## Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Sh'lach

###### Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Sh'lach 30:1
[Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Sh'lach 30:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Midrash%20Tanchuma%20Buber/s/Sh%27lach/r/30:1)

והיה לכם לציצית וראיתם אותו (במדבר טו לט). שתהא נראית, וכמה שיעורה, בית שמאי אומרי אבע אצבעות, ובית הלל אומרים שלש, וראיתם אותו, פרט לכסות לילה, אתה אומר לכסות לילה, או אינו אלא פרט לכסות סומא, הרי חוזר ואומר למען תזכרו (שם שם מ), הרי נתן ראייה ונתן זכירה, זכירה למי שאינו רואה, וראייה למי שהוא רואה. וראיתם אותו, אותו ולא אותה, כשישראל מסתכלין באותה ציצית של תכלת, נראה להם כאילו שכינה שרויה ביניהם. וראיתם וזכרתם, הראייה מביא לידי זכרון, וזכרון מביא לידי מעשה, שנאמר למען תזכרו ועשיתם (שם), למה, כי לא דבר רק הוא מכם (דברים לב מו).

**Midrash Tanhuma, S. Buber Recension; trans. by John T. Townsend, 1989.:**
(Numb. 15:39:) SO IT SHALL BE A TASSEL FOR YOU THAT YOU MAY SEE IT AND REMEMBER ALL THE COMMANDMENTS OF THE LORD…. Thus it should be visible. And what is its size? Bet Shammay says four fingers, while Bet Hillel says three.⁷⁹. 41b. (Ibid.:) THAT YOU MAY SEE IT. There is exception for a garment worn at night.⁸⁰ to Numb. 15:39 (115); *Men*. 43a. Are you saying: For a garment worn at night? Or is the exception only for a garment of a blind person? Hence, it says again (in vs. 40): SO THAT YOU MAY REMEMBER AND PERFORM ALL MY COMMANDMENTS…. Hence, it ordains seeing, and it ordains remembering: remembering for the one who does not see and seeing for the one who does see. (vs. 39:) THAT YOU MAY SEE IT. IT (here) is masculine and not feminine.⁸¹ When Israel looks at that feminine tassel of blue, it will seem to them as though the Divine Presence is dwelling among them.⁸²., Numb. R. 15, in Numb. 17:5, and in Buber’s “Spanish” manuscript (described on p. 150 of his “*Mavo*”), all of which speak here of Israel seeing the masculine “throne of glory, which is blue in appearance.” Cf. also *Sifre* to Numb. 15:39 (115), where the argument is that the pronoun is IT (in the singular) and not THEM (in the plural) with reference to tassels. (Vss. 39–40:) THAT YOU MAY SEE…. SO THAT YOU MAY REMEMBER. The seeing leads to remembering the commandments, and remembering leads to performing them. Thus it is stated (in vs. 40): SO THAT YOU MAY REMEMBER AND PERFORM ALL MY COMMANDMENTS…. Why? (Deut. 32:47): BECAUSE IT IS NOT A TRIFLING THING FOR YOU.

footnotes:
⁷⁹ Men
⁸⁰ Sifre
⁸¹ Even though the antecedent, tassel, is feminine in Hebrew.
⁸² Since Divine Presence is also feminine, the gender argument becomes ineffective. Cf. the parallels in Tanh