Shabbat Parashat Shlach Lecha
Sivan 25th 5772
June 16, 2012
Shalom,
Tehilah, Yehudit and I had a wonderful time in Stamford during Shavuot, and it was a pleasure to see you all. However, shlepping a 10- month old baby across the world every 10 weeks has a price. One of the side effects is jet leg, which is difficult for a baby and not easy for her parents either! After spending the holiday in Stamford we traveled to Los Angeles to spend some time with Tehilah's grandparents. I do not know why, but for Yehudit, adjusting to the time zone in Israel is much more difficult than the adjustment to Pacific Time. Since we returned, being awake at unusual hours, I have taken full advantage of what our holy city has to offer at odd hours. You would be surprised how early and how late you can catch a minyan in Jerusalem! Yehudit joins me so that Tehilah can have some peace and quiet before going to the office. As you might expect from the daughter of a "professional davener," she is very knowledgeable regarding our customs in the prayer service. For example, she does not hesitate to add her voice to the conversations taking place around her. With much kavanah, she will close her eyes and fall asleep during the silent Amidah. However, her favorite part of the service is the recitation of Shema and parashat tzitzit. Since she learned a while ago to give kisses, I decided to use this new skill in a holier manner. Yehudit has been taught to kiss the tzitzit of my Talit during the recitation of the Shema, although she has yet to perfect the practice and sees my tzitzit as nothing more than a fancy pacifier! However, the practice of the mitzvah of tzitzit during the Shema, are interesting and worth exploring a little.
The source of parshat tzitzit is at the end of the Torah portion that we read this week. However, the various customs that have to do with tzitzit were formed much later.
The process starts during the blessing before the Shema i.e. Ahava Raba. While reciting the words "bring us in peacefulness from the four corners of the earth and lead us with upright pride to our land," we gather the four tzitziyot between the fourth and the fifth fingers of the left hand and hold them this way until parashat tzitzit. Then, at the beginning of parashat tzitzit we switch the tzitziyot from the left to the right hand, and when we say the word "tzitzit," we kiss the fringes. When we say the words "that you may see it," we look at them and at the end of the parasha, at the word "emet" we kiss them again. Some have the practice of moving the fringes across their eyes before each kiss, and the final kiss is on the words "forever and for all eternity," after which we release the tzitziyot. Some hold only the two tzitziyot and some do not hold nor kiss the fringes at all.
There is a specific reason for each practice. For example, we gather the fringes at that particular point because the four corners of our talit represent the four corners of the world, and the fringes represent us being gathered together by God as we ask for His blessing. We kiss the fringes because it is a way of showing affection for the mitzvah. We look at the fringes specifically when we recite God's commandment to "see it".
It seems to me that the mitzvah of tzitzit is in a way similar to the seder. In both cases we not only have visual aids, but we also have instructions about what to do and when to do it. Examination of the verse reveals that seeing the tzitzit is not the goal, but rather it is a means to achieve something else. Seeing will lead to remembering all of the mitzvot, and remembering will lead to observance. The Torah says, "va'asitem," "and you shall do them," meaning doing the mitzvot.
Sometimes, different people will "see" different things when the same thing is before them. However, one might be mistaken to "see" something other than the obligation to perform the commandments of God when we refer to this mitzvah. We use visual aids in important cases to ensure the "right" perspective. We do not want people to forget the Exodus from Egypt and mistakenly think that we are free today because of anything other than God. Similarly we do not want people to get confused about the meaning behind our practices; it is to ensure that seeing will lead to remembering and remembering will ensure observance. We can summarize this concept in one word: focus!
Someone in L.A (where else?) told me that Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie's kids fly with their parents often, and they have a solution for the problem of jet leg. If someone has their number or can ask them to divulge the trick, I would be most grateful.
Looking forward to seeing you all in shul on Shabbat.
Cantor Arik Wollheim
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