTurim found some problems with the exegesis of the Talmud. Had the interpretation of the Talmud been correct then all the Torah had to write in 7,11 is the whole verse without the word לעשותם at the end Furthermore, the Torah could simply have written לעשות instead of לעשותם. It seems therefore that the suffix ם is to contrast the difference between לעשותם and לעשותך. The difference between these two wordings is an allusion to the motivation which governs performance of the commandments. The Torah does not want us to perform the commandments for the sake of the eventual reward but לעשותם, for their own sake, i.e. לשמה. The fact that a new פרשה begins with the reference to the reward emphasizes that the reward is a corollary, a consequence of performance, but is not in a relationship of על מנת, "on condition that," to our performance of the מצוה. The humility implied in performance of the commandments on the basis of לעשותם (as we have explained the word) is further underlined by the Torah in 7,7: לא מרובכם מכל העמים .. כי אתם המעט מכל העמים, "It is not because you are the most numerous of all the nations that G–d took a liking to you….indeed you are the smallest of all the nations, etc." There was no need for the Torah to write that we are not the most numerous nation and to follow it up with the statement that we are the smallest nation. The last statement would have sufficed. The Talmud Chulin 89a concludes from this that the Torah's choice of language means that G–d likes us because, even when we are granted importance by G–d, we do not make this a pretext to become haughty, but we deprecate ourselves, behave humbly and modestly, ממעטים את עצמכם. This is reinforced in the lesson that Rabbi Levitas in Avot 4,4 urges us to heed: מאד מאד הוה שפל רוח, "Be exceedingly humble in spirit."