Or HaChaim on Numbers 15:39/אור החיים על במדבר ט״ו:ל״ט

1 והיה לכם לציצית, "And it shall be unto you as a fringe, etc." It is not quite clear what the words "it shall be a fringe" is meant to convey. Menachot 43, where the view of Rabbi Meir that the penalty for not fulfilling the commandment with the white fringes is greater than the penalty for not fulfilling the commandment with the blue thread is discussed, illustrates this as follows: "Imagine a king who commanded two servants to bring him a golden seal or a clay seal, respectively. Both of them failed to bring him either kind of seal. Which one of the servants will be punished more severely? Clearly, the one who received the instruction to bring a seal of clay will be punished more severely because that command was easy to fulfil. Tossaphot comment that the reason Rabbi Meir chose this parable as illustration for the commandment of ציצית is that one places one's' seal on slaves as a mark of ownership. When the Israelites wear fringes this is evidence that they are servants of the Lord. We have further proof of this in Shabbat 57 where a slave's chain is not permitted to be carried from one domain to another domain on the Sabbath. Thus far Tossaphot. The words והיה לכם לציצית mean that wearing the ציצית will be proof that you are the Lord's servants just as wearing a slave's chain would be proof of whose slaves you are.

2וראיתם אתו, "and when you look at it, etc." When you look at the ציציות the symbol of your servitude to the Lord, you will remind yourselves that you are not totally free to do as you please in matters of food, clothing, etc., but you will remember all your duties, i.e. the commandments of the Torah.

3ולא תתורו אחרי לבבכם, "and you will not deviate to follow the desires of your heart, etc." Normally, man employs his eyes to activate his desires. G'd's commandments frequently require us to do precisely the opposite of what we would like to do. This leads to an inner conflict in man. When we wear the fringes and are reminded to whom we owe obeisance, this makes it easier to comply with G'd's laws. If it were not for the commandment of ציצית we would often find it too hard to deny what our eyes have found alluring.

4למען תזכרו ועשיתם, "so that you will remember to do, etc." This is best understood by means of the example given in Menachot 44 of how the fringes kept its wearer from demeaning himself with a harlot. The Torah promises that the fringes themselves will protect you against committing all kinds of transgressions. In this instance the word ועשיתם "you will do," is to be understood as in Kidushin 39 where we were told that when a person is tempted to commit a sin and he resists it, i.e. he does nothing, it is accounted for him as if he had fulfilled one of the positive commandments. Our verse continues with והייתם קדושים, "you will be holy, etc." This may be understood in line with the statement in Vayikra Rabbah 24, that one is not awarded the title "holy" unless one had separated oneself from all matters of sexual licentiousness. The Torah goes on to say: I am the Lord your G'd, etc." This verse establishes G'd's credentials for all that He demands from us. Seeing He had taken us out of Egypt, from underneath far worse conditions of bondage, He is certainly entitled to place the mark of the fringes on us to demonstrate that we are obligated to be His servants. I have explained why the line "I am the Lord your G'd" is repeated at the end of Parshat Behar on the line: "for the children of Israel are. My servants" (Leviticus 25,55).

5Now we shall try to understand the mystical dimension of why this whole commandment applies only to garments which are four-cornered. Inasmuch as the fringes are a symbol of our being servants of the Lord, G'd commanded that the symbol should also testify as to who is our Master. Other nations too have their symbols by means of which they can identify who is a servant of whom. G'd decreed therefore that we must not attach these fringes to garments which are not four-cornered so as to symbolize that we are the servants of the Master whose Kingdom extends to the four corners of the globe. This symbolism would be lost if we attached fringes to three-cornered or rounded garments.

6G'd commanded that the threads be white to symbolise G'd's attributes of Mercy and goodness, something traditionally symbolised by the colour white. The colour blue symbolises G'd's mastery in the Celestial Regions, seeing the colour blue is similar to the colour of the sky. The number of threads i.e. 8 or 4 folded over, also symbolise His Holy name of four letters. His uniqueness in His Sanctuary is equivalent to the number 8, i.e. a combination of two of His names, י־ה־ו־ה plus א־ד־נ־י. According to Menachot 39 it is a mystical dimension of the halachah that the knot with which the blue thread is tied together with the white threads symbolises the mystical dimensions of kindness and mercy respectively. This is the mystical dimension of what constitutes heaven. This dimension is related to our patriarch Jacob who represents the attribute of תפארת, harmony. Kabbalists who have studied the mystical elements of the written Torah claim that the attribute of תפארת yearns for the attribute of חסד, kindness, the quality attributed to Abraham. This is the reason that the blue thread winds around the white threads, i.e. mercy coils itself around kindness, love. The relationship of the two is similar to the relationship of רוח to נשמה.

7I wanted to explain why G'd did not permit any blue except that which is derived from a fish which comes out of the sea, and not from any other source which is itself blue. Perhaps this is what the sages meant when they said in Chulin 89 that the sea resembles the sky. We should also understand that mercy is rooted in the Torah which itself is allegorically compared to the sea.