Despite the maxim that there is no before or after in the Torah, I think one cannot ignore the fact that the commandment to attach tzitzit to the corners of our garments comes immediately after the story of a man who insisted on violating Shabbat on the first Shabbat after we were commanded to keep shabbat!
We are told expressly that the purpose of the obligation to add these fringes to our clothes is so that we remember all of G-d’s commandments, and keep them. And, lest we forget, we repeat both the instructions and the reasons for them every day, as the third paragraph after the Sh’ma in both our morning and evening prayers.
Like a sticky note or tying a string around one’s finger, having a constant, visible, odd item attached to us is meant to make us constantly aware of G-d’s 613 commandments. Because everyone needs a reminder sometimes.
Leave a Reply