NUM68 See [[NUM67]] Numbers 10:9 trumpets CHINUCH 240-1

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NUM159 Separate challah from dough. Man cannot survive without food, and for the majority of the world the staple food is bread. Accordingly, Hashem gives us a mitzvah to perform with bread dough, so that the bread is blessed and our souls gain merit. He gives us the opportunity to fulfill this mitzvah every time that we bake [in sufficient quantity], and through the mitzvah, our bread is nourishment for both the body and the soul. An additional reason for the mitzvah: so that the Kohanim, who are constantly occupied in serving Hashem performing the avodah in the Beis HaMikdash, shall live and have nourishment without effort, from our gifts of dough to them.

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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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NUM196 Do not stray after your heart and eyes. Our Sages explain (Berachos 12b), “After your hearts” refers to heresy (מינות-minus). That is, do not ponder ideas that contradict the Torah way of thinking, because occupying one’s thoughts with such ideas can lead one to heresy--to completely deny the Torah’s most fundamental teachings. If such non-Torah ideas enter one's mind, one immediately must cut short such musings. One must turn one’s thought to Torah matters--to the true and the good. “After your eyes,” say our Sages, refers to immortality. That is, do not chase after what the eye sees. Included is not to chase after any of the alluring physical pleasures of this world, for succumbing to mundane lust leads only to shame and woe. Both “after your hearts” and “after your eyes” apply equally to men and women. Key concepts: This mitzvah is central to Judaism, because by heeding it one is saved from sinning against Hashem all of one's life. Unworthy thoughts are fathers of impurity, for their offspring are sinful deeds. He who keeps his mind free of improper thoughts will not sin and thereby will merit all blessings. Realize, and repeat verbally, “One sin leads to another (עבירה גוררת עבירה),” and “One mitzvah leads to another (מצוה גוררת מצוה).” If you allow yourself to gratify a physical lust once, it will drag you into gratifying it again and again. On the other hand, if you are strong and resist the enticement, turning your eyes away from the evil, then even if you do so only once, you will find it easier to do so again and again. That is, just as wine entices a drunkard, physical attractions entice the body and bring about its ruin. If one becomes accustomed to always gratifying one’s physical desires, one’s evil inclination grows stronger every day, and one becomes enslaved to it. By contrast, if a person stubbornly resists temptation and abstains from gratifying his physical desires--choosing to take control--he rejoices in his portion all the day. Accordingly, this is one of the “constant” mitzvos. One is obligated never to follow after one's heart or eyes all of the days of one's life. I mentioned this point in the Introduction to Sefer HaChinuch [cited in the Mishnah Berurah, Siman 1 in the Biur Halachah, s.v. Hu klal]. He who violates this mitzvah--letting his thoughts dwell on the matters that cause one to stray from the perfect and pure ways of the Torah--will find himself in bitterness and evil. He will have sullied himself by entering the foolish mindset of heretics. So, too, he who strays after his eyes--chasing after this world’s physical pleasures, seeking repeated gratification of all sorts of mundane desires with no intent to use such pleasures for the good--instead of using these pleasures to promote his health so that he can actually serve his Maker. Striving only to gratify his baser nature, he constantly violates this basic and constant mitzvah.

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NUM232 Levites shall not perform the tasks of the Kohanim, and Kohanim shall not perform the tasks of the Levites. The Kohanim and the Levites are privileged to perform prized and sacred tasks. Accordingly, their functions must be performed without any trace of laziness, forgetfulness, or despair of success. Without question, if a task is assigned to two or more people, instead of one, there is a greater chance that it will not be performed properly, if at all, for each person relies upon his partner. The result might be that the task is completely neglected.

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NUM233 Guard the Beis HaMikdash. This watchfulness is in order to accentuate the glory and honor of the Beis HaMikdash, and not because we fear an enemy and must protect the Beis HaMikdash from harm, God forbid. An aspect of the glory of the Beis HaMikdash is that it always has guards around it, as do palaces of great kings of flesh and blood. The more the honor and glory of the Beis HaMikdash are accentuated, the more awe it will instill into the hearts of those who come there. When we enter the Beis HaMikdash to pray for our needs and for forgiveness from the Master of All, our hearts will soften and we will be able to do teshuvah.

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NUM234 A non-Kohen shall not perform the avodah in the Beis HaMikdash. See [[NUM239]] Numbers 18:23 Levites CHINUCH 248-9

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NUM235 Redeem firstborn sons. See [[EXOD174]] Exodus 13:2 firstborn CHINUCH 17

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NUM237 Do not redeem a kosher animal's first offspring. The firstling of a kosher animal must be given to a Kohen, as discussed earlier, See [[EXOD174]] Exodus 13:2 firstborn CHINUCH 17

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NUM239 The Levites shall serve in the Beis HaMikdash. It is a king's honor that he has a select group of attendants who are always near to him, serving him on permanent basis. Only those who he chooses personally are allowed to remain so close to him all the time. If every day, someone new were to serve as his personal attendant, and if the group, closest to him changed, it would be a blow to his dignity, for being in his presence is a special privilege that should not be given to just anyone.

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