Seeing the hidden Shechinah through tzitzis and bittul

חז"ל דרשו וראיתם אותו על השכינה שמי שמקיים מצות ציצית זוכה לראות פני השכינה כו'.

Chazal expounded "and you shall see it (u-re'isem oso)" (Bamidbar 15:39) as referring to the Shechinah — that one who fulfills the mitzvah of tzitzis merits to behold the face of the Shechinah…

Chazal read the verse's "and you shall see it" not merely as seeing the tzitzis, but as meriting a vision of the Shechinah through the mitzvah of tzitzis.

והסתכלות זה הוא כבוד מלכותו ית' שיש בכל דבר כדכתיב מלא כל הארץ כבודו.

And this "seeing" is the glory of His kingship that is present in everything, as it is written: "The whole earth is full of His glory" (Yeshayahu 6:3).

What one comes to perceive is the glory of Hashem's malchus that fills all of creation — the divine presence pervading every single thing.

רק שהוא נסתר.

Only that it is concealed.

This all-pervading glory is real but hidden from ordinary sight.

והאמת כי ע"י הביטול להשי"ת בכל לב שכן ענין עטיפה בציצית וראיתם כפשוטו הוא להיות כל החפץ והסתכלות האדם רק לראות ולהכיר כבוד שמו עי"ז יוכל לראות זיו יקרי'.

And the truth is that through bittul to Hashem with all one's heart — which is the meaning of wrapping oneself in tzitzis — "and you shall see" in its plain sense means that all of a person's desire and gaze be only to see and recognize the glory of His Name; through this he is able to see the radiance of His preciousness (ziv yekarei).

Wrapping in the tallis expresses wholehearted self-nullification before Hashem. When a person's entire wish and focus is to perceive Hashem's glory, he becomes able to glimpse the hidden divine radiance.

וכן איתא נחזי ביקרי' ויחזי לן סתרי' דאתאמר בלחישא.

And so it is stated: "Let us behold His preciousness, and let Him show us His hidden things, which is spoken in a whisper (be-lachisha)."

The Sefas Emes cites an Aramaic teaching: we seek to behold Hashem's glory and have Him reveal His concealed secrets — secrets that are conveyed "in a whisper."

פי' שיש הארה גנוזה בכל דבר רק שנסתר כנ"ל.

The explanation: that there is a hidden illumination within everything, only that it is concealed, as above.

Within every created thing lies a concealed holy light — the "secret" — hidden beneath the surface.

וע"י הביטול שנק' לחישא שמבטל כל ההרגשות להשי"ת כנ"ל חרש.

And through bittul — which is called "a whisper" (lachisha), for one nullifies all his [self-]sensations toward Hashem, as above — [becoming] silent/deaf (cheresh).

The "whisper" is bittul: a person silences his own ego and sensations, becoming as if deaf to himself, surrendering everything to Hashem.

ע"י זה מתגלה לו.

Through this it is revealed to him.

It is precisely through this self-silencing bittul that the hidden light becomes revealed to a person.

וזה פירוש דאתאמר בלחישא.

And this is the meaning of "which is spoken in a whisper."

The "whisper" through which the secret is revealed is the inner stillness of bittul.

וז"ש וראיתם אותו הוא האות שיש בכ"ד שהוא עדות על השי"ת כמ"ש ז"ל צבאות אות הוא בצבא שלו.

And this is [the meaning of] "and you shall see it (oso)" — it is the "os" (sign/letter) that is in every thing, which is testimony to Hashem, as Chazal said: "Tzevakos — He is a sign (os) within His host (tzava)."

Reading "oso" as "os" (sign), the Sefas Emes teaches that every created thing bears a divine "sign" testifying to Hashem. The name "Tzevakos" indicates that Hashem is the distinguishing "sign" within all His hosts of creation.

וכל צבא שמים וארץ נק' צבאיו שהם אות על מלכותו רק שנסתר בעוה"ז כנ"ל.

And all the hosts of heaven and earth are called "His hosts," for they are a sign of His kingship, only that it is concealed in this world, as above.

All of creation, the "hosts of heaven and earth," serves as a sign pointing to Hashem's sovereignty — a sign that remains hidden in olam hazeh.

וזכרתם כו' מצות ה' ועשיתם כו' ולא תתורו כו' למען תזכרו כו' שגם קיום המצות צריך להיות על כוונה זו כדי להתדבק בהשי"ת ולזכור תמיד שנברא רק לקיום רצונו.

"And you shall remember… the mitzvos of Hashem and perform them… and you shall not stray [after your heart and eyes]… so that you remember…" (Bamidbar 15:39-40) — that even the performance of the mitzvos must be with this intention: in order to cleave to Hashem and to always remember that one was created solely to fulfill His will.

The verses' progression — remember, perform, do not stray, remember — teaches that mitzvos should be done with the aim of attaching to Hashem and constantly recalling that our entire purpose is to carry out ratzon Hashem.

שזכרון הוא דביקות כמ"ש במ"א.

For "remembering" is [a form of] deveikus (attachment), as explained elsewhere.

To "remember" Hashem is itself to cleave to Him; remembrance and attachment are one.

גם פי' ולא תתורו כו' יהי' כדי לזכור להתדבק כנ"ל כי יוכל בר שכל למאוס בעוה"ז מעצמו ואז"ל אל יאמר אדם א"א בבשר חזיר רק אבי שבשמים גזר עלי.

Also, the explanation of "and you shall not stray…" is that [the avoidance of straying] should be in order to remember [and] to cleave [to Hashem], as above — for a person of intellect could come to despise this world on his own; yet Chazal said: "A person should not say 'It is impossible [for me to eat] pig's meat,' but rather 'It is possible, but my Father in Heaven has decreed upon me [not to].'"

One should refrain from forbidden things not merely out of natural distaste but in order to remember and cleave to Hashem. A purely rational person might reject worldly cravings on his own; but Chazal teach that the proper attitude is not "I have no desire for it" but "I do desire it, yet I abstain because Hashem commanded me" — making the abstention an act of attachment to Hashem.

וז"ש ולא תתורו כו' למען תזכרו כו'.

And this is [the meaning of] "and you shall not stray… so that you remember…"

The purpose of not straying is "so that you remember" — the abstention itself serves to keep one bound to Hashem.

וז"ש והייתם קדושים שהפרישה מגשמיות יהי' לאלקיכם כדי להתדבק בו כנ"ל.

And this is [the meaning of] "and you shall be holy [to your God]" (Bamidbar 15:40) — that the separation from physicality should be "to your God," in order to cleave to Him, as above.

Kedushah (holiness) here means separating from physical desire — but specifically "to your God," for the sake of attaching to Hashem, not as an end in itself.

כי באמת מה שבכח איש ישראל למאוס בגשמיות הוא ע"י שהוציאנו ממצרים כו' וזה שאמר אני ה' כו' הוצאתי אתכם מארץ מצרים כו':

For in truth, the power of a Jew to despise physicality comes from the fact that He took us out of Mitzrayim… and this is what is said: "I am Hashem… [who] brought you out of the land of Mitzrayim…" (Bamidbar 15:41).

The very ability of Bnei Yisrael to rise above physical desire is a gift rooted in Yetzias Mitzrayim, when Hashem freed us from bondage to materiality — which is why the parsha of tzitzis concludes by invoking the Exodus.

Summary: Chazal read "and you shall see it" in the parsha of tzitzis as meriting a vision of the Shechinah — the glory of Hashem's kingship that fills all creation yet remains concealed. Through wholehearted bittul (symbolized by wrapping in the tallis), when a person silences his ego in a "whisper" and directs his entire gaze toward recognizing Hashem's glory, the hidden inner light within every thing is revealed to him. Every created being is an "os," a sign testifying to Hashem's sovereignty. The mitzvos, and especially refraining from forbidden things, should be done not from natural distaste but in order to remember and cleave to Hashem ("I desire it, but my Father decreed against it"). This holy separation is "to your God," and the very power to rise above physicality flows from Yetzias Mitzrayim.