I would like to approach another wonderful yesod regarding a custom we practice with Tzitzit, and it isn’t certain that anyone knows the reason for it. The Gemara asks (Menachot 43b), why is Techelet different from all other colors? Why do we specifically put Techelet in Tzitzit? It is because Techelet resembles the sea, and the sea resembles the sky, and the sky resembles the Kiseh HaKavod. The question can then be asked – why do we need to bring the sea into this matter? I know a lot of people who live right by the sea, and they seemingly don’t remember any of the Mitzvot!
About thirty-five years ago, when I was studying in a small yeshiva, a friend told me that they have a testamentary instruction from the will of their grandfather – not to leave Yerushalayim! I asked him, "So how do you get married?!" He replied that thank G-d, he had 19 siblings, and they all got married within the boundaries of Yerushalayim! So once, I jokingly asked him, "Tell me, so how do you remember Hakadosh Baruch Hu, for you need to see the sea for that!" After joking with him, I asked myself, "Really, why do we need the sea?!" I had no answer to the question until, with Siyata Dishmaya, I found a Kli Yakar in Parshat Beshalach (36).
The Kli Yakar explains how the Mitzvah of Tzitzit serves as a reminder for all the Mitzvot by drawing a connection between the Techelet thread and the natural order of Creation. Hakadosh Baruch Hu said to Moshe, "Tell Bnei Yisrael to look at the heavens that I created to serve you, lest they changed their nature, or the sun has suddenly risen from the west." After thousands of years of the same routine, perhaps it’s time for a change? Of course not! Chazal teach, by looking at the Techelet, a person recalls the sea, which follows its set boundaries out of yirah – fear of Hashem, never exceeding its limits despite its natural inclination. This serves as a lesson that just as the sea remains within its measure, so too should a person adhere precisely to the Mitzvot without deviation.
However, yirah alone is not the ultimate form of divine service, as it creates distance rather than closeness to Hakadosh Baruch Hu. The Kli Yakar further explains that by contemplating the sea, one is led to consider the sky, which represents ahavah – love, in its service to Hakadosh Baruch Hu. The heavens do not merely follow their course out of obligation, but they do so with joy. The highest level of serving Hakadosh Baruch Hu is through ahavah, which leads to d’veikut – closeness to Hakadosh Baruch Hu. This is why the Mitzvah of Tzitzit hints at both levels – revealed reward in this world for those who serve out of fear and hidden reward in Olam Haba for those who serve out of love. The structure of Tzitzit, with eight threads and five knots – totaling thirteen – corresponds to the numerical value of אהבה, emphasizing the ultimate goal of joyful and loving devotion to Hashem.
Based on these words, I thought to say homiletically: Hakadosh Baruch Hu chose specifically Techelet to remind us of the two places where we saw Him – in the sea and in the heaven. They saw Hakadosh Baruch Hu at the splitting of Yam Suf, where each and every one pointed with their finger and said: 'This is my G-d and I will glorify Him'; and then they saw Him at Matan Torah, when the seven heavens were opened and everyone said: 'You have been shown to know that Hashem is G-d; there is none else beside Him.' Hakadosh Baruch Hu says: "Look at the Techelet of the Tzitzit and see that it resembles the sea and sky, and consequently, you will remember Kriyat Yam Suf and Matan Torah!"
