If this is the case, I would like to present a long series of questions on the topic of Tzitzit and connect them, in a magnificent way, to Tu B’Shvat. Firstly, if a person wants to recite Shema but is unsure of its proper time, the Gemara (Menachot 43b) instructs to look at the Tzitzit. Through them, one recalls the mitzvah associated with Tzitzit – specifically, the time for reciting Shema, which is linked to the ability to distinguish between Techelet and white, meaning during daylight hours. Kriyat Shema is intrinsically connected to Tzitzit. Had the section of loans and interest, or the section on honest weights been included instead, there would be a reference to Yetziat Mitzrayim, but the direct connection to Kriyat Shema that Tzitzit provides would be absent.
Additionally, another Baraita teaches: From the words "And you shall see it and remember," it is to be derived that one will see this Mitzvah and remember another Mitzvah adjacent to it in the Torah. Which Mitzvah? The Mitzvah of Kilayim – the prohibition against mixing different species in various forms. The Torah says 'You shall not wear shaatnez, wool and linen together,' and adjacent to it is Tzitzit: 'You shall make fringes upon the four corners of your garment.'
There is another learning from the words 'And you shall see it and remember.' Another Baraita teaches, when a person becomes obligated in this Mitzvah from the age of thirteen, at that same time he becomes obligated in all Mitzvot. What is the meaning of this? Rashi explains, since he became obligated in this Mitzvah when daylight broke, he became obligated in all the Mitzvot, because most Mitzvot apply during the day. The Gemara continues: 'And you shall see it and remember all the commandments of Hashem' – meaning, this Mitzvah is equivalent to all the Mitzvot combined. A person wears a garment on his body – if it has four corners, it is equivalent to all the Mitzvot combined? I can understand Shabbat having that weight, or perhaps Brit Milah, but Tzitzit? What sort of meaning or lesson is hidden here?! Similarly, Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai says, all who are careful with this Mitzvah (of Tzitzit) will merit receiving the presence of the Shechinah. Once again, how do four corners of a garment lead to such grand merit?
Another question to ask relates to the Gemara (Shabbat 32b) which states that anyone who is careful with the Mitzvah of Tzitzit will merit and have 2,800 servants. This is based on a Pasuk from Zechariah (8:23), where on each corner of a garment with Tzitzit, ten people from each of the seventy nations will take hold – totaling seven hundred people on each corner, or 2,800 people altogether. Rabbotai, what will we do with 2,800 servants?! I have no clue! And if someone wears more than one pair of Tzitzit – will he get extra? Rabbotai, why will only a person who wears Tzitzit receive these 2,800 servants in the future – why is this not said about a person who fulfilled the Mitzvah of Sukkah or put on Tefillin?
Four more questions, and then we can approach the explanation. There is a custom observed by Ashkenazi Jews – Sephardi Jews also observe it but in a different way – that prior to the day of one’s wedding, the bride gifts her husband with a Tallit and four sets of Tzitzit on the side for him to tie. Thirty-two threads in total. Why send the groom specifically a Tallit, wouldn't it be better to give him an apartment?! Ta'amei HaMinhagim writes (947), it is based on what the Arizal wrote, that this Mitzvah is a segula to be saved from immorality, supported by the Pasuk 'He who commits adultery lacks understanding.' Meaning, he lacks the thirty-two threads – lev. The sefer Olat Shabbat, by the Admor of the Shomrei Emunim, says Potiphar's wife did not understand how she changes clothes morning and evening, trying to cause Yosef to sin, yet it doesn’t work. She concluded that he has a special garment that protects him – his Tzitzit! She said, "I’ll go and remove his Tzitzit, and then he’ll sin." Therefore, it says 'And she caught him by his garment.' Yosef saw that he had no longer had protection, so he fled outside.
Another custom observed at a Brit Milah is that everyone involved in the Mitzvah of the Brit Milah – the Mohel, the Sandak, the father of the child – wraps themselves in a Tallit. Every custom has a source – it sometimes just takes thirty years to find it. Why is this not observed at a Pidyon HaBen? One last question in this series – when a person passes away, they cover him with a Tallit until the final burial; at the moment they place him in the ground, they remove the Tallit and bury him only with shrouds. Why do we accompany the deceased wrapped in a Tallit, and at the burial remove it from him?
