Tzitzit Teaching
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Study Blessing בָרוְ אַתָה יהוה Baruch atah Adonai Eloheinu melech אֱלהֵינו מֶלֶך–הָעולָם ha’olam asher kid’shanu b’mitzvotav v’tzivanu la’asok b’divrei Torah, B’shem אֲשֶר קדְשָנו אמן Yeshua haMashiach Amein בְמִצְותָיו Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the וְצִוָנו לַעֲסק Universe, who has sanctified us with . בְדבְרי-תורה commandments, and commanded us to study words of Torah, In the name of Yeshua אמן the Messiah. Amein Tzitzit Tzitzit info and Halacha: The strings must be made either from wool, or from the same material from which the garment is made. Each string actually consists of two threads twisted together, and must be spun especially for the sake of Tzitzit. Only a four-cornered garment is required to have Tzitzit. A poncho, for example, requires Tzitzit. A regular button-down dress shirt does not require Tzitzit, because it only has two "corners" (in the front). Similarly, a t-shirt does not require Tzitzit, as it has no corners. However, if one would cut a slit up the sides of the t-shirt (so that a majority of the side is "open"), that would in effect create "four corners," and the t-shirt would require Tzitzit. Gematria Value The numerical value of "Tzitzit" is 600. Add to that the 8 strings and 5 knots on each corner, and you get 613 – the number of mitzvot in the Torah. #1 of #14 Prayer and Tzitzit: So the Shema has 3 parts to it, most of us coming into this walk only see the Shema as “Hear of Israel” the Shema prayer actually contains 3 parts: Part 1: Deuteronomy 6:4-9 4 "Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. 5 Love Adonai your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These words, which I am commanding you today, are to be on your heart. 7 You are to teach them diligently to your children, and speak of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down and when you rise up. 8 Bind them as a sign on your hand, they are to be as frontlets between your eyes, 9 and write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. Part 2: Deuteronomy 11:13-21 13 "Now if you listen obediently to My mitzvot that I am commanding you today—to love Adonai your God and to serve Him with all your heart and soul — 14 then I will give rain for your land in its season—the early rain and the late rain—so that you may gather in your grain, new wine and olive oil. 15 I will give grass in your field for your livestock, and you will eat and be satisfied. 16 Watch yourselves, so your heart is not deceived, and you turn aside and serve other gods and worship them. 17 Then the anger of Adonai will be kindled against you, so He will shut up the sky so that there will be no rain and the soil will not yield its produce. Then you will perish quickly from the good land Adonai is giving you. 18 "Therefore you are to set these words of Mine in your heart and in your soul. You are to bind them as a sign on your hand, and as frontlets between your eyes. 19 You are to teach them to your children, speaking of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down and when you rise up. 20 You are to write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, 21 so that your days and the days of your children may be multiplied on the land Adonai swore to give to your fathers, as long as the heavens are above the earth. and Part 3 that was in this weeks Parsha Shelach: Part 3: Numbers 15:37-41 37 Adonai spoke to Moses saying, 38 "Speak to Bnei-Yisrael. Say to them that they are to make for themselves tzitzit on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and they are to put a blue cord on each tzitzit. 39 It will be your own tzitzit—so whenever you look at them, you will remember all the mitzvot of Adonai and do them and not go spying out after your own hearts and your own eyes, prostituting yourselves. 40 This way you will remember and obey all My mitzvot and you will be holy to your God. 41 I am Adonai your God. I brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God. I am Adonai your God.” #2 of #14 The Shema is one of only two prayers that are specifically commanded in Torah (the other is Birkat Ha-Mazon -- grace after meals). It is the oldest fixed daily prayer, recited morning and night since ancient times. A lot of people in the Messianic movement want to put on Tzitzit and be quote on quote “Torah Observant” but many do not understand much about the Tzitzit, its purpose and how to treat Tzitzit as a holy garment. I want to point something out that on the 3 passages of the Shema we quote numbers 15 and what I want to show you here is interesting. After mentioning the Tzitzit and you shall place them on the corners of your garments and shall have Tekhelet - specific blue colour and non of this indigo or purple or dark blue or any of the other wacky colors people try make up as if the temple garments were just some random colours from their local spotlight store. It then states you shall look upon them that you will remember all the commandments of Adonai and you shall produce them or perform them, then translated as spy, in ;תור the Torah gives a warning, you may not be a tur Hebrew tur means "to visit a country in order to find something like the word tourist, its someone who wants to go touring to find a possible new location to live and be excited by the amenities etc. Follow/spy = Tur Hebrew: to spy out So when the 12 Israelites were sent out to spy but went out as tur’s to check but ” מְרגֵל - out the land, the correct word in Hebrew to spy is “meraglim instead tur is used, the leaders of Israel were sent out not as true merglim(Spies) rather they went out as tourists, this is why God was not really behind them going out and why He tells Moshe “Shelach Lecha” you yourself send them out or some versions say “if you please” or “on your behalf” #3 of #14 This is why the Torah give us a warning not to be a tourist after your heart and eyes and stray after them in Numbers 15:39. Here is another interesting aspect the Torah is saying, the tzitzit is so a person may not go astray and become a tourist and look at all the attractions of the world, but notice how the Torah says you may not stray after your heart and after your eyes, isn’t that in the wrong order? shouldn’t it be after your eyes as the eyes are the window of the soul and then the heart? no the heart here and has nothing to do with the ,לְבַבְכֶ֑ם - the Torah refers to Levavchem לְבַ - physical heart muscle its referring to the seed of your soul, the word Lev in Hebrew is not simply referred to as the physical heart and is not the seed of emotion, but rather its referring to the mind, the two hemispheres of the brain the left and right that represent the 2 tables and therefore a blind person has Evil inclination giving evil thoughts) like any other) יֵצֶר הַרע - a yetzer hara person and they can conjure up all sorts of things in there mind, and once we conjure up things in our mind we start to go astray after them and pursue them, the Torah says whatever you conjure up in the mind goes to the heart and makes you go astray after your eyes, by that its talking about the eyes of your soul and therefore the natural physical eyes will then pursue it, so first the mind has to conjure up a concept it goes to the heart and then we will pursue it in the physical. ,זָנָה - The Torah then states “prostituting yourselves” and uses the word zânâ or zanim in plural for the word zana meaning a prostitute, the Rabbis would explain when a man or woman become bounded to sexual intimacy without the intention of marriage they were then taken out of camp and classed as a zana(Prostitute), today when someone is not married and they shack up together and after 3 or 6 months of living together they now have the legal rights of marriage and in the courts can actually fight for half the possessions, this is crazy and encouraging bad behavior as the courts are saying they are married, however the Torah does not believe in such a concept, the Torah says if you are shacking up you are a zana - a prostitute. So back to the word tur The spies were sent out not as meraglim but like tourists they wanted to go see of the pleasures of the land, they wanted to see Walt Disney land, movie world and see what they could benefit from, and the Torah says the one who is a tourist is no different to a zana a prostitute, so what is the connection between a tourist and a zana, a zana is one who seeks out what benefits he has for himself, whats in it for me, and seek self gratification of the body, there is no difference in a tur, who wants to go seek our gratification for themselves and its indulgence.