NUM173 Place tzitsis on a four-cornered garment. Key concepts: So that at all times, we remember Hashem's mitzvos. When a King wants his subjects to remember Him, the best thing he can do is place his emblem on their clothing, for they wear clothing all the time and the emblem catches their eye. Our Sages teach that the word tzitsis alludes to the 613 mitzvos of the King of kings, for its numerical equivalent is 600, and on each corner of the garment there are eight strings and five knots (8+5=13), so the total is 613. Also, the mitzvah reminds us that each person belongs to Hashem, body and soul. The white of the tzitsis alludes to man's body, which Hashem created out of earth that He fashioned from snow that is beneath His Throne of Glory. The threads allude to a person's body, which after conception is like strings. The techeiles (bluish) thread of the tzitsis alludes to the soul, which comes from the upper realms of the blue skies. As our Sages teach, “The techeiles is like the sea, and the sea is like the sky, and the sky is like the Throne of Glory.” Although one is a obligated in the mitzvah of tzitsis only if he actually wears a garment that has four corners [or more], still, our Sages warned us repeatedly that one should make every effort to obtain and wear such a garment in order to fulfill the mitzvah. Our Sages teach that he who is careful about the mitzvah of tzitsis will have many servants to attend to his needs. Also, he was careful about tzitzis, to tefillin and mezuzah is assured that he will not sin.

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NUM175 See [[DEUT1236]] Deuteronomy 23:10 anything SPERO 138

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NUM174 From here Rebbi derived: Let a man not drink from one goblet while gazing at another [i.e., Let him not think of another woman during union with his wife] (Nedarim 20b)

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NUM176 "You must not explore after your heart and your eyes" (this verse). We have herein been admonished not to contemplate [the previous paragraph involved fantasizing, which can bring one to a state of impurity. The current prohibition has greater ramifications; it forbids thought directed toward actually committing a sin, which can lead to one's intentionally performing the sin.] committing a transgression, any form of inequity or sin, as the pasuk says (Mishlei 24:8): "One who thinks of doing evil," one must also not reflect upon the words of heretics, lest he stumble and be drawn towards them. When one impresses on his heart that Hashem explores the heart and examines man's innermost thoughts, will he dare defile his heart by filling it with lawlessness? [Tehillim 41:9]. Shlomo, a"h, also said (ibid., 9) "the thoughts of a fool are sin"; and he further said (ibid., 6:16-18), "These six Hashem hates, and for the seventh He holds a deep abhorrence… a heart that contemplative sinful thoughts." [this is actually the fourth listed in the verse; the seventh is "one who sows discord among brothers."]

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NUM177 See [[LEV111]] Leviticus 11:35 shattered GATES 29

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NUM179 There are also many who stumble and are ensnared [in sin by] profaning the more significant of the senses – – the senses of sight and of sound. Concerning the sense of sight, the pasuk [this verse] says, "You must not explore after your heart and your eyes." Herein we have been admonished that one must not gaze at a married woman or any other woman where relations are forbidden, lest he stumble [in sin] with them.

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NUM178 [And among these twenty-four (deterrents to repentance) there are five for which the transgressor is not apt to repent, in that they are taken lightly by most people, so that the sinner does not actually regard them as a sin: ... (3) immodestly gazing [at a woman], the gazer thinking that he is guilty of no wrong, saying to himself: "Have I fornicated or approached her?"--Not realizing it is written [this verse]: "And do not go astray after your heart and after your eyes";

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NUM181 See [[DEUT205]] Deuteronomy 6:5 heart DUTIES 13-15

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NUM180 R. Me'ir said: Whoever occupies himself with the study of Torah for its own sake merits many things; and not only that, but the entire world is worthwhile because of him. … it puts him far from sin and brings him near to virtue. … Pirkei Avot, Perek VI, mishnah 1. We cannot shut out or control the world about us. At times the leering visage of sinful temptation will loom before us. Then we must remember the Torah's words, "you shall not follow after your heart and after your eyes" [this verse]. True, sin may rise up unbidden to tempt your heart or lure your gaze. But you need not follow after it. You need not welcome it, dwell upon it, explore the possibilities. The beginning of sin, say the Sages, is in the heart's cogitation. (Talmud, minor tractate Derech Eretz Zuta vi). Neither judo nor karate can deal with the evil Tempter when the heart is seized with wicked thoughts. Therefore the Sages advise, "If this repulsive degenerate [Satan, the Tempter] encounters you, drag him into the beth midrash, the House of Study. If he is stone, he will be dissolved; if iron, he will be shattered to smithereens…" (T.B. Sukkah 52b, Kiddishin 30b). The strongest temptation will not survive in an atmosphere of Torah. It is said you must fight fire with fire (Montaigne, Essays (1594), iii 5 ("Fire is put out by fire"; Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet (1595), i 2, 46 ("One fire burns out another's burning"). If sinful temptation can inflame the passions with desire, the Torah can counter it. In Moses' Divine imagery, "The Lord came from Sinai ... at His right hand a fiery law ..." for, as the Sages envisioned it, the Torah was primordially written in "black fire on white fire" (Deuteronomy 33:2 and Rashi on it; Midrash Tahuma, B'reshith 1; Zohar III 132a). Its flaming truth alone, given amid fire at Sinai by the Diety, Himself described as a consuming fire (Deuteronomy 4:24, 9:23. That it was given amid fire, see Exodus 19:18, Deuteronomy 4:11-12, 5:4, 20-22), can subdue man's base animal passions. For it sensitizes and deepens our awareness of right and wrong, then ingrains in us the great, transcendent principle of reward and punishment. Through the Torah man learns that his deeds bring a response--good for good, evil for evil. And as it weans man from the pursuit and gratification of his animal drives and vile passions, it gives him a vision of higher goals to attain. The ordinary man may need a beth midrash, saturated with the Torah's atmosphere, to help him overcome evil temptation. The dedicated student of Torah has his own "built-in protection." With constant study he has absorbed its teachings of reward and punishment; with its mitzvoth he has learned to regulate and control his life in accord with the Divine will.

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NUM183 The factors that undermine th[e] virtue [of piety] are [the result of] insufficient examination in the aforementioned matters, i.e., the lack of awareness regarding the base nature of pleasure, the pursuit of honor, and insufficient preparation for the service of the Eternal. The first two factors sway a person's thinking, lowering him toward other motives, like an adulteress who consorts unfaithfully with other men. These externally oriented motives are called "the adultery of the heart," as it is written [this verse]: "And you must not be searching, following your heart and your eyes after which you [tend to] stray." For the tendency of the heart is to stray from the ideal perspective that it was meant to cleave to, [embracing instead] vanities and false appearances. And [the latter factor] – preparing oneself insufficiently – prevents the removal of one's heart of that innate thoughtlessness that derives from the material world. This thoughtlessness befouls the Divine service with its stench.

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