Tzitzis and tefillin as the two covenants of the soul

בפרשת ציצית במד' אור זרוע לצדיק כו'.

On the passage of tzitzis, in the Midrash: "Light is sown for the tzaddik" (Tehillim 97:11), etc.

The Sefas Emes opens the discussion of the mitzvah of tzitzis with this pasuk that the Midrash connects to it, where "light is sown for the tzaddik, and for the upright of heart, joy."

דידוע שיש תרי"ג מצות נגד רמ"ח אברים וגידים.

For it is known that there are 613 mitzvos corresponding to the 248 limbs and the sinews.

The 613 mitzvos parallel the structure of the human body — the 248 limbs (positive commandments) and the 365 sinews (prohibitions) — so that each mitzvah corresponds to a part of the person.

והיינו שנמצא הארות פנימיות בנפש ישראל וע"י המצות יכולין לעורר אלה ההארות.

That is to say, there are inner illuminations (haaros penimiyus) within the soul of a Jew, and through the mitzvos one is able to awaken these illuminations.

Because the mitzvos map onto the body, each mitzvah has the power to awaken a corresponding inner light that lies latent within the Jewish soul.

ואור זרוע לצדיק הוא בחי' ציצית דכ' בי' וראיתם אותו ודרשו חז"ל כאלו מקבל פני השכינה ע"ש בספרי ובגמ' מנחות.

And "light is sown for the tzaddik" is the aspect of tzitzis, concerning which it is written, "and you shall see it" (Bamidbar 15:39), and Chazal expounded: it is as though he receives the Shechinah — see there in the Sifri and in Gemara Menachos.

The "sown light" corresponds to tzitzis, for the Torah says "you shall see it," and Chazal taught that one who gazes at the tzitzis is regarded as if greeting the Shechinah — tzitzis is a mitzvah of seeing and of revealed light.

ולישרי לב שמחה הם תפילין כדאיתא בגמ' תפילין קא מנחנא.

And "for the upright of heart, joy" — these are tefillin, as it is brought in the Gemara, "I am wearing tefillin" (the joy expressed through them).

The second half of the pasuk, "joy for the upright of heart," corresponds to tefillin, as the Gemara records the joy bound up with the mitzvah of wearing them.

והענין הוא דיש ברית לשון וברית המעור והמה קבועים בנפש.

And the matter is that there is the bris of the tongue (bris lashon) and the bris of the flesh (bris ma'or), and they are fixed within the soul.

The Sefas Emes introduces two fundamental "covenants" rooted in the soul: the covenant of the tongue (speech) and the covenant of circumcision (sanctity of the body).

וכמו כן יש מצות אלו שמסייעין לאלה הבריתות.

And likewise there are these mitzvos that assist these two covenants.

Tefillin and tzitzis are the mitzvos that support and reinforce these two inner covenants.

תפילין כתיב בהו למען תהי' תורת ה' בפיך והם מסבבים הראש והוא תיקון ברית הלשון.

Of tefillin it is written, "so that the Torah of Hashem be in your mouth" (Shemos 13:9), and they encircle the head — and this is the rectification (tikkun) of the bris of the tongue.

Tefillin, worn on the head and linked to "the Torah of Hashem in your mouth," serve to rectify and elevate the covenant of speech.

וציצית תיקון ברית המעור לכן הם בחצי גוף התחתון ולכן איתא בספרי וגמ' שהצילו הציצית אתו התלמיד מעריות ע"ש.

And tzitzis are the tikkun of the bris of the flesh; therefore they are on the lower half of the body, and therefore it is brought in the Sifri and Gemara that the tzitzis saved that student from immorality (arayos) — see there.

Tzitzis, worn on the lower garment, rectify the covenant of bodily sanctity — which is why Chazal relate that a man's tzitzis literally rose up and saved him from sin.

וב' בריתות אלו הם בחי' פנימיות וחיצוניות.

And these two covenants are the aspects of penimiyus (inner) and chitzoniyus (outer).

The two covenants embody two dimensions: an inner, more spiritual one and a more outer, body-related one.

פי' ברית הלשון הוא רוחניי יותר מברית המעור והוא כח הנשמה כמ"ש ויפח כו'.

That is, the bris of the tongue is more spiritual than the bris of the flesh, and it is the power of the neshamah, as it is written, "and He breathed…" (Bereishis 2:7).

Speech is the more spiritual covenant, rooted in the neshamah that Hashem "breathed" into man — for Onkelos renders that breath as the power of speech, the soul's highest faculty.

וברית המעור הוא הנפש המשתתף בגוף.

And the bris of the flesh is the nefesh that is joined with the body.

The covenant of the flesh corresponds to the lower soul (nefesh), which is bound up with the physical body.

ובנ"י יש להם הארות בנשמה ובנפש הגוף.

And Bnei Yisrael have illuminations both in the neshamah and in the nefesh of the body.

Bnei Yisrael possess inner lights on both levels — in the lofty neshamah and in the body-bound nefesh — and the mitzvos engage both.

דכ' אתה הראת לדעת שניתן הדעת והראי' לבנ"י והדעת הוא פנימיות ביותר.

For it is written, "You have been shown to know" (Devarim 4:35), that both daas (knowledge) and re'iyah (seeing) were given to Bnei Yisrael — and daas is the most inner.

The pasuk pairs "being shown" (seeing) with "knowing" (daas), indicating both faculties were granted to Bnei Yisrael; of the two, daas is the deeper, more inward power.

ועיין בזוה"ק ריש פרשת וארא.

And see the Zohar HaKadosh at the beginning of Parshas Va'eira.

The Sefas Emes directs the reader there for a fuller treatment of these faculties of knowing and seeing.

והראי' הוא בנפש הגוף.

And the faculty of seeing is in the nefesh of the body.

Re'iyah, sight, belongs to the lower, body-connected soul — the more external faculty.

והידיעה הוא בכח ברית הלשון.

And knowing (yediah) is in the power of the bris of the tongue.

Daas, the inner faculty of knowing, aligns with the covenant of speech — the more spiritual covenant, served by tefillin.

וראי' בכח ברית המעור כדכ' יראה כל זכורך כו'.

And seeing is in the power of the bris of the flesh, as it is written, "all your males shall appear/be seen" (Shemos 23:17).

Re'iyah aligns with the covenant of the flesh, hinted at by the mitzvah of "appearing" before Hashem, which the Torah ties specifically to the males.

לכן כתיב בציצית וראיתם כו' וזכרתם כו' שהוא בחי' ברית המעור כנ"ל:

Therefore it is written regarding tzitzis, "and you shall see… and you shall remember…" (Bamidbar 15:39), which is the aspect of the bris of the flesh, as above.

Because tzitzis is a mitzvah of "seeing," it corresponds to the faculty of sight and thus to the covenant of the flesh — the very covenant whose sanctity tzitzis protects, as in the story of the student saved from sin.

Summary: The 613 mitzvos correspond to the limbs and sinews of the body, each awakening an inner light within the Jewish soul. Tzitzis (the "sown light" of seeing, where one greets the Shechinah) and tefillin (the "joy" of the upright heart) correspond respectively to the two covenants fixed in the soul: tefillin, on the head and tied to "the Torah in your mouth," rectify the bris of the tongue — the inner, spiritual covenant of the neshamah and of daas; while tzitzis, on the lower body, rectify the bris of the flesh — the more external covenant of the nefesh and of re'iyah, which is why tzitzis is a mitzvah of "seeing and remembering" and guards a person from sin.