“Speak to the children of Israel: Tell them to make tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and to put a blue thread in the tassels of the corners. And you shall have the tassel, that you may look upon it and remember all the commandments of the LORD and do them, and that you may not follow the harlotry to which your own heart and your own eyes are inclined, and that you may remember and do all My commandments, and be holy for your God. I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I am the LORD your God.”

Verse 39 says “And you shall have the tassel, that you may look upon it and remember all the commandments of the LORD and do them.” How I wish it was that simple in my life. I wear a tzitzit and I am quite aware I’m wearing it, especially in the summer. Yet I still sin, I still fall short even with this constant reminder, but let me share with you what I have learned from it.

First and foremost, I have leaned a little more of how much G-D loves me, His patience towards me, His mercy and his grace and how they abound as I fall short on a daily basis. Let me explain.

My tallit wound up getting washed in the washing machine. When I pulled it out, I could not believe my eyes. The eight tassels on each corner were so knotted up; I figured it was time for a new one. But as I took the first group of eight tassels I tried to pull on the first one, and to my surprise it pulled right out; I thought Cool! But the second one was not budging, the third was the same. The forth came out like a charm as did the fifth. The sixth was staying with the other two. Seven and eight came out as well. Then I went back to the second and low and behold it came out as did the rest.

It was at that point that G-D showed me my lesson about His love for me, His patience towards me, His mercy and his grace. You see, me and my sin are like my tzitzit (tassels). I get all tangled up in my sin, I’m in knots and stuck and can’t seem to get untangled. Then my loving Heavenly Father takes one tassel of my life at a time and gives a gentle tug. Sometimes I become free from my own tangling; sometimes I’m not ready to become untangled, so He just goes to the next tassel of my life. That’s where I see His patience.

He doesn’t demand I let go of those areas of my tangled life, He just moves on to the next and gives a little tug. He keeps tugging on the tassels of my life, on the strings of my heart; some become untangled easier than others. Yet He never gives up.

One of these days, all thirty two tassels of my life will become untangled. Until then, it will indeed be that when I look upon it I will “remember all the commandments of the LORD”, His love for me, His patience towards me, His mercy and His grace.