Menachot

for what purpose do they use the expression ‘Wherewith thou coverest thyself’? — They require it for the following Baraitha that was taught: Upon the four corners of thy covering;1 four, but not three.2 You say, ‘four but not three’, but perhaps it is not so, but rather ‘four but not five’? The verse, when it says, ‘Wherewith thou coverest thyself’, clearly includes a five-cornered garment; how then must I explain the verse, ‘Upon the four corners’? Four, but not three. And why do you choose to include a five-cornered garment and to exclude a three-cornered one? I include a five-cornered garment since five contains four, whilst I exclude a three-cornered garment since three does not contain four. And whence does R. Simeon know this? — He derives it from the word ‘wherewith’.3 And the Rabbis? — The word ‘wherewith’ [they say] does not convey any teaching. And for what purpose do the Rabbis use the expression ‘That ye may look upon it’? — They require it for the following teaching: ‘ That ye may look upon it, and remember’, that is, look upon this precept and remember another precept that is dependent upon it, namely, the reading of the Shema’. As we have learnt: From what time in the morning may the Shema’ be read? From the time that one can distinguish between blue and white.4 Another [Baraitha] taught: ‘That ye may look upon it, and remember’, that is, look upon this precept, and remember another precept that is next to it, namely, ‘the law concerning mingled stuffs, for it is written, Thou shalt not wear a mingled stuff, wool and linen together’. Thou shalt make thee twisted cords.5 And another [Baraitha] taught: That ye may look upon it, and remember all the commandments of the Lord: as soon as a person is bound to observe this precept6 he must observe all the precepts. This is in accordance with R. Simeon's view that [the zizith] is a precept dependent on time.7 And another [Baraitha] taught: ‘That ye may look upon it and remember all the commandments of the Lord’: this precept is equal to all the precepts together.8 And another [Baraitha] taught: ‘That ye may look upon it and remember . . . and do them’: looking [upon it] leads to remembering [the commandments], and remembering leads to doing them. R. Simeon b. Yohai says, Whosoever is scrupulous in the observance of this precept is worthy to receive the Divine presence, for it is written here, ‘That ye may look upon it’, and there it is written, Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God, and Him shalt thou serve.9 Our Rabbis taught: Beloved are Israel, for the Holy One, blessed be He, surrounded them with precepts: tefillin on their heads, tefillin on their arms, zizith on their garments, and mezuzoth on their door-posts; concerning these David said, Seven times a day do I praise Thee, because of Thy righteous ordinances.10 And as David entered the bath and saw himself standing naked, he exclaimed, ‘Woe is me that I stand naked without any precepts about me!’ But when he reminded himself of the circumcision in his flesh his mind was set at ease. And when he came out he sang a hymn of praise concerning it, as it is written, For the Leader; [with stringmusic;] on the Eighth. A Psalm of David;11 that is, concerning circumcision which was given eighth.12 R. Eliezer b. Jacob said, Whosoever has the tefillin on his head, the tefillin on his arm, the zizith on his garment, and the mezuzah on his doorpost, is in absolute security against sinning, for it is written, And a threefold cord is not quickly broken;13 and it is also written, The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear Him, and delivereth them.14 It was taught: R. Meir used to say, Why is blue specified from all the other colours [for this precept]? Because blue resembles the colour of the sea, and the sea resembles the colour of the sky, and the sky resembles the colour of [a sapphire, and a sapphire resembles the colour of]15 the Throne of Glory, as it is said, And there was under his feet as it were a paved work of sapphire stone,16 and it is also written, The likeness of a throne as the appearance of a sapphire stone. 17 It was taught: R. Meir used to say, Greater is the punishment for the [non-observance of the] white threads than for the [non-observance of the] blue threads [of the fringes].18 This is to be illustrated by a parable. A king of flesh and blood gave orders to two servants; to one he said, ‘Bring me a seal of clay’, but to the other he said, ‘Bring me a seal of gold’; and they both failed in their duty and did not bring them. Now who is deserving of the greater punishment? Surely it is the one to whom the king said, ‘Bring me a seal of clay’, and who did not do so. It was taught: R. Meir used to say, A man is bound to say one hundred blessings daily, as it is written, And now, Israel, what doth the Lord thy God require of thee?19 On Sabbaths and on Festivals20 R. Hiyya the son of R. Awia endeavoured to make up this number by the use of spices and delicacies.21 It was taught: R. Judah22 used to say, A man is bound to say the following three blessings daily: ‘[Blessed art thou . . .] who hast not made me a heathen’,23 ‘. . . . who hast not made me a woman’; and ‘ . . . who hast not made me a brutish man’. R. Aha b. Jacob once overhead his son saying ‘[Blessed art thou . . .] who hast not made me a brutish man’, whereupon he said to him, ‘And this too!’24 Said the other, ‘Then what blessing should I say instead?’ [He replied,] . . . who hast not made me a slave’. And is not that the same as a woman?25 — A slave precept is made dependent upon the other. For the Shema’ v. Authorized P.B. p. 40. all the precepts of the Torah. Aliter: As soon as one is bound to observe this precept, i.e., at daybreak, one must observe all the other precepts of the day. women, although bound to observe the law of zizith, are exempt from many laws. threads and five knots of each fringe makes 613, which equals the number of precepts in the Torah. too in the former; thus the observance of ‘it’ makes one worthy of looking upon ‘Him’. Israel, for the first seven commandments were given to the sons of Noah. V. Maharsha. worn by the Israelites, and bestows upon them blessings. Moreover, it is a mark of honour for Israel to wear upon their garments a thread which bears the colour of the Throne of Glory. expensive. edd. ‘R. Meir’. also bound by all the precepts.