Tzitzis as the garment of inner light

בפרשת ציצית ובמד' אור זרוע לצדיק כו'.

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

He opens the discussion of tzitzis by invoking the Midrash that connects tzitzis with the hidden "light sown" for the righteous.

כבר כ' במ"א כי ציצית תיקון למלבוש שהוא הגוף לבוש הנשמה דכתיב כתנות עור שמקודם הי' הגוף רוחניי ואחר החטא צריכין לתקן זה הלבוש החיצון וע"י המצות יכולין למצוא הפנימיות שהיא כתנות אור.

I have already written elsewhere that tzitzis is a tikkun for the garment, which is the body — the garment of the neshamah — as it is written "garments of skin (ohr)," for originally the body was spiritual, and after the cheit one must rectify this outer garment; and through the mitzvos one can find the penimiyus, which is "garments of light (ohr)."

Playing on the homonym ohr ("skin") and ohr ("light"), the Sefas Emes explains that the body is the soul's garment. Before the sin it was a luminous "garment of light"; after the sin it coarsened into a "garment of skin," and the mitzvos — tzitzis among them — restore the inner luminous dimension.

לכן איתא ששקול ככל המצות מאחר שהוא בד' כנפות א"כ זה התיקון הוא עד סוף כל המקומות.

Therefore it is taught that tzitzis is equal to all the mitzvos — since it is on the four corners, this tikkun reaches to the furthest of all places.

Because the four corners correspond to the four directions of the whole world, the rectification of tzitzis extends to every corner of creation, making it equivalent to all the mitzvos.

וזה לבן ותכלת בחי' ב' לבבות יצ"ט ויצה"ר.

And this is the white and the techeiles — the aspect of the two hearts, the yetzer tov and the yetzer hara.

The white and blue threads correspond to the "two hearts" of a person, the good inclination and the yetzer hara, both of which must be brought into avodas Hashem.

ואלה התקונים שנתן לנו השי"ת שנוכל על ידיהם לתקן המקומות שצריכין בירור וע"ז מבקשין בכל יום והאר עינינו בתורתך ודבק לבנו במצותיך ויחד לבבנו לאהבה וליראה.

And these are the tikkunim that Hashem gave us, through which we can rectify the places that require birur (clarification); and for this we ask each day: "Enlighten our eyes in Your Torah, attach our hearts to Your mitzvos, and unify our hearts to love and fear Your Name."

The daily berachah before Shema is itself a request for these very tikkunim — to repair the "places" within us (the eyes, the heart) that need refining.

תש"ר מש"כ להאר עינינו כמ"ש בין עיניך למען תהי' תורת ה'.

The tefillin shel rosh correspond to "enlighten our eyes," as it is written "between your eyes, so that the Torah of Hashem may be in your mouth."

Each phrase in the berachah maps onto a mitzvah: "enlighten our eyes" is the tefillin of the head, placed by the eyes/mind.

ודבק לבנו הוא תפילין של יד שימה נגד הלב.

"Attach our hearts" is the tefillin shel yad, which is placed opposite the heart.

"Attach our hearts to Your mitzvos" corresponds to the hand-tefillin, worn against the heart.

ויחד לבבינו הוא בד' כנפות ציצית לבן ותכלת כנ"ל.

"Unify our hearts" corresponds to the four corners of tzitzis, the white and the techeiles, as above.

"Unify our hearts" is tzitzis — its white and blue threads unify the two inclinations of the heart into a single avodah.

שעין ולב הם מקומות שצריכין שמירה ועזר אלקים.

For the eye and the heart are the places that require guarding and the help of Hashem.

The eye and the heart are the gateways through which a person is drawn after sin, and so they especially need shemirah and divine help.

וע"ז נתן לנו המצות הללו כדכתיב ישלח עזרך מקודש:

And for this He gave us these mitzvos, as it is written, "He will send your help from the Sanctuary" (Tehillim 20:3).

Tefillin and tzitzis are the very "help from the Sanctuary" — Hashem's gift of mitzvos that guard the eye and heart and let a person find his inner light.

Summary: The Sefas Emes explains that the body is the garment of the neshamah — once a luminous "garment of light," coarsened after the cheit into a "garment of skin." Tzitzis, equal to all the mitzvos because its four corners reach every place, restores the inner light, its white and blue threads uniting the yetzer tov and yetzer hara. Together with tefillin, these mitzvos answer the daily plea to enlighten our eyes and attach and unify our hearts, guarding the eye and heart that most need Hashem's help.