Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Tzitzit

Now here is a topic that is usually a conversation starter for my wife and I. The reason for this is because it is visible to other people. The wearing of Tzitzit (Tassels) is actually the only evidence to other people, who have never met you, about your faith. The Idea of wearing Tzitzit is a very simple, yet powerful idea. That is why the Creator commanded us to wear them. It is a Command, not a suggestion.

 “Speak to the children of Yisra’ĕl, and you shall say to them to make tzitziyot on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and to put a blue cord in the tzitzit of the corners. And it shall be to you for a tzitzit, and you shall see it, and shall remember all the commands of יהוה (YHWH) and shall do them, and not search after your own heart and your own eyes after which you went whoring” (Num 15:38-39). The whole idea of wearing the tzitzit is to remind us of all the Torah of YHWH and not only for us to remember but also to do all the Torah.
The wearing of tzitzit in the Christian Church is non existent for the simple reason that the Christians follow the Church rather than the Scriptures themselves. The Church teaches that the Word of the Almighty does not apply to Christianity anymore but rather the man-made religious doctrines, and therefore, anyone who is obedient to the Creator and not to the Church, by wearing tzitzit is totally frowned upon and labeled as a legalist.

The word “Christian” means “to be Christ like” but Christianity does in no way look anything like “Christ-like.” The Scripture itself teaches us that we are to walk as the Messiah walked, “The one who says he stays in Him ought himself also to walk, even as He walked” (1 John 2:6). The Church even at a stage came out with “WWJD” arm bands that were a huge hit among the youth. What does “WWJD” stand for? “What Would Jesus Do.” This was a ploy to get the youth more devoted to the church and not really teaching them what the Messiah really did or would do if He were here with us now.

Let us for a moment consider what the Messiah would do if He were here with us today; He would firstly not be called “Jesus”, He would keep the Seventh Day Sabbath and not go to church on a Sunday, He would also eat only kosher foods and He would most definitely wear tzitzit among other things. He would basically keep the whole Torah of His Father who is in heaven. Did the wearing of the wrist band that said “WWJD” teach anyone to do these things? Certainly not. If we are to be believers in the Messiah and follow Him, then we are to walk as He walked.

Now as we saw, from above, that the Messiah would be wearing Tzitzit if He were walking among us today and did wear Tzitzit when he did walk upon the earth, some 2,000 years ago. We see this in the following verses: “And see, a woman who had a flow of blood for twelve years came from behind and touched the tzitzit of His garment, for she said to herself, “If I only touch His garment, I shall be healed. But יהושע (Yehoshua) turned, and when He saw her He said, “Take courage, daughter, your belief has healed you.” And the woman was healed from that hour” (Mat 9:20-22). Here is the record of the same event by the testimony of Luke, “And a woman, having a flow of blood for twelve years, who, having spent all her livelihood on physicians, was unable to be healed by any, came from behind and touched the tzitzit of His garment. And immediately her flow of blood stopped” (Luke 8:43)
Here are some other passages also speaking of tzitzit being worn by the Messiah, “And having passed over, they came to the land of Gennĕsar. And when the men of that place recognized Him, they sent out into all that surrounding country, and brought to Him all who were sick, and begged Him to let them only touch the tzitzit of His garment. And as many as touched it were completely healed” (Mat 14:34-36). “And wherever He went, into villages, or cities, or the country, they were laying the sick in the market-places, and begged Him to let them touch if only the tzitzit of His garment. And as many as touched Him were healed” (Mark 6:56)
So as we can see by what the Scriptures teach us, if we are to be followers of the Messiah, we too have to wear tzitzit on the four corners of our garments.

Now I have read an article claiming that only the men have to wear tzitzit as the Torah taught the Almighty was speaking to the men only. They get this from the following verse, “Speak to the children (bein) of Yisra’ĕl, and you shall say to them to make tzitziyot 1 on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and to put a blue cord in the tzitzit 2 of the corners (Num 15:38). The word used for children is from the Hebrew word “bein” which ultimately means son, however, when used in this context, the whole of Israel was being addressed as it can also refer to a nation, as there are more meanings to the word "bein", namely, "grandson", "child" or "member of a group", as is the same case in many other instances, when only the men are being addressed then the Scripture would more specific to that idea by using the word "ish" which means "man" or "husband".

So it is clear that we all have to wear tzitzit, whether man or woman, if we are to be called the followers of Y’hoshua the Messiah. It is also not a matter of achieving a certain level before one is able to wear tzitzit, but rather it is about obeying the Instruction of YHWH as it is commanded us to do.

9 comments:

  1. Good day, David.
    I'm Dianne Tucker and enjoyed your posts tremendously.
    I just had one point that I would like to highlight. You say that the WWJD campaigns are geared towards the church. This is not true. I wore the band to help me abstain from gossip and binge drinking and it helped me in my personal journey.
    I further believe that the tzitzit can also help one to obey commands in Scripture!
    I really hope that your blog reaches millions to declare the Truth!
    Enjoy your day.
    Dianne.

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    1. The WWJD band you wore helped you remember to abstain from sin. This is a Christian marketing strategy and may be effective in its attempt to get you and others to think about doing the right thing. The wearing of WWJD bands may witness to another Christian or Gentil, but it does not resonate with a Jewish person. I believe it is a marketing strategy based on good intentions designed to achieve good results. The difference with tzitzit is that wearing tzitzit is a command given by Elohim. It is not a marketing strategy. If you seek to follow Yeshua, then obeying this command matters to Him. Not only does obedience speak to others in the faith, it also gains the attention of Jewish people. The question they will ask is why are Goyim wearing tzitzit? The answer: Because we follow Yeshua Ha Mashiach!! King of the Jews and all of Israel.

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  2. I was actually hoping for an explanation rather than just a mere posting of my comment :-(
    Dianne.

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  3. Diana… Firstly, I am sorry for not replying sooner as I only got back to a place where there is internet connection this morning.

    I am glad that the WWJD band helped you overcome some of your personal struggles, but did it teach you to keep the Sabbath like Y’shua did? Or did it teach you to eat only kosher foods as Y’shua did? Did it teach you to walk in all the Torah and prophets of YHWH just like Y’shua did?

    You see… the church never taught anyone wearing the WWJD bands any of these principles and Scriptural truths. So what the people thought what they were doing was right where in fact it was not right. The bands were there to create a guilt feeling for the personal problems, in effect reminding the people of their guilt and effectively making them feel that they have to come to church to fulfil their spiritual requirements.

    The Tzitzit is a command for us to wear and to remind us to do all that is written in the Torah. That was never ever achieved by the WWJD bands… which one do you think is the one we should wear? The Tzitzit as commanded by the Almighty, or the WWJD bands as given by the pagan church?

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    1. Yeshua did not say that "Only the Jews should wear Tzitzits" since the Torah is the teaching of YHWH.

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  4. Shalom. I just have this question: The tzitzits were commanded so that the people should be reminded to keep Elohim's Torah. In the (re)new(ed) covenant the gift to the new born Believer is that he will be filled with Elohim and Yeshua's Spirit. That means that the Lawgiver himself comes to dwell in the Believer and ultimately he will remind the Believer of God's Torah, from the inside, from his heart. So, could the tzitzits be a "shadow" that points to this wonderful and totally necessary gift from God. Is it necessary then to have the tzitzits to remind us about the Torah of God? I ask this because I am so tired of seeing all the religious "uniforms" shouting to tell the surroundings what the wearers belive. Yeshua said we should clothe ourselves in love and compassion for others. Our clothings should be our Yeshua inspired deeds, so to speak. If I wear a sign of what I believe, I certainly would be carefully watched to see if I fail - but if I do like Yeshua did (to the extent I am able), that will witness about my belief and be a proof that i want to honour God and be like Messiah in my life. What do you say about this thinking? Be blessed! Lars H. Alhaug

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  5. Hi Lars

    Sorry for not publishing your comment and replying to it sooner, I have been very busy lately and have neglected this blog for a while.

    Firstly, I would like to make it clear that I am not a Messianic or Hebrew-Roots believer. I am a Jew and follow Jewish teachings. So we are not of the same faith and therefore I cannot tell you what you should do or believe. That is up to you. I am only sharing information here.

    According to the bible (new testament included), it never says that anyone will be filled with the spirit of “Yeshua.” In fact, it says that Yeshua ascended to heaven and said he would send a helper (the Ruach hakodesh), this is not him.

    Also, your argument might have had some validity if it were not for the many references of people in the Torah being filled with the Ruach hakodesh and were still commanded to wear tzitzit.

    Another point is that Yeshua himself wore tzitzit. Did he do so to remember to do the mizvot (Commandments)? Or did he wear them because his Father in heaven commanded us to do so? On that point, is it not written in the “New Testament” that the followers of Yeshua are to “walk as he walked”? (1 John 2:6).

    Also, Tzitzit are unique to Judaism and identifies us as Jews. When people start to dress like the other nations, then it becomes easy to assimilate and loose identity. Yes, clothe ourselves in love and compassion to others, but that is another Torah principle and not unique to “New Testament.”

    If we want to serve the Almighty, then we need to do so according to His Word, and His Word says that we must wear Tzitzit. We can only choose to serve Him or not, we cannot choose how to serve Him.

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    1. Wearing Tzitzits, eating Casher, worshiping YHWH and observing the Shabbats are super important to religious Jews.

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    2. Whenever a Christian observes the Torah, he may be called "Legalist" by professing Christians.
      Rabbinical Jews would call him "Min" which means "a sect, which promotes heresy".

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