Shelach Lecha 37-7

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Numbers 15:27-41

"Speak to the Israelites and say to them: 'Throughout the generations to come you are to make tassels on the corners of your garments, with a blue cord on each tassel. You will have these tassels to look at and so you will remember all the commands of the LORD, that you may obey them and not prostitute yourselves by going after the lusts of your own hearts and eyes. Then you will remember to obey all my commands and will be consecrated to your God. I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt to be your God. I am the LORD your God.'

Num. 15:38-41 NIV

What are the tassels for?

The tassels that Jewish men wear on their four cornered garments are a reminder of the commitment they have with the Eternal and His commandments. When the eyes want to go astray after impurity, the tassels are there as a reminder that the Jew is sacred, and that helps him avoid sin. The tassels are also a reminder of the departure from Egypt which means that the sons of Israel are not slaves anymore, not even of their eyes' desires; so, they are able to overcome their bad instincts with the help of the Eternal. The desire to be pure has to do with the certainty that the Eternal is my God and that I live for him, I am sacred.

Jews who live in real sanctity, not a fictitious one, will be the future teachers of the gentiles who will look to them eagerly when they see that the Almighty is with them in every aspect, also supernaturally. The moment in history will come, not far from now, when ten men from the nations will take hold of the hem of a Jew's garment – where the four tassels are – and will ask for help to walk with him, as it's written in Zechariah 8:23: “This is what the LORD Almighty says: In those days ten men from all languages and nations will take firm hold of one Jew by the hem of his robe and say, 'Let us go with you, because we have heard that God is with you.'” (NIVUK)

What will these men want? To walk with the Jew. But, why? Because they've heard that God is with the Jews. They don't want to try walking apart from the Jews anymore, following their own interpretations of the Scriptures, away from the Hebrew origins and the oral instruction. By holding the tassels they are acknowledging that the Torah was given to the Jew, and the Jew has the authority to teach Torah to the nations.

They are also acknowledging that the Eternal is with the Jews who fulfill the commandments and wear the tzitzit –ציצת  – tassels. The Jew received the written and oral Torah. That's why he is the only one able to teach the non-Jew how it should be fulfilled correctly so he can also walk with God.

To walk with a Jew who walks with the Almighty is a practical issue. It has to do with specific commandments and a disciplined conduct in all aspects of life. This doesn't mean that the non-Jew will have to fulfill all the commandments of the Torah, but that he is willing to be taught by the Jew about the commandments for him and how to obey them.

Heaven-fearing based discipline is one of the conditions for the supernatural to be constantly present. The Jew who knows how to fulfill the commandments correctly knows his God, and He is with him. That divine presence is attractive and it is the one that will eventually be able to help people from the nations to walk properly.

Shabbat shalom,

Ketriel