Life in Israel: No Spies in This Land...

No Spies in This Land...

Guest Dvar Torah

The Spies Who Came Out of the Blue by Dr. Aryeh Hirsch

" I am about to wrap my body in Tzitzit, so that my soul , my 248 limbs and 365 fibers be wrapped in the light of Tzitzit , which numerically equals 613 , the number of the Lord's commandments . And just as I cover myself with a Talit in this world , so may I merit rabbinical garb and a beautiful Talit in Gan Eden " . So begins the morning prayers , with the donning of the Talit and this prayer to wrap body and soul in Tzitzit . But why the idea of wrapping ( tit’teif ) and what is the connection to Gan Eden ? And why does is this Mitzva mentioned after the story of the Spies ?

The Netivot Shalom explains that one is wrapping ( l’hitateif ) one’s entire body in the Talit /Tzitzit, starting with the head ( with its “ eyes that see” ;Rashi, Bamidbar 15,39 ) and continuing down to the heart ( “ which desires “; Rashi again ) and then the trunk and legs. “ For the eyes and heart are the Spies ( Meraglim ) of the body “ ( Rashi, ibid ) . In the name of Midrash Rabba (Bamidbar 17, 6 ) , the Slonimer Rav ( page 82 ) quotes an analogy: “These Tzitzit threads are like the lifeline that the Captain of the ship throws to a drowning sailor ; the rope ties the main to his ship , and are his literal lifeline . As the Bible says : ‘ And all you that are linked to the Lord your God , live ( Devarim 4,4) ‘ “ .

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Life in Israel: No Spies in This Land...