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Orchard of Delights
potential are activated. When a critical mass of individual sparks is
awakened, the energy of Mashiach will descend into the world.
One might think that to accomplish the mission of being a “light
unto the nations” it would be best for Jews to be scattered to the four
corners of the earth in order to spread the light. In truth, this is one
of the spiritual and mystical reasons for the exile. For the last 2,500
years the Jewish people have brought the light of Torah to every
corner of the globe and the influence on religion, law, ethics, literature,
music, art, philosophy, ethics, medicine, and so forth of each host
country and culture has been enormous. Nonetheless, Isaiah’s vision
is predicated on the light first emanating in a most concentrated
manner from Israel and Jerusalem and only thereafter spreading to
the entire world. As the ingathering of the exiles continues in our
day and a myriad of individual sparks subsequently return home,
the stage is being set for a new light of revelation and redemption to
shine forth from Zion.
Though the spies failed in their mission, ultimately the Jewish
people are destined to fulfill their purpose. Though the Jews wandered
for forty years in the desert, Joshua eventually led them into the
Promised Land. Yet returning to the Promised Land is not the goal
in and of itself, it is actually just the beginning of accomplishing
the true mission. For until the Jewish people establish a just and
righteous society based on the principles of Torah the light will be
shaded and cloudy. The new light in Zion will only shine fully when
righteousness and holiness radiate out of the Holy Land to illuminate
the entire world.
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negative situation. This thought process confirms the well-known
psychological truth that for many or even most people the known,
even if negative, is preferable to the unknown and the dangers that
lurk there. Though at first glance it may seem easy to judge many of
the people’s complaints in the desert harshly, if we take a closer look,
we can see ourselves very clearly in the mirror.
£The PaRDeS RevisitedThe PaRDeS RevisitedThe PaRDeS Revisited
££
The final section in Shelach contains the commandment to place
tzitzit (fringes) on all four-cornered garments:
And God said to Moses saying: “Speak to the children of Israel
and say to them that they shall make tzitzit on the corners of their
garments, throughout the generations. And they shall place upon
the tzitzit of each corner a thread of techelet (turquoise/blue). And
it will be to you tzitzit, that you may see it and remember all the
commandments of God” (Numbers 15:37-39).
Explaining why a turquoise/blue thread was placed on each corner,
the Sages taught that this color sets off a natural chain of associations
in its wearer’s mind, which ultimately leads to him focusing on God’s
throne of glory: “techelet” is similar to the [color of the] sea, the sea
is similar [to the color of] the firmament, the firmament is similar to
[the color of] God’s throne of glory” (Menachot 43b). Rashi, quoting
the Midrash, similarly explains that the tzitzit reminds the wearer
of all the commandments because the numerical value of the word
“tzitzit” is 600, and when the eight fringes and the five knots on
each corner are added to this figure, the total sum comes to 613, the
number of mitzvot in the Torah (Bamidbar Rabbah 18:21). Therefore,
the tzitzit remind the wearer of all the mitzvot.
Both these explanations view the mitzvah as symbolic and employ
associative techniques to explain the simple meaning of the text.
Though neither the Talmud nor Rashi explain every mitzvah in
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