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A few months ago I was at DFW airport, waiting at an American Airline gate for a friend who was flying in for a visit, when a friendly gentleman walked over and discreetly told me that I had some strings sticking out of my jacket.
The “strings” to which he referred were the “tzitzis,” or “tassels” I wear under my shirt.
Hundreds of thousands of Jews throughout the world wear tzitzis each day. Tzitzis are placed on each of the four corners of a rectangular garment usually worn under the shirt. The tassels, which are partially wound and partially loose string, contain five sets of knots and eight strings on each corner.
The commandment for Jewish men to wear tzitzis is mentioned in Numbers 15:38-39: “And God told Moses: Speak to the sons of Israel and tell them to make tzitzis on the corners of their garments for all generations.”
The Torah then tells us an interesting reason for wearing them: “You shall see them and remember all the mitzvos and do them. And you shall not stray after your heart and after your eyes which have led you to stray.”
Clearly, tzitzis serve two functions: as a reminder of all 613 mitzvos recorded in Torah, and also as a buffer against the evil inclination. The words “after your heart and after your eyes,” our sages say, refer specifically to sexual temptation.
In the next paragraphs we will delve into the following points related to the mitzvah of tzitzis:
The mitzvah of tzitzis is unique: it is the only positive mitzvah that relates to our clothing. Clothing is worn and has been worn in nearly every civilization in history. It does not serve only as a protection from the elements, as even in tropical climates basic clothing is worn. Clearly, man’s need for a covering is of deeper significance.
The Torah illuminates the actual origins of clothing in the familiar story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Even. “They were both naked, the man and his wife, and they were not ashamed” (Genesis 2:25). God gave the first man and woman just one commandment: to not eat from the Tree of Knowledge. The Torah tells us that the serpent enticed them to eat the forbidden fruit, and, as a result, “they realized that they were naked” (Genesis 3:7). The commentaries explain the deeper meaning of the story: Before Adam and Eve ate from the Tree of Knowledge, the concept of “evil” was represented by the “serpent.” It was easily identifiable as a force outside of them, an option they could objectively choose or not choose. Once they ate from the forbidden fruit, however, evil took root within them. They now owned both a positive and a negative inclination. Their new and greater challenge was to recognize their evil inclination, and to overcome it by strengthening their positive drive.
This “evil inclination,” our tradition says, exists mainly in the area of sexual temptation (Zohar 3:15b). While human beings desire honor, power, food and drink, it is the sexual drive that most often brings people to forsake a value system they spend their lives fortifying, and ruin their families, careers, and legacies. This is not at all to say that physical intimacy is an evil thing. To the contrary, within the appropriate context of a committed marriage, physical intimacy is seen as an intensely meaningful and beautiful way of sublimating the love between husband and wife. But at the same time, when this drive is misused, it can be the most destructive and debilitating force in relationships and in society.
Before Adam and Eve sinned they were not embarrassed to be naked because sexual relations was a human need on par with eating and drinking - not a point of vulnerability. After they sinned, however, nakedness made them vulnerable to the potential of evil. That is why they felt a need to cover themselves.
The Torah says that God then made Adam and Eve clothing. This means that God provided them with a means of protecting themselves from the evil inclination.
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