Tzitzis as the opening for the soul's light

לפרשת ציצית.

On the passage of tzitzis.

The Sefas Emes introduces his discussion of the parshah of tzitzis at the end of Shlach.

ועשו להם ציצית כו' והי' לכם לציצית.

"And they shall make for themselves tzitzis... and it shall be for you as tzitzis" (Bamidbar 15:38-39).

He cites the two phrases of the pasuk — first the making of the tzitzis, then "it shall be for you" — which he will read as two distinct stages.

ציצית הסתכלות כמ"ש במד' מציץ מן החרכים.

"Tzitzis" denotes gazing, as the Midrash teaches from "peering (meitzitz) through the lattices" (Shir HaShirim 2:9).

The word "tzitzis" is linked to "meitzitz," peering — Hashem peering toward us, and we gazing toward Him.

שורש הענין שנתן השי"ת לבנ"י מצות להאיר הלבוש של האדם רומז אל הגוף מלבוש הנשמה אבל ביצ"מ יצאו בנ"י מן ההסגר והמיצר ז"ש עומד אחר כתלנו משגיח כו' מציץ כו'.

The root of the matter: Hashem Yisborach gave Bnei Yisrael mitzvos to illuminate the "garment" of a person, which alludes to the body, the garment of the neshamah; but at Yetzias Mitzrayim Bnei Yisrael went out from the enclosure and the constriction — this is the meaning of "He stands behind our wall, watching... peering" (Shir HaShirim 2:9).

The body is the malbush (garment) of the soul, and mitzvos illuminate it. At Yetzias Mitzrayim Bnei Yisrael broke out of the "narrows" (meitzar) that confined them, allowing the inner light to "peer through."

שצריך איש ישראל להניח מקום ופתח שתאיר הנשמה בגוף.

For a Jew must leave a place and an opening through which the neshamah can illuminate the body.

A person must create an "opening" in himself — not be wholly sealed in physicality — so the soul's light can shine into the body.

וכמו מילה בגוף זה השער לה'.

And just as milah is in the body — this is "the gate to Hashem" (Tehillim 118:20).

Bris milah makes such an opening in the body, a "gateway" through which one connects to Hashem.

והנה כתיב פתחי לי אמרו חז"ל כחודה של מחט ואני אפתח לכם כפתחו של אולם.

And behold it is written, "Open for Me," about which Chazal said: like the eye of a needle, "and I will open for you" like the entrance of a great hall (Shir HaShirim Rabbah 5:2).

If a person makes even a tiny opening — like a needle's eye — Hashem responds by opening it wide as a grand hall.

ז"ש ועשו להם ציצית הפתח שיהי' מציץ מן החרכים, ולכן ציצית אפילו כל שהוא כדאיתא בספרי.

This is the meaning of "and they shall make for themselves tzitzis" — the opening through which one "peers through the lattices"; and therefore tzitzis is valid even in the smallest amount, as is brought in the Sifri.

The first stage — what man does — is to make even the tiniest opening, corresponding to the halachah that a minimal length of tzitzis suffices.

ואח"כ והי' לכם לציצית הוא הפתח שנפתח מן השמים.

And afterward, "and it shall be for you as tzitzis" — this is the opening that is opened from Heaven.

The second stage — Hashem's response — is the wide opening granted from Above once man has made his small one.

וראיתם אותו דרשו חז"ל כמקבל פני השכינה.

"And you shall see it" — Chazal expounded: like receiving the countenance of the Shechinah.

Gazing at the tzitzis is compared to greeting the Shechinah, the culmination of the "peering" toward Hashem.

והם כמו ב' ראיות שהי' בביהמ"ק כשם שבא לראות בא להיראות.

And these are like the two "seeings" that occurred in the Bais Hamikdash: "just as one came to see, he came to be seen" (Chagigah 2a).

The two stages of opening parallel the dual aspect of aliyah l'regel — coming to see Hashem and being seen by Him.

ורמז הד' כנפות כמ"ש פתחי לי אחותי רעיתי יונתי תמתי.

And the four corners allude, as it is written, "Open for Me, My sister, My beloved, My dove, My perfect one" (Shir HaShirim 5:2).

The four corners of the garment correspond to the four loving names by which Hashem calls Knesses Yisrael at the "opening."

וכמו כן רמז על ד' מלכיות אעפ"י שנתפזרנו בד' כנפות הארץ עכ"ז נשאר לנו פתח כמ"ש אפילו מחיצה של ברזל אין מפסקת בין ישראל לאביהם שבשמים.

And likewise they allude to the four kingdoms [of galus]: even though we have been scattered to the four corners of the earth, nevertheless an opening remains for us, as it is said, "Even an iron partition does not separate between Yisrael and their Father in Heaven" (Pesachim 85b).

The four corners also evoke the four exiles; yet even scattered in galus, the "opening" to Hashem is never sealed — no barrier can cut Bnei Yisrael off from their Father in Heaven.

וכמו שהי' במקדש ג"פ בשנה יראה והם ג' מיני הסתכלות.

And just as in the Mikdash one would "be seen" three times a year, and these are three kinds of gazing.

The three pilgrimage festivals of "seeing" in the Bais Hamikdash correspond to three modes of spiritual gazing.

כן רומז בג' הציורים של תכלת דומה לים וים דומה לרקיע ורקיע לכסא הכבוד שהם בחי' נפש רוח נשמה.

So too is alluded to in the three "depictions" of techeiles: techeiles resembles the sea, the sea resembles the firmament, and the firmament resembles the Throne of Glory (Menachos 43b) — which are the aspects of nefesh, ruach, and neshamah.

The ascending chain — techeiles to sea to sky to the Kisei HaKavod — maps onto the three levels of the soul, each gazing upward toward the next.

כי הנפש פושטת צורה ולובשת צורה ואין צייר כאלקינו ציור הגוף דומה לנפש ונפש לרוח ורוח לנשמה:

For the soul "removes one form and dons another," and "there is no Artist like our God" (Berachos 10a): the form of the body resembles the nefesh, the nefesh resembles the ruach, and the ruach resembles the neshamah.

Each rung resembles and ascends toward the one above it — body to nefesh, nefesh to ruach, ruach to neshamah — fashioned by Hashem, the supreme Artist, in a graduated chain reaching upward toward its Source.

Summary: Tzitzis is about "gazing" — making an opening so the neshamah can illuminate the body, the garment of the soul. Man's part is to make even the tiniest opening (hence tzitzis is valid in the smallest amount), and Hashem responds by opening it wide as a great hall. The four corners hint at Hashem's four loving names and at the four exiles, in which the opening to our Father in Heaven is never sealed; and the three shades of techeiles — sea, sky, Throne — mirror the ascending chain of nefesh, ruach, and neshamah, each gazing upward toward its Source.