Finding the hidden light within the physical body

בפרשת ציצית במד' אור זרוע לצדיק כו'.

On the parsha of tzitzis, the Midrash brings the pasuk "Light is sown for the tzaddik" (Tehillim 97:11).

The Sefas Emes opens by linking the mitzvah of tzitzis to the idea that Hashem has "planted" a hidden light within every mitzvah, waiting to be uncovered by the tzaddik.

דרש"י פי' ציצית לשון הסתכלות כמו מציץ מן החרכים ומצות ציצית היא הארה בגוף איש הישראלי כמ"ש ולא תתורו ובמד' העינים והלב מזנים את הגוף.

Rashi explains that "tzitzis" is a term of looking, like "peering through the lattices," and the mitzvah of tzitzis is an illumination within the body of a Jew, as it says "and you shall not stray" — and the Midrash says the eyes and the heart are the agents that lead the body astray.

Tzitzis is about a kind of seeing: it places a light inside the very physical body of a Jew so that the eyes and heart, which usually drag a person toward sin, are instead drawn toward kedushah.

למען תזכרו הה"ד לא דבר רק הוא מכם כו' ע"ש במדרש.

"So that you shall remember" — this is what is written, "It is not an empty thing from you" (Devarim 32:47); see there in the Midrash.

The Torah is not external or "empty" to us; the remembering it asks for reaches into a person's very essence, as the Midrash there develops.

ביאור הענין מדנק' זנות משמע שבעצם גוף איש ישראל הוא מיוחד לקדושה וע"י הזכירה מקודם דכ' וזכרתם כו' מצות ה' הגם שאין הגוף מתוקן עדיין כראוי מ"מ מועיל ע"ז ולא תתורו כו'.

The explanation of the matter: from the fact that straying is called "zenus" (adultery), it implies that in its essence the body of a Jew is designated for kedushah; and through the remembering that comes first — as it is written "and you shall remember… the mitzvos of Hashem" — even though the body is not yet properly refined, nevertheless the "you shall not stray" still helps.

Calling sin "adultery" implies an existing bond of holiness that is being betrayed — so the Jewish body essentially belongs to kedushah. Remembering Hashem's mitzvos first is effective at restraining a person from straying even before he has fully purified himself.

ואח"כ כשפורש האדם עצמו מהבלי עוה"ז אז למען תזכרו שהוא לשון נפעל ודביקות הזכירה בעצם האדם כדכתיב לא דבר רק כו' מכם כי היא חייכם היינו שיש חיות קודש בגוף האדם.

And afterward, when a person separates himself from the vanities of this world, then "so that you shall remember" — which is in the passive form (nif'al) — meaning the remembering becomes bonded into the very essence of the person, as it is written "for it is not an empty thing… from you, for it is your life" — that is, there is a holy vitality within the body of the person.

At the first stage remembering is an effort one makes; but once a person pulls back from worldly vanities, the remembering becomes second nature — it acts of itself, because there is a holy chiyus (life-force) embedded in the body that simply lives Torah.

והנה קודם החטא היו שניהם ערומים כו' ואח"כ כתיב ויעש כו' כתנות אור כו'.

Now, before the sin both of them were naked, and afterward it is written that He made… garments of skin/light (kosnos or).

Before the cheit (sin) of Adam there was no covering; afterward Hashem made garments — the physical body itself — which clothe and conceal the light of the neshamah.

והוא הגוף והמלבוש שמכסה הארת הנשמה.

And this is the body, the garment that covers over the radiance of the neshamah.

The body is a malbush (garment) wrapped around the soul, hiding its light from open view.

[והוא באמת שמירה להנשמה רק קודם החטא לא הי' צריך שמירה ואין כאן מקום להאריך].

[And in truth this is a protection for the neshamah; only before the sin no such protection was needed, and this is not the place to elaborate.]

The body-garment actually guards the soul. Before the sin no guarding was necessary, but he sets that point aside here.

לכן הציצית רומז לתיקון הגוף שהוא נקרא מלבוש להנשמה.

Therefore tzitzis alludes to the tikkun (refinement) of the body, which is called the garment of the neshamah.

Since the body is the soul's garment, the mitzvah of tzitzis — placed on a garment — points precisely to fixing and elevating the physical body.

אכן בנ"י זכו למצוא אור הגנוז במלבוש הזה וז"ש עומד אחר כתלנו כו' מציץ מן החרכים.

Indeed Bnei Yisrael merited to find the hidden light within this very garment, and this is the meaning of "He stands behind our wall… peering through the lattices" (Shir HaShirim 2:9).

Bnei Yisrael are able to discover the concealed Divine light even inside the concealing body; Hashem's presence "peers through the lattices" of the physical covering.

וחז"ל אמרו אפילו מחיצה של ברזל אין מפסקת בין ישראל לאביהם שבשמים.

And Chazal said: even a partition of iron does not separate between Yisrael and their Father in Heaven.

No barrier — not even the "wall" of physicality — can sever the inner bond between Bnei Yisrael and Hashem.

וזהו אור זרוע לצדיק שזרע הקב"ה בכל דבר מצוה והוא למצוא האור גם תוך המכסה והמלבוש כנ"ל.

And this is "Light is sown for the tzaddik" — that Hashem sowed light into every matter of mitzvah, and the task is to find that light even within the cover and the garment, as above.

Every mitzvah has a hidden light "sown" into it by Hashem; the avodah of the tzaddik is to uncover that light from beneath its physical wrapping.

והציצית הם התקשרות הגוף אל הנשמה פתיל תכלת דרשו חז"ל מה נשתנה תכלת שדומה לרקיע ורקיע לכסה"כ כו' דנשמות בנ"י גזירות מתחת כסה"כ והמצוה של ציצית לזכור אותה הנקודה קדושה שיש לכל נפש ישראל שנשלח בעוה"ז לעשות רצון בוראו.

And the tzitzis are the binding of the body to the neshamah; regarding the "thread of techeles" Chazal expounded: why was techeles singled out? Because it resembles the sky, and the sky resembles the Throne of Glory — for the souls of Bnei Yisrael are hewn from beneath the Throne of Glory; and the mitzvah of tzitzis is to remember that holy point that every Jewish soul has, having been sent into this world to do the will of its Creator.

The blue thread climbs from sky to Throne, recalling the origin of every Jewish soul beneath Hashem's Throne. Tzitzis reminds a person of his nekudah kedoshah (holy inner point) and his mission in this world: to carry out ratzon Hashem.

פתיל הוא לשון התקשרות כמו נפתולי כו'.

"Pesil" (thread) is a term of binding, like "naftulei" (wrestlings/entwinings).

The very word for the tzitzis thread connotes tying and connecting.

והיינו שיזכור האדם לקשר גופו לשורש נשמתו וע"ז רמזו חז"ל ועשו להם משלהם לקשר כל אחד כנף בגדו בשורש נשמתו שהגוף הוא בגד ולבוש להנשמה ובנ"י זוכין למצוא אור הגנוז תוך המלבוש דכתיב מה רב טובך אשר צפנת ליריאך ואיתא בזוה"ק פרשה זו וכי מי יגזול ויטול מן ידוהי דכתיב צפנת כו'.

That is, a person should remember to bind his body to the root of his neshamah; and to this Chazal hinted in "and they shall make for themselves from their own" — that each one should tie the corner of his garment to the root of his soul, for the body is a garment and clothing of the neshamah; and Bnei Yisrael merit to find the hidden light within the garment, as it is written "How abundant is Your goodness which You have stored away for those who fear You" (Tehillim 31:20); and the Zohar on this parsha asks: who would rob and take it from His hands, since it says "You have stored away"?

The mitzvah of tzitzis is a man tying his body back to the source of his soul. Hashem has "stored away" an abundant good for His yere'im (those who fear Him). The Zohar's question: if it is already hidden in Hashem's "hand," from whom is it being hidden?

והתירוץ הוא שהקב"ה גנז והטמין הרב טובך בעבור יריאיו שהם יחפשו וימצאו אור הגנוז מתוך ההסתר.

And the answer is that Hashem concealed and hid away that "abundant goodness" for the sake of His yere'im — so that they would search and find the hidden light from within the concealment.

The good is hidden not to keep it from us but precisely for us: so that those who fear Hashem will do the avodah of searching and discover the light within the hester (concealment).

וזהו ליריאיך בעבורם הי' כל הטמנה זו כענין לתת שכר טוב לצדיקים וכדכתיב טרף נתן ליריאיו פי' בזוה"ק שימצאו טרף מאתר רחוקא.

And this is "for those who fear You" — for their sake this whole hiding took place, like "to give good reward to the tzaddikim," and as it is written "He has given sustenance (teref) to those who fear Him" (Tehillim 111:5), which the Zohar explains to mean that they would find sustenance from a distant place.

The concealment is itself a gift, creating the opportunity for reward. The yere'im "hunt down" their spiritual sustenance from a far and hidden place — the searching is part of the gift.

ואיתא בספרי קודש המשל מהמלך שהטמין החפץ ומצוה לבנו שיחפשנו ומסייע לו באופן שיוכל לגמור בעצמו ושיהי' נקרא על שם הבן.

And the holy seforim bring the parable of a king who hid an object and commands his son to search for it, and assists him in a way that the son can complete the task himself, so that it will be called by the son's name.

A king hides a treasure and tells his son to find it, helping just enough that the son still does the finding himself — so that the achievement belongs to the son.

וכמו כן הקב"ה שזרע אור בעולם ושלח נשמת בנ"י בעולם ומסייע להם בכח התרי"ג מצות שהם נרות ועצות להאיר תוך החושך וזהו עומד אחר כתלנו [כתלנו דייקא שכל הכותל בעבורינו ולטובתינו כנ"ל] ולא תתורו כו' למען תזכרו.

So too Hashem sowed light into the world and sent the souls of Bnei Yisrael into the world, and assists them through the power of the 613 mitzvos, which are lamps and counsel to illuminate within the darkness; and this is "He stands behind our wall" — "our wall" precisely, for the whole wall is for our sake and for our benefit, as above — "and you shall not stray… so that you shall remember."

Hashem hides the light, sends down the souls, and equips them with the 613 mitzvos as lamps to find the light in the dark. The concealing "wall" is itself for our good, and tzitzis is one of those lamps: "do not stray, so that you will remember."

פי' שיהי' סור מרע כדי להיות מוכן לקיים מצות ה'.

Meaning, that one should "turn away from evil" in order to be prepared to fulfill the mitzvos of Hashem.

The "do not stray" of tzitzis is the sur me-ra (turning from evil) that readies a person to actively keep Hashem's mitzvos.

ובמ"א הארכנו:

And elsewhere we have elaborated.

The Sefas Emes notes he has expanded on this theme in another place.

Summary: Tzitzis is the mitzvah of "seeing" the holy light that Hashem sowed into every physical thing. The body is a garment that conceals the neshamah, yet Bnei Yisrael are able to uncover the hidden light within it. Like a king who hides a treasure so his son can find it, Hashem concealed His goodness specifically so that those who fear Him would search and discover their inner holy point — and the 613 mitzvos, tzitzis among them, are the lamps that light the way through the darkness back to the root of the soul.