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. Now the Torah goes back and repeats itself, So we have repetition here after the Torah says make Tzitzit and “it shall be a tassel for you to look at and 4 of 14 remember all the commandments”, and then after a warning about being a tourist - a zana the Torah repeats “So you shall remember and do all my commandments, and be holy to your God.” So what does this mean? its very important to understand whenever the Torah is superfluous - as in repeating itself to be more than enough, its not meaning the individual was not paying attention on the first time it was said so that you see it later on, no! If you were sleeping at the first time you read it you will be sleeping the next time you read it 2 lines later, it to teach us something important and this is why when we get to the verses about the tziztit that so many in the Messianic movement they think its just cool to put on tzitzit and yes is a Biblical commandment but we remove the holiness and the sanctity of the garment and forget its a Holy item to their God.

Prayer Shawl - צעיף תפילה Tallit Gadol The Tallit Gadol (often called tallit, for short) is a large white cloth with no hole in it. It is made to be worn specifically during morning prayers (hence the term "prayer shawl"). The idea of wearing a special tallit during prayer is because we mention the Torah commandment of Tzitzit during a focal point of the prayers, the Shema. The cloth generally and ideally have blue stripes, some have black, white, it should be made from pure wool. The tallit is worn draped over the shoulders, with two corners in the front and two in back

Immediately after reciting the blessing, the Tallit Gadol should be draped over the shoulders and then temporarily wrapped around the head a face cloth while its end is thrown over the left shoulder. The reason for throwing to the left is because we want the tzitzit to protect us against the desires of the heart, which is tilted to the left, as is written in Numbers 15:39 “not go spying out after your own hearts and your own eyes, prostituting yourselves” Parsha Shelach showed us that we should not go spying out after our own hearts and eyes as when they spied the land of Israel and they came back with negative report, so based off this idea they wear a prayer shawl to cover themselves in prayer so we do not go spying out after our hearts and eyes but rather focus on God and his will, the prayer shawl which when used to cover the head also creates a personal isolated space, a personal tent for prayer shutting out the world around you.

5 of 14 The garment is Rabbinical in nature, however its not just plucked out of thin air, its based of the verses in scripture and classed as a holy garment - a uniform used for prayer that is derived off a 4 corner garment as per Deuteronomy 22:12 "You are to make for yourself twisted cords on the four corners of the garment you wrap around yourself. And Psalm 104:1 Bless the Lord, O my soul! O Lord my God, you are very great! You are clothed with splendor and majesty, covering yourself with light as with a garment, stretching out the heavens like a tent. The Prayer Shawl is based off these 3 verses, to wrap around ourselves a 4 cornered garment, so to be a clothed in light with spender and majesty and not spy out during prayer but rather channel your heart towards God.

Mens Garment: Both the tallit katan(small under garment) and tallit gadol(Prayer Shawl) are male only garment when tzitzit are attached to them, as it uses the masculine word “Bnei-Yisrael” - The Sons of Israel. Numbers 15:38 “Speak to the people of Israel-[Bnei-Yisrael], and tell them to make tassels on the corners of their garments

Why only the Sons? cause it was the 12 “male” spies who went out and brought bad report and was a “man” picking up sticks, and the sin of the Golden calf was the “men” and therefore aimed towards the men only.

6 of 14 Prayer - תְפִלָה Tefillah To further this we look into the Hebrew language, praying and the connection it has to Yeshua. During prayer we say a prayer right before we say the Shema, its called Ahavah rabah ahavtanu - How deeply You have loved us Adonai, our God. This is a beautiful prayer we ask God to have grace and compassion, to teach us your Torah in order for us to understand, to comprehend, to learn, to teach and to absorb all the commandments, halfway through the prayer we make a pause and there is a custom to take the four corners of the tzitzit of the prayer shawl and wrap them around our fingers and say: Vahavi-einu l’shalom mei-arba kanfot haaretz, v’tolicheinu kom’miyut l’artzeinu. Ki El po-eil y’shuot atah, uvanu vacharta v’keiravtanu l’shimcha hagadol selah be-emet, l’hodot l’cha ul’yachedcha b’ahavah. Gather us in peace from the four corners of the earth and lead us upright to our land. For You, O God, work wonders. Truly, You drew us near to Your Great Name, that we might acknowledge You, declaring You One in love. Its saying gather us from the 4 corners of the earth, in this prayer we are asking for God to gather us in from the 4 corners of the earth(4 corners is an idiom for the furthest parts on earth to the land of Israel) So what we learn is the Tallit is not just a prayer closet/tent but also about the resurrection of the dead, every Jewish male when they come to pass, they are buried in there tallit, we see this with Yeshua who is wrapped in linen strips and buried in his tallit Matthew 27:58 He approached Pilate and asked for Yeshua's body, and Pilate ordered it to be given to him. 59 Yosef took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen sheet. and John 20:7 and the face cloth that had been on His head. It was not lying with the linen strips, but was folded up in a place by itself, its only when they see his tallit(translated as face cloth ie a prayer shawl to cover the face during prayer) folded up in a certain way they believed, John 20:8 Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; Its not because they seen Yeshua in person, as anyone could have taken the body, no they saw the folded up tallit and believed in the resurrection as every Jewish person does by being buried with a Tallit.

They interpenetrate this as a prayer shawl based on the fact that every religious Jew in the world gets buried in this same way from ancient 7 of 14 times and is a custom from “Jewish Law - Talmud” that they followed in the Brit Chadasha - John 19:40 40 Then they took the body of Yeshua and wrapped it in linen with the spices, as is the Jewish burial custom. So why are they following Rabbinical Jewish customs for burial of Yeshua? Cause its all about the resurrection and that is what the Tallit represents: “Quot” From chabad.com states the following on burial customs: “One of the most important elements of a proper Jewish burial is the Tahara, preparing the body by the Chevra Kaddisha for its final rest, until the “Resurrection of the Dead” in the era of Mashiach. There is no mystery to the Tahara. It is a simple, yet dignified ritual that allows the person to meet his Maker with the utmost respect and dignity. Unlike in other religions and practices, a Jewish person is not buried in his or her usual clothing. Similarly, jewelry or other adornments are not worn, one's soul and its spiritual rectification is far more important following death than any honor he could possibly get from his association with earthly possessions. Thus, the Jewish funeral emphasizes the spiritual and sublime over the physical and material. According to Jewish tradition, a deceased's body is dressed in plain white Tachrichim (traditional shrouds). These garments are hand-made from linen or muslin and are considered fitting for someone who is about to stand before G‑d in judgment. In addition to Tachrichim(White shrouds), a man is also buried in his Tallit (prayer shawl). The Tallit should be given to the Chevra Kaddisha before they prepare the body for burial. In the case that a man did not have his Tallit, the funeral home will usually provide one.”

So you might be thinking why a Tallit? whats the idea of this custom of burying someone in their tallit? Its means to bring us from the 4 corners of the earth representing the 4 corners of the garment, we are anticipating a resurrection and it don’t matter if you buried in Australia, Africa, Asia, etc we anticipate resurrection from the 4 corners of the earth or the furthest parts of the 8 of 14 earth, known in Hebrew as “Kibbutz Galuyot” - The ingathering of the exiles of Israel, The messiah is the in-gatherer of the exiles of Israel, known by the church as “the rapture” but in Jewish thought its called resurrection of the dead and the ingathering of the exiles of Israel. So again why get buried in his tallit and not a siddur(prayer book) so when he wakes up he will start blessing God? but they don’t put a siddur instead they wrap a tallit and thats it? this is strange as you don’t need a prayer shawl if you don’t have a prayer book. This is the reason why: The Mashiach has many names and titles in Judaism and they are based off his attributes and character he is called Mashiach Ben Yosef - the suffering servant, Mashiach Ben David - The ruling King, Metatron - The Angle of Hashem, Hakohen Hammashiach - The Anointed High Priest, Har Haggadol - The Great Mountain cause towers above the Patriarchs, is greater than Moses, and is above the ministering angels, TZE-mach tzad-DEEK - The Righteous Branch, to name just a few but he is also called Tal, the Pronounced)טלל word Tallit comes from the root Hebrew word T-L-L Tal) and means to do in Hebrew, it literally means “waiting to do the resurrection”, so in Rabbinical Judaism one of the names of the Mashiach is “Tal” and said as “The Power of resurrection in the merit of Mashiach” So by wearing a tallit with its 4 corners with the tzitzit on corners we are professing a believe in the resurrection of the dead from the 4 corners of the earth that comes from the power of the Mashiach. We believe in it so much that our garment we are buried with bare witness that we believe in the power of resurrection when it comes. So every day we live with this in mind that we believe so much in the ingathering of the exiles and the power of resurrection that we enwrap ourselves in it.

What is the function of Ztitzit? We get this in this weeks parsha The spies come back from spying out he land and brought destructive report and slandered, that was on the 9th Av(how do we know? cause of the types of fruit they brought back what season it was etc) that is a very destructive day in Jewish history some examples are the 1st and 2nd temple were destroyed on this day, the Holocaust began on this day etc, and we know that at the end of this Parsha there is a man who goes out and is caught picking up sticks on the sabbath and is put to death then the Tzitzit is mentions, there is a connection between the spies, the man profaning the Shabbat and the Tzitzit. First remember Torah repeating itself? you shall look at them and “remember” all the commandments, and repeats again and “remember” and reproduce. 9 of 14 :Blue Colour - תכלת Tekhelet Techelet is a specific color from a marine creature with deep meaning of the Sea, Heavens and Throne of God! is a “blue-violet”, or "blue", or "turquoise" it’s a תכלת :Tekhelet (Hebrew blue dye highly prized by ancient Mediterranean civilizations and mentioned 49 times in the Hebrew Bible/Tanakh. It was used in the clothing of the High Priest, the tapestries in the Tabernacle, and the Tzitzit (pronounced Ṣiṣit) affixed to the corners ,ציצית :tassels (Hebrew of one's four-cornered garment, such as the Tallit (garment worn during prayer, usually). In the Septuagint, tekhelet was translated into Greek as hyakinthos (ὑακίνθος, "hyacinth"). The color of the hyacinth flower ranges from violet blue to a bluish purple. Please note: Septuagint is only giving an example of the color not saying it came from a flower rather the range of the color spectrum from the flower in its translation. According to the Talmud, the dye of Tekhelet was produced from a marine creature known as the Chilazon. According to the Tosefta (Men. 9:6), This is a specific dye of blue produced from a creature referred to as a "chillazon" implying that no other blue dyes are acceptable (Tosefta). The Talmud recounts that the Chilazone appears only once in seventy years (Menachot 44a). After the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem by the Romans, the sole use of the Tekhelet dye was in Tzitzit and then the marine creature become extinct and why Jews today only have white Ztitzit without Blue stands.

Here are some examples of the Temple and Priest garments that were made from the same Tekhelet blue:

2 Chronicles 3:14 14 Furthermore, he made the veil of blue, purple, crimson yarn and fine linen with cheruvim worked into it.

Ezekiel 27:7 Of fine embroidered linen from Egypt was your sail, serving as your banner; blue and purple from the coasts of Elishah was your awning.

10 of 14 Exodus 25:4 blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen, goats' hair.

Exodus 26:1 “The Tabernacle" 1 “Moreover, you shall make the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine twined linen and blue and purple and scarlet yarns; you shall make them with cherubim skillfully worked into them.

11 of 14 The tekhelet is a sky blue color that is produced in Biblical times from a certain snail in the sea, and from the destruction of the Second Holy Temple this snail ceased to exists miraculously, however in the past 10 years miraculously this sea snail that the Talmud is talking about has started to come back. Can we see a pattern here of tekhelet blue from the Chilazon that was used in Temple times. Mashiach comes and restores Israel, temple is destroyed and the Jewish people are sent into exile from the land and no blue tekhelet is used or found, then the Jewish people gain its land back and approx. 50 years later this sea snail that was extinct magically starts to reproduce again! It was a colour that existed, then this colour ceased to exist after Mashiach and now the colour has been resurrected in a time when Israel has its land back! Can we see the Birth, death and resurrection of Mashiach in this tekhelet! Can we see our time is short and that things are happening, this blue use in the tzitzit will also be used in the 3rd Temple, the time of Mashiach is drawing closer! Interesting the stripes of tekhelet blue inspired the design of the flag of Israel, as it represents the boarders of Israel from sea to sea: Ex 23:31 from the sea of reeds (Red Sea) to the Sea of the Philistines (Mediterranean sea) and from the desert to the Euphrates River.

The Sea, Heavens and Throne of God The tekhelet represent the throne of Hashem, and we read in revelation that the throne of Hashem is connected to a sea of Glass Revelation 4:6 and before the throne there was as it were a sea of glass, like crystal. And around the throne, on each side of the throne, are four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind:

The Tzitzit colour represent the sea and the color of Gods throne. The Sages make an interesting comment, why we should look upon the tekhelet blue? when you look upon the Tekhelet its to remind us in a sense of the sea, the sea represents the Heavens (Blue sky) and the Heavens represents the throne of God. Exodus 24:10

12 of 14 10 and they saw the God of Israel. There was under his feet as it were a pavement of sapphire stone, like the very heaven for clearness.

See how the sea of glass in revelation is connected to the sea’s that are the boarders of Israel land and the sky that is the heavens above “and around the throne, and on each side of the throne are four living creatures full of eyes in front and back” just as we have to look on the tzitzit that sit on the front and back!

So it represents the throne of Hashem, and upon meditating and contemplating when looking at the Tzitzit in prayer the depth of your soul is automatically taken to the presence of Hashem, Gods presence in not just out there somewhere, there is a saying that sits above the Aron Kodesh(Torah Ark) that says “know who you stand before” and if there is any other time a person needs to know who they stand before its the time of prayer, in prayer a person can be reading the words of Torah but their mind is in drama somewhere that means they are missing the boat, so the idea is that the tekhelet is to draw the mind, the soul right to the throne of Hashem, even if there body is physically somewhere on earth and struggling, when we look on the tzitzit our soul has no limits cause the soul is a spark of Hashem - the spark of life, so the tekhelet is a point of contact that we draw upon to the presence of Hashem, this is why the Torah says “That you shall remember repeatedly and the key word to “produce” and when we connect to Hashem in prayer and you have kavanah (concentration) and connection to God that you are now a conduit of producing things in the earthly atmosphere by drawing down the presence of God. In this way, Tzitzit has a meta-physical "fringe" benefit, in helping to safeguard one from temptation and reminds us that God is watching, and our actions should reflect that realization.

So when we connect ourselves to God through prayer holding onto our tzitzit we can now start to produce good works on earth. So know who you stand before! cause if you are not producing change and drawing things down in the spiritual to be manifested in the physical realm, guess what you become… a Tourist on 13 of 14 earth, someone who seeks all the pleasures of the world but not producing any works and not drawing down the presence of God, rather you become a zana a prostitute of the world.

So to finish this: lets not be Tourists but rather conduits of Hashem to produce change in our life, change in our prayer life, change in our words and change in our action.

Todah Rabbah - Thank you very much! In Mashiach Yeshua!

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