DRASH – SH’LACH LECHA

Rabbi Adi Cohen

Temple Shalom Gold Coast

One of the hardest tasks in modern days is to stay focused on task. In a world with increasing number of distractions and a dramatically shorter concentration span, the Torah offers a practice of everyday focus, awareness and holiness.

At the very end of Parashat Shelach, after the dramatic story of the spies and the crushing consequences of fear and faithlessness, we find a commandment relating to a thread of purpose: “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: Make for themselves fringes on the corners of their garments throughout the generations… and let them put a thread of blue (T’chelet) on the fringe of each corner.” (Numbers 15:38

This is the mitzvah of Tzitzit, the fringes we nowadays place on the Tallit. It is a powerful spiritual tool that invites us into a life of mindfulness, purpose, and sacred attention.

The Torah continues: “You shall see them and remember all the commandments of the LORD and do them; and you shall not follow after your heart and your eyes, after which you go astray.” (Numbers 15:39)

In just a few verses, we are given a lesson about human nature. Our eyes wander. Our hearts are pulled in many directions. We are easily distracted, discouraged, or enticed. The Tzitzit act as a visual and tactile reminder, a call back to intention and holiness. The Tzitzit is a soft voice whispering, “Remember who you are. Remember what matters.”

In the context of the Parasha, Mitzvat Tzitzit immediately follows the sin of the spies. The spies saw giants, war and struggle. Caleb and Joshua saw a promise. The placement of the Tzitzit commandment is an antidote to spiritual shortsightedness.

Judaism teaches us that even the corners of our garments can become holy. The Tzitzit tell us that spirituality belongs in how we dress, how we walk, how we speak, how we choose.

In the Talmudic tradition, the blue thread, T’chelet, was said to resemble the sea, which resembles the sky, which resembles the Throne of Glory (* Talmud, Menachot 43b). The idea is that one small thread can lead your thoughts all the way to Heaven. This is how holiness is woven into the fabric of life, through small acts of awareness.

Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel taught in his book ‘God in Search of Man’ that Judaism teaches us to be attached to holiness in time, to be attached to sacred moments. The Sabbath and Tzitzit both serve as reminders of eternity in the midst of time.

What would it look like to live with Tzitzit-awareness?

It would mean remembering that every interaction matters.

That the way we speak to a child, a spouse, a colleague, is part of our spiritual path.

That we are never just “going through the motions.”

That everything can be lifted, elevated, and made sacred.

Tzitzit are not magic strings. They are threads of memory.

They say: You are connected. You are responsible. You are beloved.

It is a reminder of relationships.

This Shabbat, as you wrap yourself in a Tallit or recite Sh’mah, take a moment to touch the fringes. Ask yourself: What threads run through my life? What do I want to be reminded of when I am distracted?

May we live lives woven with intention,

bound by compassion,

and wrapped in holiness.

Shabbat Shalom.

Rabbi Adi Cohen

Temple Shalom, Gold Coast

(* Menachot 43b – “It is taught Rabbi Meir would say: What is different about tekhelet from all types of colours? It is because T’chelet is similar to the sea, and sea is similar to sky, and sky is similar to the Throne of Glory…”)