Rav S.R. Hirsch and the Symbolism of Tzitzis
The following exposition is based on Rav Hirsch's symbolic interpretation of the mitzvah of tzitzis as explained in Ateres Tvi - Jubilee Volume (1962, p. 95), as well as Horeb (1962, p. 269) by Dayan Dr. I. Grunfeld. The author, Daniel Adler, can be reached at danielyadler@gmail.com.
Background to mitzvos:
1. Unless a law states a reason for the law, all theories are just that - conjecture.
2. A law is always in effect, regardless of any theories as to its rationale.
While these rules apply to secular law, they kal vachomer, a fortiori, apply to Torah law.
Rav Hirsch, in letter 18 of The Nineteen Letters (1995, Feldheim Edition, p. 271 - footnote “d”[1]), explains that when we examine rules in nature, regardless of any theories that we may have, the natural phenomena that we see remains. When one examines the ideas behind the mitzvos, the same rule applies; God is both the cause of the Torah and of Nature - and both are immutable. Just as in nature facts remain regardless of theories or conclusions, so to Torah law - it remains in full force even if we do not understand the law that is under examination.
There are three ways to understand the ideas behind mitzvos:
1. Ethical - this methodology is most clearly advanced by Rambam. This approach is rooted in the fact that all mitzvos are meant to make one holy - to reach moral perfection. We know this is the intent of the mitzvos because the Torah states so in Bamidbar 15:40[2] - לְמַעַן תִּזְכְּרוּ, וַעֲשִׂיתֶם אֶת-כָּל-מִצְוֺתָי; וִהְיִיתֶם קְדֹשִׁים, לֵאלֹהֵיכֶם - “So that you may remember and perform all of My commandments and be holy to your God” (translation from Artscroll Stone Tanach).
2. Mystical - This methodology is pursued by those who follow Kabbalah. This approach understands that mitzvos affect the entire cosmos - when one performs a mitzvah he or she becomes a cooperator with God in terms of the operation of the universe.
3. Symbolic - The main exponent of the symbolical understanding of the mitzvos is Rav Hirsch. This approach states that abstract ideas are not the most effective manner to influence behavior. On the other hand, actual symbols are more effective in directing one’s behavior than ideas alone. The Torah, in the very verse quoted above, makes use of tzitzis - a symbol - to convey an idea (to remember and do all of the mitzvos). The symbol, in this case is tzitzis, is a means to an end, and that end is holiness - moral autonomy. The Torah uses symbols in multiple places; this article focuses on Rav Hirsch’s symbolic approach[3] to the mitzvah of tzitzis.
Clothing:
As stated, the purpose of tzitzis is that when one looks at the tzitzis, we remember and do the mitzvos (Bamidbar 15:40). In order to understand the connection between tzitzis and the reminder to do the mitzvos, we need to examine the conception of clothing according to Judaism - tzitzis, after all, are attached to a garment, to the beged - בגד, which is mentioned in the paragraph regarding tzitzis (ibid., 15:38). Man did not originally have or need clothing: וַיִּהְיוּ שְׁנֵיהֶם עֲרוּמִּים, הָאָדָם וְאִשְׁתּוֹ; וְלֹא, יִתְבֹּשָׁשׁוּ (Beraishis 2:25). After Adam and Chava sinned, they covered themselves (ibid., 3:7); finally, God Himself provides clothing for them (ibid., 3:21) וַיַּעַשׂ יְהוָה אֱלֹהִים לְאָדָם וּלְאִשְׁתּוֹ, כָּתְנוֹת עוֹר וַיַּלְבִּשֵׁם. Clothing in the Torah is a symbol for human weakness and of man’s fight for moral freedom. When Chava saw the fruit, the Torah (ibid., 3:6) tells us that she was led astray by her physical senses and the desire to become wise וַתֵּרֶא הָאִשָּׁה כִּי טוֹב הָעֵץ לְמַאֲכָל וְכִי תַאֲוָה-הוּא לָעֵינַיִם, וְנֶחְמָד הָעֵץ לְהַשְׂכִּיל - the tzitzis come to warn us against our physical desires, wrong ideas of man, and to assist us from being led on the wrong path (Bamidbar 15:39 - וְלֹא-תָתוּרוּ אַחֲרֵי לְבַבְכֶם, וְאַחֲרֵי עֵינֵיכֶם, אֲשֶׁר-אַתֶּם זֹנִים, אַחֲרֵיהֶם).
Tzitzis:
Tzitzis strings are made up of two parts; the part that is bound (גדיל - the knots) and that which is free (ענף - the free-flowing strings). Man can only be free (ענף - represented by the free-flowing strings) when he begins with, and subjects himself to, the moral strictures of the Torah (גדיל - the knots). At the same time, the גדיל of the tzitzis make up one-third of the strings, while the ענף must make up two-thirds of the tzitzis. This teaches us that Jewish law provides for more freedom than restriction.
Techailes:
The tzitzis need to have a strand of techailes - a blue string.[4] Techailes represents the Jewish concept of holiness and of God[5] - it was key in the Mishkan, was prominent on the Kohen Gadol, and was used to cover the ark while traveling. The other strings of the tzitzis are white. The color white represents pure humanity. Halacha states that we begin binding the tzitzis with a white string, continue with a blue string, and conclude with a white string. We begin with white - with pure humanity, then wrap with techailes - the holiness of Judaism, and then conclude again with white. Rav Hirsch, as quoted in additional note ‘A’ in Horeb, gives the following explanation of this white - blue - white halacha:
If we meditate on the blue thread of our tzitzis, we find that the blue thread was wound round the white ones. It is the color of blue which symbolizes the Sanctuary and the color of white which represents the pure human element. It is, therefore, the Jewish task, as symbolized by the Sanctuary, to lift up the human element in man on to the plane of the Divine law; but the Jewish task and the Jewish consciousness are not something which should be separated from the human task and from human consciousness. The Jewish task must not be conceived as something alien to and divorced from the human task … The Jewish element in us presupposes the human element; it builds on it, ennobles it, and brings it to perfection … The highest perfection of the Jew is nothing but the highest perfection of his task as a human being. So it is that we begin the windings of our tzitzis with a white-colored thread, representing pure humanity, continue with a blue thread representing Judaism, and finish off by returning to the white thread. Pure Judaism always returns to pure humanism.
Dayan Grunfeld concludes, “...he who is not a good man cannot be a good Jew.”
Six-Seven-Eight:
Continuing along the same idea, the number six represents the earth and creativity - the sensory aspect of man and the world (the world was created in six days). The number seven represents God’s mastery over nature (Shabbos), and in human terms, moral freedom - the ability to rise up over the “six” and to control ourselves, just as God stopped all creative activity on the Shabbos. The seven white strings therefore represent pure Humanism. The blue eighth string represents l’maalah min hatevah - Judaism. “The white and blue threads are bound together (kesher elyon d’oraysa) to symbolize that Humanism[6] and Judaism must be bound together in a harmonious synthesis”.
K’sus vs. Beged:
The Torah uses two different words to refer to the garment that the tzitzis is bound to. In Devarim 22:12 the word כסות is used (גְּדִלִים, תַּעֲשֶׂה-לָּךְ, עַל-אַרְבַּע כַּנְפוֹת כְּסוּתְךָ, אֲשֶׁר תְּכַסֶּה-בָּהּ), while in Vayikra 15:38 the word בגד is used (דַּבֵּר אֶל-בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל, וְאָמַרְתָּ אֲלֵהֶם, וְעָשׂוּ לָהֶם צִיצִת עַל-כַּנְפֵי בִגְדֵיהֶם, לְדֹרֹתָם; וְנָתְנוּ עַל-צִיצִת הַכָּנָף, פְּתִיל תְּכֵלֶת). The word כסות refers to a garment which is used to protect oneself, as in Shemos 22:26 (כִּי הִוא כְסוּתֹה לְבַדָּהּ), while the word בגד, as mentioned above, refers to a garment that is a reminder to us to avoid sin and to focus on morality. When we wear tzitzis in our daily lives (כסות), we are warned to think of God and morality (בגד). In terms of כסות, the Torah mentions that tzitzis are attached to a four-cornered garment. This teaches us that wherever we are out in our daily work (north, south, east, west), the lessons of tzitzis must accompany us: human dignity, morality, and holiness, and the task of the Jew to sanctify all aspects of life - לְמַעַן תִּזְכְּרוּ, וַעֲשִׂיתֶם אֶת-כָּל-מִצְוֺתָי; וִהְיִיתֶם קְדֹשִׁים, לֵאלֹהֵיכֶם (Bamidbar, 15:40).
A Voluntary Mitzvah
From the fact that the Torah writes וְעָשׂוּ לָהֶם צִיצִת (ibid., 15:38), we learn that the mitzvah of tzitzis is voluntary - if you wear a four-cornered garment, then you need tzitzis. “The spirit of tzitzis should be the result of moral conviction and not of a forced commandment.” The Torah writes (ibid.) דַּבֵּר אֶל-בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל, וְאָמַרְתָּ אֲלֵהֶם; the implication is that Moshe was to explain this mitzvah to the people in such a manner that they themselves would want to voluntarily perform this commandment of their own free will. “In general terms, tzitzis are a symbol of what is called in ethics moral autonomy, the highest ethical standard which is attained when man acts from his inner conviction and not from outward force.”
Who, asks Rav Hirsch (Horeb, p. 185), would not rejoice in the opportunity to fulfill such a mitzvah?
This article was written lzaicher nishmas: Lucy, Maia, and Rina Dee, and my great grandfather, Yehudah ben Michael.
[1] This footnote was discussed in passing in The Nineteen Letters series, Letter 18, Part 3 which can be found here: https://outorah.org/p/25729
[2] All pesukim are from https://mechon-mamre.org/
[3] Volume III of Rav Hirsch’s Collected Writings is dedicated to this topic, including a full exposition of the mitzvah of tzitzis which begins on p. 111; see also Horeb p. 180, as well as R. Hirsch's commentary on Chumash.
[4] There is a three-way argument as to how many strands in the tzitzis are supposed to be techailes. Rambam - half of one string (one of eight); Raavad - one string (two of eight); Tosefos - two strings (four of eight). It appears that Rav Hirsch is following Rambam that one strand is blue, although one cannot conclude that this is the opinion that he would have followed on a practical level.
[5] “Blue resembles the sea, the sea resembles the sky, and the sky resembles the Divine Throne of Glory; for it says (Shemos 24:10) ‘…and they saw the God of Israel; and there was under His feet the like of a paved work of sapphire stone, and the like of the very heaven for clearness’ (Menachos 43b). There is, therefore, no color which is as suitable as the techailes to remind Israel of their Father in heaven.'. Additional note ‘A’ in Horeb, page 269.
[6] Humanism was a movement that gained popularity in the 1800’s. Ideas such as tolerance, equal rights, and opposition to slavery were all part of Humanism. In a post holocaust world, some of the ideas of Humanism may ring hollow, but as far as this article is concerned, one can understand the concept in terms of a non-Jewish world which follows the Sheva mitzvos.