Tzitzis and the inner point of remembrance

במדרש וראיתם אותו אור זרוע לצדיק כו' ראי' מביא לידי זכירה משל לנטבע בים ואוחז בחבל כו' כי לא דבר רק הוא כו' ע"ש.

In the Midrash on "and you shall see it": "Light is sown for the tzaddik…" — seeing brings one to remembering; a parable of one drowning in the sea who grasps a rope… "for it is not an empty thing…" — see there.

The Sefas Emes cites the Midrash on the mitzvah of tzitzis. It links "and you shall see it" to "light is sown for the tzaddik" (Tehillim 97:11), teaches that seeing leads to remembering, and brings the mashal of a drowning man clutching a lifeline, anchored in the posuk "it is not an empty thing for you" (Devarim 32:47).

פי' מדכתיב וזכרתם מוכח שיש בכל איש ישראל נקודה פנימיות לשמים ועל זה נאמר אור זרוע כו'.

The explanation: since it is written "and you shall remember," it is proven that in every Jew there is an inner point (nekudah penimiyus) toward Heaven, and about this it is said "light is sown…"

You cannot "remember" what was never there. The very command "and you shall remember" proves that every Jew already holds a hidden inner point connected to Hashem — and that buried point is the "light sown for the tzaddik."

וע"י המצוה יוכל האדם לזכור להתדבק באותו אור הגנוז בו כי זכירה הוא דביקות ולא תתורו כו'

And through the mitzvah a person is able to remember — to cling (l'hisdabek) to that hidden light within him, for remembering is attachment (dveikus); "and do not stray…"

The mitzvah of tzitzis awakens this memory, enabling a person to attach himself to the concealed light inside him. "Remembering," for the Sefas Emes, is not mere recall but dveikus — and that is why the posuk continues "and do not stray after your heart and eyes."

כי צריך האדם לחשוב עצמו תמיד כטובע בים שהסט"א ויצה"ר מסבבין אותו בכמה עצות וכשיודע זאת שהוא בסכנה ואוחז עצמו במצות ה' כדי להנצל נאמר אח"כ למען תזכרו.

For a person must always regard himself as one drowning in the sea, whom the Sitra Achra (the other side) and the yetzer hara surround with many schemes; and when he recognizes that he is in danger and grasps hold of the mitzvos of Hashem in order to be saved, it is then said: "in order that you remember."

This is the drowning-man mashal applied: the yetzer hara and the forces of impurity encircle a person like crashing waves. Once he realizes the danger and seizes the mitzvos as his lifeline, he reaches the level the posuk calls "in order that you remember My mitzvos."

וזכירה זו הוא פנימיות יותר שאין צריך לזכור ע"י מעשה כמ"ש מקודם וראיתם וזכרתם.

And this remembering is more inward (penimiyus), one that does not need to remember by means of an act, as was said earlier: "and you shall see and you shall remember."

The Sefas Emes distinguishes two levels of zechirah. The first, "see and remember," depends on a physical trigger — looking at the tzitzis. The second, "in order that you remember," is deeper and no longer needs any outward act to spark it.

רק תזכרו פי' להיות הזכירה בעצם האדם וזה לא יתכן רק באם הוא נקי מגשמיות והנקיון בא על ידי זכירה הראשונה הבאה ע"י המצות כנ"ל:

Rather, "you shall remember" means that the remembering becomes part of the person's very essence; and this is possible only if he is clean of physicality (gashmiyus), and that cleanness comes through the first remembering, which comes by means of the mitzvos, as above.

The higher zechirah is when remembrance of Hashem is woven into one's very being, needing no external reminder. But this is only reachable once a person has been purified of coarse physicality — and that purification itself comes from the first, mitzvah-driven remembering. The outer mitzvah cleanses, and the cleansing opens the way to the inner, essential dveikus.

Summary: The mitzvah of tzitzis works in two stages. The command "remember" proves every Jew carries a hidden inner point of light. Seeing the tzitzis sparks a first, act-based remembering that purifies one from physicality — and like a drowning man grasping a rope amid the yetzer hara's schemes, that mitzvah-anchored memory lifts him to a deeper, essential zechirah where dveikus to Hashem becomes part of his very being.