BH

613 Mitzvot

TheTzitzit
from Harav Yitzchak Ginsburgh

Oneofthe613commandmentsistotieatzitzitoneachofthecornersofafourcornered
garment.
ThecommandmentoftzitzitappearsinthePentateuchinthefollowingverses:1
GodsaidtoMoshe:SpeaktotheChildrenofIsraelandsaytothem[that]theyshall
maketzitzit() onthecornersoftheirgarments,throughouttheirgenerations;and
inthetzitzit() onthecorner,theyshallplaceabluefiber.Theywillbeyourtzitzit
(
;) youwilllookatitandyouwillrememberallofGodscommandmentsandyou
will do them; and, you shall not follow your hearts and eyes, after which you
prostitute. So that you may remember and perform all my commandments; and you
willbeconsecratedtoyourGod.IamHavayah,yourGod,whobroughtyououtofthe
landofEgypttobeyourGod.IamHavayah,yourGod.
Note that in this paragraph, the Torah mentions the word tzitzit explicitly three
times,whereasusingapronountorefertoitwouldhavebeenjustassuitable(indeed,
pronounsareusedinsomecasesinthisparagraph).Itwouldbeappropriatethereforeto
see how the three explicit instances of tzitzit in the parshah correspond to some
Kabbalisticmodels.

Space, Time, and Soul

Thesimplestandmoststraightforwardmodeltowhichthesethreeinstancesoftzitzit
correspondisfromtheBookofFormation,andisknownasthespacetimesoulmodel.
Inthiscase,thecorrespondenceiseasytosee:
The 1st instance, make tzitzit on the corners of their garments, throughout their
generationscorrespondstotime(generations).
The 2nd instance, in the tzitzit on the corner, they shall place a blue fiber
correspondtospace(toplaceabluefiberonthecorner).Thesagesexplainthattheblue
fiber, known as the techelet triggers a cascade of images related to both physical and
spiritualspace,thetecheletissimilartothesea,theseaissimilartothefirmament,and
thefirmamentissimilartotheSupernalThrone.TheSupernalThroneinKabbalahisa
connotationforthe WorldofCreation.In Hebrew, thewordworld() stems from

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the word meaning concealed () , alluding to the fact that the Creator is concealed
(impalpable)intheWorlds.Ofthefourworldsusuallydiscussed(Emanation,Creation,
Formation, and Action), the description of World is explicitly related to the World of
Creation,thefirstlevelofconsciousnesswheretheegoshroudsGodspresence.
And the 3rd instance, they will be your tzitzit; you will look at it and you will
rememberallofGodscommandmentscorrespondstosoul(tolookandtoremember).

From Action to Emanation

The three explicit mentions of the tzitzit in these verses also suggest a progression
throughtheWorlds,beginningwithActionandendinginEmanation.Thiscanbeseen
byfocusingontheverbsaccompanyingeachoftheinstances.
) ,theverbistomake() ,whichinHebrewisthe
Inthe1stinstance(

sameverbasthatfromwhichstemsAction() .

Inthe2ndinstance(
) ,theverbistoplace(
) ,whichalludestothe

World of Formation, the level of consciousness in which there is an ongoing struggle

betweenthetwoinclinations,thegoodandtheevil(or,tousetheconceptualschemeof
the Tanya, between the Divine soul and the animal soul). The verb translated here as
theyshallplaceliterallyreadstheyshallgive.Thissameverb,togive,istheverbin
the verse Behold I have given before you today life and good and death and evil
chooselife!2Furthermore,thesewords,Andinthetzitzitonthecorner,theyshallplace
abluefiberinstructustoplaceabluefibertogetherwiththewhitefibersofthetzitzit.
The white of the tzitzit alludes to the good inclination while the blue alludes to the
power that God gives us to overcome our evil inclination. The value of this verb and
theyshallplace(
) is512,or29,alsoalludingtotheinherentdualitycharacterizing
thehumanpsyche.
) ,theverbusedistobe() ,whichalludestothe
Inthe3rdinstance(

WorldofCreation,theworldwererealitycomesintobeing(exnihilo).Thewordandit
shall be () , whose letters permute to spell Gods essential Name, Havayah (),
represents the reflection of the Almightys manifestation in the World of Creation (a
manifestation that originates from the World of Emanation). The two verbs in the
previous phrases were in the plural form, referring to those being commanded. This
verb is in the singular form and refers to the tzitzit itself, to its Divine potential. The
WorldofCreationistheworldofpotential,asexplainedinKabbalah.Notealsothatin
) ,meaning
thethirdinstancethewordtzitzitisprefacedwitharelationallamed(

foratzitzit.Basedonitsform(itistheonlyHebrewletterascendingabovetheroofof

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the others), the lamed is described as a tower soaring in the air, and alludes to the
motherfigureinKabbalahembodiedintheWorldofCreation.3
Immediately following the third instance of tzitzit, we read the phrase, And you
shallseeitwheretheit,literallyreferstothetzitzit.However,thispronounit( )
in Hebrew also means him, thus alluding to Him, i.e., to the Almighty as He is
revealed in the World of Emanation where our sense of self does not obscure His
Presence. Moreover, of the five senses, sight corresponds to the World of Emanation.
Thegrammaticalproximitybetweenthe3rdinstanceoftzitzitandthisphrase(Andyou
shall see it [Him]) illustrates how the supernal father and mother figures (which
correspondtotheWorldsofEmanationandCreation)arealwaysconnectedandnever
part.

Numerical Considerations
Thesumofthenumericalvalues,thegematriot,ofthethreeexplicitinstancesoftzitzit
(


)
is 1800. But, 1800 is also the value of just the 3rd instance with the
phrasefollowingit,whichwehaveseenascorrespondingtothetwocompanionWorlds

!) So the progression through the
of Creation and Emanation (

threelowerlevels(theWorldofAction,Formation,andEmanation)isincludedwithin
theunificationofthetwohighestlevels,theWorldsofCreationandEmanation.
1800isalsothedoublesquareof30,or1800=2302.30isthevalueoftheletterlamed
(), asabove.This illustratestwothings. First,thattheWorldofCreation, signifiedby
theletterlamed,extendsandispresent,asthepotentialinnerlifeforce,withinallthree
lowerworlds.Second,itillustratestheinterinclusionbetweentheWorldsofEmanation
andCreation.BeforewesawthatGodsessentialName,whichoriginatesintheWorld
ofEmanationisreflectedintheWorldofCreationintheverbitshallbe() .Nowwe
seethattheWorldofCreation,again,signifiedbythelamed,isfoundtounifyEmanation
andCreation.
Thefinallettersofthethreeexplicitinstancesoftzitzitequal1200,meaningthatall
theprevious(10)lettersofthethreewordsequal600(inthesecretofwholeandhalf),
thevalueofthewordtzitzitwhenwritteninfull,asweshallsee.

Moshe Rabbeinu and the Tzitzit

Thefilling4ofthethreeinstancesoftzitzitis
,anditsnumericalvalueis1976,7626,where76isthegematriaofservant()
and26isofcoursethevalueofHavayah.5Howshouldweunderstandthisfinding?

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Probablythebestknowngematriaaboutthetzitzitisthatitisrelatedtothenumber
613.Howso?Thegematriaoftzitzit(
) whenwritteninitsfullformis600(seethe
next section for more on this). If we add to this the 5 double knots and the 8 strings
found in each tassel, we get 613.6 This relationship provides a numerical depiction of
howlookingatthetzitzitremindsoneofGods613commandments.
Indeed, 613 is the value of Moshe Rabbeinu (
), providing an additional

level of contemplation of how the tzitzit connects us with the Torah given by Moshe
Rabbeinu. Indeed, Moshe Rabbeinu is described (consummately) as Gods servant7
() .And,asabove,thefillingofthethreeinstancesoftzitzitequalstheproductof
God(Havayah)andservant!Thus,contemplatingthetzitzitandkissingiteachtimewe
mention it in the morning Shema leads us to become one with Moshe Rabbeinu, the
consummateservantofGod,whoisessentiallyonewiththe613commandmentsofthe
Torah.

More on the Tzitzit and 613

Wenotedabovethatthegematriaoftzitzit(
) whenwritteninitsfullformis600.
But,aswehaveseen,inallthreeinstancesthewordtzitzitisspelledwithonlyoneyud
.
nottwo,likeso:

Still, there is a simple numerical equivalency here that needs to be highlighted.

The gematria of the three instances of tzitzit as it is written in the Torah (


) , which is equal to

)
is 1800, exactly the value of three times the full form (
600,and3600=1800!Thus,theteachingabouttzitzitand613isbasedontheaverage
valueofthethreeinstances.
Infact,thisideaisapparentintheformofthethreeinstances.Wenotedthatinthe
thirdinstanceanadditionalrelationallamed(),meaningfor,isaddedtotheword.If
wedivide30,thevalueofthisadditionallamed,inthree,weget10,orthreelettersyud()
whosevalueis10.Whenweaddayudtoeachofthethreeappearancesoftzitzit,then
eachwillnowbethefullformoftheword.
Let us go another step deeper. The final form of the letter mem () is equal to 600.
Thus,threefullformsoftzitzit(
) equalthreefinalmems.Thesagesrefertothefinal
memastheconcealedmem(memstumah),theletterofMashiach.Inaddition,accordingto
manygreattzadikim,theMashiachsspecialmitzvahtheonethroughwhichheshines
themostandhisconcealedessencebecomesrevealedisthemitzvahoftzitzit.
Oneexplanationforthisisthatthetwoletterrootoftzitzitissimplytwoletterstzadik
(),symbolizingthetwolevelsoftzadikpresentineveryDivinesoul.Thesetowlevels
arecalledthehighertzadik,thegiver,andthelowertzadik,thereceiver,asexplainedin

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Chassidic writings.8 When both levels are revealed and unified, they release the
Messianicpotentialofthesoul.
The gematria of each letter tzadik () is 90, or one twentieth of 1800. 90 is also the
value of three letters lamed (). In the three explicit instances of tzitzit there are 6
tzadiks, which, when interincluded each in each, total 36, corresponding to the 36
tzadikimofeverygeneration,whichrepresentthepotentialofthegenerationtomeritthe
comingofMashiach.

.Numbers15:3739.
.Deuteronomy30:15.
3.SeeindepthinTheHebrewLetters,pp.183,189
4.Therearetwopossiblefillingsfor,eitheror.Notethathere,itisfilledas.
5.Ifweaddtothethreeinstancesoftzitzitthefillingofthepronounit(
),whichwesaw
corresponds to yet a fourth level, , the total will come to 2506, or 7 times Mashiach
( ) .
6.SeeRashitoNumbers15:39.
7.Deuteronomy34:5
8. In the Torah, the archetypal figures of the higher and lower tzadik are Joseph and
Benjamin.
1
2

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