Shelach 5785 – Weapons of the Torah

Part I. The Battle and the Weapons

Born to Battle

We begin with the startling words of the Mesillas Yesharim in the beginning of the first perek.  He declares there that in this world every person must know that he is נִמְצָא בֶּאֱמֶת בְּתוֹךְ הַמִּלְחָמָה הַחֲזָקָה – that he finds himself  in the middle of a war; he’s fighting various battles that are threatening to destroy him, threatening to take him away from his purpose in this world. And your function, as long as you’re still breathing, is to be a בֶּן חַיִל, a warrior, who will fight the battles arrayed against you and thereby achieve your purpose.

Now, before we go on, it pays to quickly remind ourselves of what this purpose is, and what the enemy therefore is. In that same place the Mesillas Yesharim introduces us to a word that is uncommon in other seforim and that is the word שְׁלֵימוּת, perfection. That’s our goal in this world, he tells us, and that’s what we all should be aiming at. And he says there that הַשְּׁלֵימוּת הָאֲמִתִּי – the true perfection that a person is required to achieve in this world, הוּא רַק הַדְּבֵיקוּת בּוֹ יִתְבָּרַךְ – is to be joined to Hakadosh Baruch Hu.

The War Against Dveikus

Now, “to be joined to Hakadosh Baruch Hu” that’s a very general statement and it includes many things but most of all dveikus means that your mind should be connected to Hakadosh Baruch Hu. It means that you’re thinking always, aware always, of all the Torah principles, all the Torah ideals. That’s the overriding idea, the crux of all the different ways of clinging to Hashem – it means to fill your mind with thoughts of Him, to create for yourself a Torah Mind.

Now, because that’s the path to shleimus, that’s also the battleground of the milchama that the Mesillas Yesharim describes. It’s a war that threatens to get us lost in this world, in petty Olam Hazehdigeh things, instead of creating a mind of dveikus. Of course, such a war – a lifelong war – involves various battles, all types of enemies and dangerous encounters, and each battle has to be waged in its own particular way. But if we had to describe the war in general, we’d say that this world is trying to take your mind off of Hakadosh Baruch Hu.

And that’s why you’ll find people who do everything in life except think. Good people are willing to do a lot of good things but when it comes to this subject of thinking about the Borei Yisborach it’s not done. And we can’t readily blame them because the way the Mesillas Yesharim describes it, it’s a milchama chazakah, a very fierce war.

The Baddest Battle

The truth is, there’s no such thing as a war that’s not fierce; you’ll never find a battle that’s comfortable.  Ask any soldier and he’ll tell you that when bullets are whistling it’s very uncomfortable – he’d rather be anywhere else. Like once a soldier was dodging bullets and he said, “I wish I could be back in a good old American desert; lost in a desert, far away from civilization without anything to eat or drink. It would be a picnic compared to being here.” Because any war, whatever type it is, even if it’s not so fierce, is not easy.

But the Mesillas Yesharim adds that word for emphasis; he says it’s a milchama chazakah, a strong war.  It means that not only are bullets whistling but they’re coming like hail and it’s very difficult to dodge them. Because it’s אֵלָיו פָּנִים וְאָחוֹר  – it’s facing us from the front and also creeping up from behind.

You know, in a battle when a soldier finds himself facing an enemy and he’s able to overcome him – let’s say he shoots the enemy down or he causes him to flee – so the soldier knows that he can’t sit and take a rest now. Because what’s doing in back of him? Immediately, he has to turn around and confront a different foe.

And so on all sides you’re being attacked by ordeals that are pulling you away from this shleimus of thinking; thousands of different tests are crowding in on you from all sides. It’s work and children and neighbors and bills and your boss; it’s simchas and the opposite of simchas. The tests are constant – there’s always something knocking you out and keeping your mind occupied so that you’re distracted from the great purpose of life.

Tests Here, Tests There, Tests Everywhere

And so whether a person goes from poverty to wealth or from illness to health, from degradation to fame, from failure to success – or the opposite – it makes no difference.  He shouldn’t think that because those particular tests that he had until now stopped, therefore he’s not being tested any longer.  No!  Because he has to know that on every side new tests are crowding in upon him constantly. He is still being tested no less than before and his goal continues to be the same; הַשְּׁלֵמוּת הָאֲמִיתִּי הוּא רַק  הַדְּבֵיקוּת בּוֹ יִתְבָּרַךְ.

It’s like once somebody asked Rav Yisrael Salanter, zichrono levrachah,  when he was old and ailing.  They asked him how does he feel?  He said “Baruch Hashem, a little bit worse.” Because actually it makes no difference.  Whatever the state of a person is in this world, health or success or the opposite, business goes on as usual. Life continues precisely with the same function, the same purpose. It’s just different enemies, different battles, but the victory is the same: to create a mind that clings to Hashem.

Mitzvah Weapons

Now, we must know that Hakadosh Baruch Hu didn’t let us out into this world to face such a difficult war without arming us with powerful weapons. And because He is the One Who created the war, you can be certain that He knows exactly how to deal with all the exigencies of the war. And so when He provided weapons you can rest assured there couldn’t be any better ones — they’re manufactured by the best Manufacturer of military supplies that the world ever saw.  No manufacturer, not even Lockheed Martin, could provide such capable weaponry.

What are these ‘made to order’ weapons we’re talking about? You might be surprised at first when you hear this but it’s the mitzvos, the commandments of Hashem. Those are the sophisticated weapons that Hashem has armed us with to go out into battle.

Now, the non-observant I’m not even talking about now – it’s a pity on them because without mitzvos a person is completely lost. The ‘I am a Jew in my heart’ Jew who expresses his Judaism by eating knishes or giving money to the UJA is a rachmanus – he has no chance on the battlefield. They are like soldiers who go out to battle without any weapons. Nobody is capable of fighting off the enemy with knishes and bagels and lox!

But even the observant who possess the weapons, the shomrei Torah u’mitzvos who keep everything, but if they don’t know how to use them they’re also in danger. Here’s a soldier who goes out into battle and he’s armed with the most modern rifle and with hand grenades; he has every kind of sophisticated weapon draped over his body, hanging from his belt. But imagine now he runs into the midst of the battle and he neglects to use even one of his weapons. He has them but he doesn’t know how to use them!

The Military Industrial Complex 

It happens often by the way in underdeveloped countries. You know, some people say that the big munitions manufacturers, they are the ones who make wars; they foment wars in order to be able to sell weapons. In the South American countries, for example, they sent people to stir up wars, to overthrow regimes, and then they stood ready to supply both parties with weapons.  That’s what the Russians are doing in Africa, by the way. In Ethiopia, they’re selling weapons to both sides, to all the black tribes. Why not? It’s good business.

And so what happens? Let’s say the tribal leaders in central Africa buy Russian weapons – they pay good money for them and they quickly outfit some of their savages with modern weapons. And so the local villager who up until now was adept only with a spear is suddenly suited up for battle with a bazooka. And what happens? He runs into battle and tries to clobber the enemy over the head with that bazooka.

And so two tribes are battling against each other – on one side they’re using their guns like sticks and the other tribe, they’re throwing grenades but they don’t know you have to pull out the safety pin first. That’s what happens when people who are supplied with good weapons are not trained in how to make use of them. Absolutely it’s a weapon but it’s not being used as well as it should be. What good is a bazooka that could finish off a whole squad of enemies with one volley if you never pull the trigger?

Now, you shouldn’t laugh at that picture because we are in exactly the same situation; that’s what’s taking place with most observant Jews. Most Orthodox Jews are like soldiers who have been given effective weapons to fight the battle, only that they never learned how to use them. And that’s a tragedy because whether it’s true or not that the weapons manufacturers are creating the wars, one thing is surely true: this war we are talking about here is created by Hashem. And if He made the war and He provided the weapons of the mitzvos you can be sure He knows what He’s doing. All you have to do is carry them out.

Psychology of Mitzvos

Only that the mitzvos are not intended to be carried out! Of course they are but they’re not only for that. Doing, fulfilling everything with all its details that’s the first step, the bare minimum; but actually the mitzvos are given for the purpose of working on your psychology. They’re intended to be used in a way that will shape the minds of the Am Yisroel. And our job, therefore, is not to just wear these weapons of war, but to make use of them to stimulate our minds.

Oh, how great would the effect upon the Jewish nation be if once more they awoke and would understand the treasures that lie in the mitzvos! It would be glorious because that’s how we become prepared to face the world.

Suiting Up for Battle

We’d become adept at handling the mitzvos and every mitzvah would become a valuable weapon to help stave off the great enemy of dveikus. The mitzvos would become our weapons to overcome the stupor of hesech hadaas, of being beset by all the circumstances of life that the world is knocking us over the head with.

By means of the mitzvos we’d be suited up for the battle that is eilav panim v’achor and we’d be ready and able because we know that these  are the weapons that Hakadosh Baruch Hu has provided us. And so we’d add more and more thought to the mitzvos and achieve our purpose. That’s how the Jew will able to live a full life and to complete the purpose for which he was created; for shaping his mind and achieving the shleimus of הַדְּבֵיקוּת בּוֹ יִתְבָּרַךְ – clinging to Hakadosh Baruch Hu.

Part II. Utilizing the Weapons

The Soul of the Torah

Now, if you go outside and tell this to people they might argue with you. They’ll say a mitzvah is a mitzvah – you fulfill its details, all the halachos, and that’s already it, it’s complete. But that’s wrong because there’s a pnimiyus haTorah, the inside of the Torah that’s still missing. They’re missing out on the soul of the mitzvah.

Now, actually, in the days of old all this was understood. Everyone, each on his or her own level, wanted to benefit not only by doing the mitzvos, but they wanted to get the inner lessons of the Torah, the hidden realm. Only what happened? Some people overdid it. There were philosophers, thinkers, who were so intent in preaching this lesson to the multitude that sometimes because of their enthusiasm, they overstressed the pnimiyus, the inside of the mitzvah, and some of their listeners began to think that if the purpose of the mitzvah was to teach a certain attitude, a certain ideal, then we could dispense with the outward acts of the commandment.

Doing: The Torah System

Of course that’s a very big error. It’s an error for many reasons but one of the most important ones is that this is the system of the Torah – we do the mitzvos and our actions act as spurs, to remind us to think. That’s the Torah plan; Hakadosh Baruch Hu knows that’s how you’ll best inscribe the Torah principles into your personality – like I said earlier, the One Who made the battle knows best how to be victorious.

But there were those who made that mistake. “Why should we go through the trouble and expense of this and this mitzvah,” they said, “when the main thing is the pnimiyus? The soul of the mitzvah, that’s what matters to Hashem and I’ll fulfill that. I’ll think all the thoughts and that’s all I need.” It was an argument that some people made – why bother with the shell, the outer layer, when the real purpose is the fruit?

Thinking: The Torah System

Now we don’t understand that argument because we don’t appreciate the purpose of the mitzvos but for those who recognized the importance of the pnimiyus hamitzvos, such a thing could happen. And therefore there arose a certain tendency among a small number of people that the act is not so important and that we could dispense with the mitzvah itself.

Now, because of the to’im, because of those who made the mistake of thinking that the pnimiyus was enough, as a result there arose a counter effect and people began to say, “Forget about philosophizing. You see what happens when you philosophize; when you think too much about the message of the mitzvos, the mitzvos themselves become neglected. And so, let’s concentrate just on the deeds. Let’s emphasize the importance of doing the mitzvah and that’s all.”

And that’s why it became a practice not to philosophize too much – the Am Yisroel put all of its abilities into studying the technicalities of the mitzvos; exactly how to perform them with all the externalities became the interest of the nation – a holy nation of medakdikim b’mitzvos. It’s a pleasure to see!

Using or Abusing

However, what we’re learning now is that there’s a great loss in the over-reaction, in neglecting the principle of the pnimiyus of the mitzvos. You know, despite the fact that some people overdo the practice of breathing fresh air – some people are fresh air addicts and even in mid winter, they’ll open windows when they sleep and during the night they contract colds. They get up in the morning and they’re sick. But just because some people overdo it doesn’t therefore mean that we should avoid fresh air; it doesn’t mean that fresh air is bad. You just have to know, like they say in Yiddish, vu ein vu ois — you have to know how to apply it.

And so it’s necessary for us to return to this study – the practice of pnimiyus haTorah. That’s how the kadmonim, the ancients, did a mitzvah. They understood that our lives, our minds, are meant to be revolutionized by the mitzvos and they utilized them for that purpose. And so it’s a pity that we should take mitzvos that are intended to transform our personalities and instead we’re doing them as just mechanical motions; they’re still mitzvos but they don’t fulfill the ultimate intention of the One Who gave them to us.

Spirit of The Law

Now, before we get to the important weapon that’s mentioned in our parsha, we’ll mention a few examples just as illustrations, so that we should understand in which direction we’re heading. And we’ll begin with the mezuzah. In the Torah there’s a requirement that on the doorways in a Jewish house there must be a mezuzah – a Jewish homeowner is obligated min haTorah to inscribe on a piece of parchment two parshiyos of the Torah and place it on his doorpost.

Now, it’s true that when a person puts up a mezuzah and then forgets all about it he’s fulfilled the requirement of the Torah – he has discharged his obligation and the beis din cannot step in and force him to do more; they can’t even chastise him. Because the Torah was given to a multitude, to all types of Jews, and not everybody has the intelligence or the mental fortitude to make use of the mitzvah’s lessons all the time. Sometimes a person is not capable of more than the basic requirement and so as long as he’s willing to keep the laws of the Torah, we can’t demand much more of him. The rock bottom foundation of everything is that the din should be fulfilled.

Mezuzah for the Mind

But actually putting up the mezuzah is a very minor achievement in comparison to what the mezuzah actually must accomplish for a person. Because the Torah says, וְשַׂמְתֶּם אֶת דְּבָרַי אֵלֶּה – you should put these words of Mine, עַל לְבַבְכֶם – upon your hearts, וְעַל נַפְשְׁכֶם – and upon your souls … וּכְתַבְתָּם עַל מְזוּזוֹת בֵּיתֶךָ – and you should write them on the door posts of your homes (Devarim 11:20). It means that’s why we put mezuzahs on our doorways – in order to put these principles on our hearts and on our souls. So we see that the mezuzah is given for a purpose; what Hakadosh Baruch Hu really wants is that we should put these ideas into our minds.

The mezuzah is reminding us at all times, every time we go in and out, that we should never forget who we are. As a Jew walks into his house, he’s not walking into an Irish house. He’s walking into a holy house and his behavior has to be different than an Irishman. And when he walks out, the mezuzah is reminding him, “On the street you’re still a Jew. It doesn’t matter if it’s a Brooklyn street or a Yerushalayim street or a Tennessee street. You’re carrying the Torah of Hashem in your heart wherever you go.”

That’s how a mezuzah becomes a weapon of war; it’s his bazooka, his spear, that will take him to victory. And so if a man sinks to the lowest level and is satisfied with a mechanical observance, then even though he might be fulfilling the mitzvah, he is certainly transgressing the purpose of the Torah; absolutely he’s relinquishing the opportunity that the mitzvah affords him to battle this milchama chazakah.

Spouses Armed for Battle

Here’s a man coming back from work; he’s walking up to the door of his home and his nerves are ragged. Inside the house his wife has been dealing with little children all day long and her nerves are more jangled than his. And in one minute they’re going to have an encounter. And so he stops at the mezuzah for a moment and thinks, “Hashem echad.” Oh! That’s a man who knows how to use a mitzvah! He walks inside with the mezuzah in his mind and he saves the evening.

His wife too; as she is walking to open the door for him or to greet him she passes by the mezuzah – there’s a mezuzah in the kitchen – and so she looks at it and reminds herself of its purpose. And so both of them are armed now. They have weapons for this great battle, the milchama chazakah, of remembering their function in the world at all times.

Isn’t it a remarkable thing that people can live their entire lives without realizing what the mezuzah is saying? What a waste, a tragedy, it is when we go in and out, in and out all day long and we ignore that great expedient? Not only entering and exiting. Even if you’re sitting in your house, you can make use of that weapon. From time to time, look at the mezuzah and arm yourself. You’re eating supper? Look at the mezuzah for a minute. You’re sitting on the couch, take a look at the mezuzah. The mezuzah is not for the doorpost – it’s for you! And the more you take it from the door and put it into your head the more successful you are.

The Shabbos Mind

We’ll take another example. Shabbos! Ahh! Because what is Shabbos all about? Is it only about keeping all the dinim of Shabbos, of not doing melacha on Shabbos? Shabbos is the Day of the Torah Mind. That’s the purpose of Shabbos, to give you a mind.

Every melacha you can’t do, that’s for your mind, for thinking about Hakadosh Baruch Hu. Every time you pass a light switch and you don’t turn it on, you’re reminding yourself that on Shabbos Hashem rested from Creation. There are thirty nine kinds of work we don’t do; thirty nine demonstrations that Hashem stopped His work of creation. And so it’s a good idea, when you pass by the electric switch on Shabbos, to add the thought: “The reason I’m not flipping the switch is because I am demonstrating, I’m testifying, that Hashem made the world out of nothing in six days, and then He rested on Shabbos.”

Weaponizing the Shabbos System

When you feel your pockets Friday night before you leave to the synagogue, you don’t want to carry into the street, so add to that the thought, “Briyas haolam yeish me’ayin! Hashem is the Creator of everything.” That’s called weaponizing the Shabbos.

Whenever you come to an opportunity to refrain from a work of Shabbos, you’re thinking, “Shabbos means בְּרִיאַת הָעוֹלָם יֵשׁ מֵאַיִן – the world is made out of nothing.” It means other things too – we spoke about it here already; Shabbos means עוֹלָם חֶסֶד יִבָּנֶה and it means בֵּינִי וּבֵין בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל and other thoughts too but number one, Shabbos wants you to think, “Hashem made the world with His Word and His Word continues to keep everything in existence.”

The Shabbos String

And so if a person just ‘keeps’ Shabbos – even if he says “likavod Shabbos”, “likavod Shabbos,” it’s like a child whose mother sends him to the store and she says, “Don’t forget to buy eggs,” and she ties a string around his finger to be a reminder. And as he walks towards the store, he’s saying, “String, string, string, string, string.  I shouldn’t forget the string.”

When he comes to the store, the storekeeper says, “Yes, my child. What do you want?” So the boy picks up his finger and says, “Here’s the string.” The storekeeper doesn’t know what he means. The boy didn’t forget the string. He didn’t lose the string. He remained a shomer Shabbos.  He kept his mind on the Shabbos; wonderful! But what’s Shabbos for?  That’s a tragedy, to keep Shabbos and to forget that it’s for remembering the Creation of heaven and earth out of nothing. Shabbos means we’re laughing at the evolutionists, at all the universities!

The Kosher String

One more example before we start the subject – I can’t help myself. Kashrus! Ah, the tragedy of a nation that eats kosher food and doesn’t think all the time about what they’re doing, what they’re accomplishing. Kashrus is one of the most important of the weapons of the Jewish nation because listen to what the Torah says about this mitzvah.  וְהִבְדַּלְתֶּם בֵּין הַבְּהֵמָה הַטְּהֹרָה לַטְּמֵאָה – and you should separate between kosher and non-kosher. Why should you separate between kosher and not kosher? וָאַבְדִּל אֶתְכֶם מִן הָעַמִּים – because I separated you from the nations, לִהְיוֹת לִי – to be Mine (Vayikra 20: 25-26).

So Hakadosh Baruch Hu said that’s a reason. It’s not the only reason but it’s the first. “By saying you cannot eat the same food as they do, I am erecting a wall. Kashrus, that’s our mark of distinction. It’s a reminder. “You’re different! No television for you! No baseball games! No lashon hara! Open a sefer!” That’s what eating kosher is telling you: “You’re a different nation and so you have to think and behave differently.”

And so for the thinking person – for the one who understands that every mitzvah is a weapon to go out into the world with – so your mind is becoming a different mind altogether. That’s the purpose of the mitzvah; that’s how the mitzvah becomes a weapon in the hands of a Jew – by changing your personality, by transforming your mind.

Part III. The Ultimate Weapon

Speaking and Saying

Now, of all the weapons we’ve been given by Hakadosh Baruch Hu, the most all encompassing one is found in our parsha. Because if the mitzvos are our weapons – if every mitzvah is intended to remind us of Hakadosh Baruch Hu in one way or another – then the most effective weapon of all is the one that reminds us of all the mitzvos.

At the end of our parsha, Hakadosh Baruch Hu told Moshe Rabbeinu, דַּבֵּר אֶל בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל – Speak to the Bnei Yisroel, וְאָמַרְתָּ אֲלֵיהֶם וְעָשׂוּ לָהֶם צִיצִית – and say to them the commandment of tzitzis (Bamidbar 15:38). Now, it’s an interesting form of speech – “speak to them and say to them” – and it means something important. We’ll explain it like this. Dabber, speak, denotes the function of proclaiming. V’amarta, on the other hand, denotes the speaker’s intention; his thoughts and emotions – the pnimiyus.

And so Hakadosh Baruch Hu sent Moshe to the people not only to dabber, to speak about the mitzvah in general, but also, v’amarta – to say to them; it means to explain to them His intentions, to explain the purpose of tzitzis and the method of gaining the benefit of this mitzvah. Because it’s not enough that the nation should wear tzitzis, no. The lesson of the tzitzis has to be brought close to the people’s thoughts and emotions because that, after all, is the prime purpose of tzitzis: וּרְאִיתֶם אֹתוֹ וּזְכַרְתֶּם אֶת כָּל מִצְוֹת ה׳ – You will see it and remember all of Hashem’s mitzvos (ibid. 39).

Learning New Things

I was walking on Kings Highway once and they were doing construction work. As I passed by, the Italian foreman pointed to my tzitzis and asked, “What’s that for?”

I said, “It’s to remind us,” and I pointed to the sky.

“Oooh,” he said. He understood that. An Italian foreman understands that we’re wearing tzitzis to remind us of the One in the sky. It’s a pity that what the gentile understands is ignored by us; we know it too but we don’t utilize it.

You know, if I were talking to a group of college boys and girls, way out let’s say in Tulsa, Oklahoma and they would be hearing about tzitzis for the first time, so I’d take out tzitzis and show it to them and they’d be amazed. I would explain to them the purpose and it would be an interesting thing to them. The Jews wear a ‘reminder shirt’! They never saw it before, they never heard about such a thing, and so it would have an effect on them.

But when you talk to people who are all wearing tzitzis already so it’s very difficult for them to learn what it really means because they think they know all about it. Now, it’s true that they know it in a very dehydrated way, as mitzvas anashim melumadah, as habit, but they think they know it all already so they’re not so interested. If I spoke about the other pnimiyus haTorah, about sodos, so people would want to hear; but this pnimiyus, the more important secrets, they think they know it already.

Using the Weapons

But it can’t be helped! We must learn what the tzitzis mean! Otherwise we’re like foolhardy people going into battle without one of our biggest weapons. Certainly, we wear them every day! But if a person doesn’t use them, if he doesn’t look at them and listen to what they’re saying – לְמַעַן תִּזְכְּרוּ, in order that you should be reminded – then he shouldn’t be surprised that they don’t have any effect.

It’s like hanging a bazooka around the loins of that savage in Africa; it’s almost worthless because he doesn’t know what to do with it. And the same is hanging tzitzis on someone whose head is empty. Here’s a boy wearing tzitzis. Wonderful! Very nice! But he knows as much about the purpose of tzitzis as a beheima wearing tzitzis. He’s like a little calf wearing arba kanfos. And when he grows up he remains a big old ox that wears tzitzis.

Of course, he’s better than an ox because he gains a mitzvah, but he doesn’t gain what the mitzvah is intended for. Now it could be that bederech segulah, in some mysterious way, it does something. It could be that even without understanding how tzitzis works it accomplishes something in his mind; I wouldn’t know. But what I do know is that the true effectiveness only comes with learning how to make use of the weapons.

Seeing and Remembering

Chazal tell us (Menachos 43b) that שְׁקוּלָה מִצְוַת צִיצִית כְּנֶגֶד כָּל הַמִּצְווֹת – wearing tzitzis is as weighty as all the mitzvos. The question is, is it really? Is tzitzis as important as all the mitzvos? How can you say that? What about talmud Torah keneged kulam?

The answer is that it’s shekulah because tzitzis can remind you of everything. Tzitzis is the means of remembering: וּרְאִיתֶם אֹתוֹ – You look at it, וּזְכַרְתֶּם – and you’ll remember (Bamidbar 15:39). Now it doesn’t mean that it’s a mitzvas asei, that you have to look. There is one rishon who says that, but we follow those who hold that you fulfill the mitzvah just by wearing the tzitzis. But that’s the mitzvah without the neshama of the mitzvah. Because the purpose is לְמַעַן תִּזְכְּרוּ וַעֲשִׂיתֶם אֶת כָּל מִצְוֹתָי – that the tzitzis should bring you to remembering everything (ibid. 40).

In the olden days people looked at tzitzis that way because in those times if you were a Jew you learned how to handle your weapons. They learned pshat in tzitzis that way and so our kadmonim did that – they tied the tzitzis up with certain ideas. And so every day when they put on the tzitzis, they thought about a different commandment of the Torah and the tzitzis began to fulfill its function of reminding them. When you connect the tzitzis with certain ideas it becomes an effective weapon.

Let’s say tomorrow morning you put on the tzitzis and you look at them and you’re thinking, “I won’t get angry today. Anger is a sin and so today whenever I look at the tzitzis – not only mine; anybody’s – it’s going to remind me not to get angry.” That’s already a very great accomplishment. If you practice it up, so from now on you might remember when you look at the tzitzis not to get angry. It’s like having a good friend running alongside of you and trying to hold you back.  “Chaim, don’t do that. Don’t say that.”

Tzitzis for Women

Now ladies, don’t be impatient. The Torah is speaking to you too — the tzitzis are not just for men. וּרְאִיתֶם אֹתוֹ means everybody should see the tzitzis. The Gemara (Menachos 43a) says that a blind person is obligated in tzitzis because other people can see it. It means other people can become great from seeing a man’s tzitzis. נָשִׁים בְּמַאי זַכָּאִין – Women, with what do they merit the benefits of the mitzvah? בִּבְנַיְיהוּ וְגַבְרַיְיהוּ – By means of their children and their husbands (see Berachos 17a).

So here’s a mother with a lot of little boys in the house and she’s constantly seeing the children’s tzitzis; if she understands that it’s for her too so she’s getting greater and greater each time she sees them. Sometimes her husband and her children might be thinking nothing at all but she’s thinking about His mitzvos every time she sees the tzitzis and so in a certain sense she’s gaining more than they are because that’s what the tzitzis are for.

One Mitzvah At a Time

I was once passing through a place where Jewish glaziers were installing windows in a church — this was when I was in Europe. They were on top of a church putting in the glass panes and their long beards and tzitzis were flowing in the wind. I was walking by, watching their tzitzis and I was thinking, “Those tzitzis remind us that we went out of Egypt.” It wasn’t my tzitzis but I utilized them anyhow. You don’t need his permission for that.

It’s a good idea by the way. You should try that once – next time you put on tzitzis or see someone’s tzitzis, think that they’re supposed to remind you to remember that the Almighty took us out of Mitzrayim. Little by little you’re practicing identifying tzitzis with Yetzias Mitzrayim.

Then, after you are well grounded in that, so you’ll take another mitzvah and associate it with the tzitzis. Let’s say I look at my tzitzis and I remind myself that Hakadosh Baruch Hu said we should watch out for shaatnez; if you have a woolen suit make sure you don’t have any linen stiffening inside it because it’s shaatnez. After a while you get in the habit of reminding yourself of shaatnez when you look at your tzitzis.

Next, think about וְאָהַבְתָּ לְרֵעֲךָ כָּמוֹךָ, that you have to love your fellow Jew. A Jew who keeps mitzvos, he’s your brother and you have to love him. If he doesn’t keep mitzvos then he’s not your brother but as long as he’s achicha bamitzvos, who cares if he’s Hungarian or Lithuanian or Syrian; who cares where he came from, or even if he’s a rough fellow, you have to love him. And by looking at the tzitzis, you can train yourself in that ideal.

The Tzitzis Become Heavier

Now suppose you live in Boro Park or Meah Shearim; you’ll have endless opportunities because they have good Jews there and you’ll see tzitzis wherever you go. From time to time when you see tzitzis floating behind somebody’s garments, remind yourself of your purpose here. Think, “וִהְיִיתֶם קְדוֹשִׁים לֵאלֹקֵיכֶם – We are a holy people! We’re not a people that sanctions immorality.” The Jewish people hate anything that smacks of obscenity; anything that’s not nice, that’s not decent, is foreign to our nature. And if there are Jews who are proponents of wicked things, like toeivah rights and things like that, it’s only because they’re victims of the gentiles. A Jew by nature hates immorality!

You see tzitzis? It reminds you – never visit a house unless the husband is present at the same time. Never allow a man into your home if your husband is not around. Believe me it’s worthwhile if a Jew will think when he sees tzitzis that he can never be alone with a woman unless somebody else is present.

Keep on doing it and after a while tzitzis reminds you of the issur of yichud and about Yetzias Mitzrayim and shaatnez and they remind you to love your brother and to promote decency. Little by little, you attach more and more significance to the tzitzis until it’s shekula k’neged kol hamitzvos.

Of course don’t try and do everything at once when you leave here tonight but it’s homework for you — you have to make an effort to associate the mitzvos with the tzitzis because it won’t happen by itself. But once you make up your mind that’s what you want to do then haba letaher mesayin lo. You practice up every day and little by little you finally get to such a stage that when you see somebody wearing tzitzis – and everybody is – so ure’isem oso, you’ll see them, uzechartem, and you’ll remember, es kol mitzvos Hashem, all the commandments of Hashem.

Keep Fighting

Now, I understand that life is busy and that once you leave here you forget about the things I’m telling you. The milchama chazaka she’nimtzeis eilav panim v’achor is overwhelming and your thoughts are crowded with everything except for the important things. But that’s precisely why we need these weapons of war – they are our salvation, our path to victory.

And so, no matter how much ground you already yielded on the battlefield, you’re equipped now to regain that territory. And even if the battle continues to rain down a hail of bullets, no matter! A soldier who enters the battle and he received a wound he doesn’t say, “On well, there’s no use. I might as well get a bullet in the head and finished.” Oh no! He tries his best to continue fighting because as long as he’s alive, as long as he’s still breathing he still has the opportunity to be healed and fight to the victorious end.

The truth is nobody remains unwounded in this battle. אֵין צַדִּיק בָּאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר יַעֲשֶׂה טּוֹב וְלֹא יֶחֱטָא – There’s nobody who doesn’t make mistakes (Koheles 7:20). But there’s no mitzvah to go around collecting wounds. You pick yourself up and keep fighting.

The War Hero

And just like in this world when a soldier comes back from war, he wants to display his wounds to his friends. He wants to show that he’s a battle-scarred veteran, that he’s fought the battle and survived, it’s the same thing here. You’ll come to the Next World proud of your battle scars. As long as you’re using the weapons that were given to you to keep battling it’s all good. Because as long as we recognize the weapons of war that Hashem has given us and we use them to the utmost, we’ll remain alive – we’ll remain alive in both worlds.

And because our daily lives are full of such opportunities, that’s one of the secrets to achieving success in serving Hakadosh Baruch Hu. By utilizing the weapons of war the way He intended, that’s the path to victory. וְאִם יִהְיֶה לְבֶן חַיִל וִינַצֵּחַ הַמִּלְחָמָה מִכָּל הַצְּדָדִין – And if he will be a man of valor and he will win the battle that is on all sides, הוּא יִהְיֶה הָאָדָם הַשָּׁלֵם אֲשֶׁר יִזְכֶּה לִידָּבֵק בְּבוֹרְאוֹ – he will be the perfect man who will be worthy to cling to his Creator, וְיָצָא מִן הַפְּרוֹזְדוֹר הַזֶּה וְיִכָּנֵס בִּטְרַקְלִין לֵיאוֹר בְּאוֹר הַחַיִּים – and he will enter into the great banquet hall of Olam Haba to enjoy the splendor of the light of everlasting life (Mesillas Yesharim, Perek Alef).

Have A Wonderful Shabbos

Tapes: 123 – Torah of Heart | 201 – The Battle and The Weapons | 313 – Mitzvos and the Body | 449 – Hashem’s Two Testimonials | 735 – The Pesach Seder 3

Let’s Get Practical

Training for Battle with Advanced Weaponry

Every day this week I will begin my practice of bringing the mitzvos to life. Each morning, when I see tzitzis – whether mine, or of someone else – I will think of one of the taryag mitzvos, and I will try to associate that mitzvah with the strings of the tzitzis. When I am successful, I will move on to another mitzvah. In this way, I will be using the mitzvah of tzitzis for its intended purpose – to remind me of Hashem.