Tzitzis (ציצית) — The Fringes
Core definition
Tzitzis — the fringed threads commanded in Bamidbar 15:39, "v'hayah lachem l'tzitzis, u're'isem oso, u'zechartem es kol mitzvos Hashem" — is the mitzvah of remembrance: seeing the threads recalls all of Hashem's mitzvos. The Rebbeim expound its scope: "tzitzit = 600, with 8 strings and 5 knots = 613" — "tzitzit includes all 613 mitzvot" [31640/maamar_014 :: עב׳ 171–172]; "he remembers the mitzvah of tzitzit, which equals all the mitzvot" [31640/maamar_014 :: עב׳ 24]. It is the mitzvah by which "Yisroel be tied to the Torah is through seeing the mitzvah of tzitzis" [31682/maamar_027 :: עב׳ 274].
How the Rebbeim develop it
Chazal's etymology — "tzitzit is only the language of 'going out'" (yotze) [31640/maamar_014 :: עב׳ 155] — is read as revelation: "for tzitzit = giluy… the giluy of 'parisa d'malka' — Malchut" [31640/maamar_014 :: עב׳ 154–156]. The tallis and the tzitzis are "in the aspect of encompassing light and inner light (ohr makif ve'ohr pnimi)" [58837/maamar_055 :: עב׳ 289]: "'going out' (yotzei): that is, the revelation of the makif — and the revelation is specifically through the tzitzis, the aspect of Ohr Pnimi" [58837/maamar_055 :: עב׳ 356]. "The makif's essential light shines through the tzitzit" [31640/maamar_014 :: עב׳ 335].
Tzitzis's advantage lies in joining both levels: it combines "'l'vushih k'talag chivar' (His garment like white snow) and 's'ar reisheih k'amar naki' (the hair of His head like pure wool)" — the tallis-garment and the hairs [31640/maamar_014 :: עב׳ 323–324]. The tzitzis are "the aspect of the hairs that come by way of a leap" (dilug) — "because the essence is drawn in this" [31643/maamar_027 :: עב׳ 471–472]. Their composition is precise: "of the tzitzis are 32 threads, which are the 32 netivos chochmah (paths of wisdom)" [31682/maamar_027 :: עב׳ 212]. And the threads must be separate: "the mitzvah of tzitzis is that the threads be separate from the tallis, and they tie them to the tallis; and if the threads were drawn from the tallis itself, they would be invalid" [31682/maamar_027 :: עב׳ 241] — for the light they carry does not derive from the garment.
The drawing through tzitzis is "the drawing of the aspect of Chochmah into the aspect of the yesh, for the bitul of the yesh to be" [31643/maamar_027 :: עב׳ 502]. Its moral power is illustrated by Yosef: "the tzitzit slapped his face, and he was saved from sin" [31640/maamar_014 :: עב׳ 172–173]. Korach's error is read through it: his "derivation from the thread of techeiles, to exempt from tzitzis completely" [31643/maamar_027 :: עב׳ 552] mistook the particular for the whole — for "in Chochmah shines the giluy of the essential taanug" [31640/maamar_014 :: עב׳ 337].
Key distinctions
- Tallis vs. tzitzis: the tallis is ohr makif (the garment); the tzitzis are ohr pnimi — the revelation of the makif comes specifically through them [58837/maamar_055 :: עב׳ 289, עב׳ 356].
- Separate threads: the threads must not derive from the tallis itself — the revelation they carry is not of the garment's own substance [31682/maamar_027 :: עב׳ 241].
- 32 threads: the thirty-two threads are the thirty-two paths of wisdom [31682/maamar_027 :: עב׳ 212].
- "Going out": the name itself means revelation — the giluy of parisa d'malka, Malchus [31640/maamar_014 :: עב׳ 154–156; 31643/maamar_027 :: עב׳ 503–504].
- Dilug: the tzitzis-hairs come "by way of a leap" — the essence drawn directly [31643/maamar_027 :: עב׳ 471–472].
- Korach's error: exempting from tzitzis by the techeiles thread [31643/maamar_027 :: עב׳ 552].
Related concepts
- Tallis
- Techeiles
- Ohr makif and Ohr pnimi
- Dilug (leaping)
- The 613 mitzvos
- Chochmah
Sources
- 31640/maamar_014 — ויראו את אלקי ישראל: tzitzis equal to all mitzvos [עב׳ 24]; tzitzit = giluy [עב׳ 154–156]; tzitzit = 600 + 8 + 5 = 613 [עב׳ 171–172]; the tzitzit slapping Yosef's face [עב׳ 172–173]; both levels in tzitzis [עב׳ 323–324]; the makif's essential light through tzitzit [עב׳ 335]; the essential taanug in Chochmah [עב׳ 337]
- 31682/maamar_027 — והי' לכם לציצית (ספר המאמרים תש״ב): Bamidbar 15:39 [עב׳ 5]; 32 threads as 32 paths of wisdom [עב׳ 212]; separate threads [עב׳ 241]; tied to the Torah through seeing tzitzis [עב׳ 274]
- 31643/maamar_027 — Maamar 027: tzitzis as hairs by dilug [עב׳ 471–472]; Chochmah drawn into the yesh [עב׳ 502]; "going out" [עב׳ 503–504]; Korach and the techeiles thread [עב׳ 552]
- 58837/maamar_055 — Sefer HaMaamarim 5689, maamar 55: tallis and tzitzis as makif and pnimi [עב׳ 289]; the revelation of the makif through tzitzis [עב׳ 356]; tying to Torah through tzitzis [עב׳ 258]