929/Bamidbar 14-18: The "Vayomer" of Shema

An allusion to deliverance from Egypt, as it states, (Exodus 19:4) “And I bore you on eagles’ wings." The Zizith are to be placed on a garment having four corners but not a garment with 3 or 5 corners (cf. Zevachim 18b), thereby alluding to the four different terms of deliverance (Ex. 6:6—7) “And I will bring forth”, “and I shall deliver”, “and I shall redeem”, “and I shall take out”.

But what is the thread of sky-blue wool? As it is taught Rabbi Meir would say: What is different about sky-blue from all other colors? sky-blue dye is similar in its color to the sea, and the sea is similar to the sky, and the sky is similar to the Throne of Glory, as it is stated: “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” (Exodus 24:10), as it is written: “as the appearance of a sapphire stone” (Ezek. 1:26).

Rabbi Yehoshua ben Korḥa said: Why did the portion of Shema precede VeHaya im Shamoa? so that one will first accept upon himself the yoke of the kingdom of Heaven, and only then accept upon himself the yoke of the mitzvot.Why did VeHaya im Shamoa precede VaYomer? VeHaya im Shamoa is practiced both by day and by night, while VaYomer is only practiced during the day.

Why is the portion of ritual fringes part of the Shema? Rabbi Yehuda bar Ḥaviva said: because it includes five elements The mitzva of ritual fringes, the exodus from Egypt, the acceptance of the yoke of mitzvot, admonition against heretical thought, admonition against naughty thoughts, and admonition against thoughts of idolatry. The Gemara clarifies: Granted, these three are mentioned explicitly: The yoke of mitzvot, as it is written: “And you shall look upon them and remember all the mitzvot of the Lord” (v.39). Ritual fringes, as it is written: “And they will make for themselves ritual fringes” (v.38). The exodus from Egypt, as it is written: “who took you out” (v.41). But where do we derive the other elements? As it was taught: “After your hearts” refers to heresy, as it is stated: “The fool said in his heart: ‘There is no God” (Psalms 14:1). “After your eyes,” refers to naughty thoughts, as it is stated: “And Samson said to his father, ‘That one take for me, for she is upright in my eyes’” (Judges 14:3). “You shall stray after” refers to idol worship, as it is stated: “The children of Israel again went astray after the Be’alim” (Judges 8:33).

That Arab said to me: Come, I will show you the dead of the wilderness, i.e., the Jewish people who left Egypt and died in the wilderness. I went and saw them; and they had the appearance of one who is intoxicated, and they were lying on their backs. And the knee of one of them was elevated, and he was so enormous that the Arab entered under his knee while riding a camel and with his spear upright, and he did not touch him. I cut one corner of the sky-blue garment that contains ritual fringes of one of them, and we were unable to walk. The Arab said to me: Perhaps you took something from them? Return it, as we know by tradition that one who takes something from them cannot walk. I then returned the corner of the garment, and then we were able to walk. When I came before the Sages, they said to me in rebuke: Every Abba is a donkey, and every bar bar Ḥana is an idiot. For the purpose of clarifying what halakha did you do that? If you wanted to know whether the halakha is in accordance with the opinion of Beit Shammai or in accordance with the opinion of Beit Hillel, as to whether there are four or three threads and joints in ritual fringes, in that case there was no need to take anything with you, as you should have simply counted the threads and counted the joints.

§ Rav Yehuda would affix white and sky-blue strings to the garment [pirzuma] of his wife. And every morning he would recite the blessing: To wrap ourselves in garments with ritual fringes. Hew must, therefore, hold that ritual fringes is a positive mitzva that is not time-bound, and, if so, why did he recite the blessing each and every morning since it was continuous? It was in accordance with Rebbi, who states that every time one dons phylacteries, he recites the blessing over them, even several times in one day; If so, every time that he took the cloak off and put it back on? Rav Yehuda was a modest man and he did not remove his cloak the entire day. Why did he recite a blessing in the morning? Because he changed from a nighttime garment to a daytime garment. § The Sages taught in a baraita: Everyone is obligated in the mitzva of ritual fringes, including priests, Levites, Israelites, converts, women, and Canaanite slaves. Rabbi Shimon deems women exempt, because the mitzva of ritual fringes is a positive, time-bound mitzva, and women are exempt from every positive, time-bound mitzva.

(9) ... If women or bondsmen desire to wear garments with fringes, no objection is raised, but they do not recite the blessing. The same is the rule with respect to other affirmative precepts from the obligation of which women are exempt. If they wish to fulfill them without reciting the blessing, no objection is raised. ...

(2) Women and slaves are exempt [from wearing tzitzit] because it is a time-dependent commandment. Rem"a: And if they wish to wrap [in tzitzit] and say the blessing on them it is up to them to do so as with all time-dependent commandments (Tosafot and the Rosh and the Ran, Chapter 2, Rosh Hashanah, First Chapter of Kiddushin). However, it looks as if they are doing it to appear more observant than others, therefore, they should not wear tzitzit, as it is not a commandment of the person [rather of the object] (Agur Section 27). [And for slaves] This means we do not have to buy him a tallit in order that he be required to wear tzitzit as we see in Chapter 19 it says when he has a shawl with four corners he should wear it....