BEYOND THE FRINGE By Rabbi Jonathan Sacks

Our sedra ends with one of the great commands of Judaism—tzitzit, the fringes we wear on the corners of our garments as a perennial reminder of our identity as Jews and our obligation to keep the Torah’s commands: G‑d spoke to Moses, telling him to speak to the Israelites and instruct them to make for themselves fringes on the corners of their garments for all generations. Let them attach a cord of blue to the fringe at each corner. That shall be your fringe: look at it and recall all the commandments of the L‑rd and observe them, so that you do not stray after your heart and eyes which in the past have led you to immorality. You will thus remember and keep all My commandments, and be holy to your G‑d. So central is this command that it became the third paragraph of the Shema, the supreme declaration of Jewish faith.