Oh No, Look At My Tzitzit-19 Cheshvan 5771

I was stripping the stain off a deck the other day in preparation for restaining. I had stained it about four years ago and it was really ready. The stain was faded and black mildew or mold, whatever it is, was growing all over it. I soaked everything really good with the striping chemicals so everything would come off easy and the wood would look great. Sure enough it worked. My shirt was a mess from leaning over the railing to pressure wash. I looked at my shirt and then I saw my tzitzit. I pulled up my shirt a little. My kattan was a mess. It and my tzitzit were both a yucky brown.

I washed out my tzitzit at home (I’m going to have to tie some more) and set them to dry. In the morning they still looked pretty bad and now they were kind of stiff, too.

I got to thinking that this was kind of how life goes. Hashem put us here to be people who bring glory to Him. We live in this world so a little bit of it is going to get on us. But as with my tzitzit, I don’t need to soak in it. We need to guard ourselves from things that aren’t going to wash out. If I allow myself to become too involved with things of this world and allow them to become priorities in my life, I start becoming a little ‘stiff’ around the neck and all of a sudden I don’t want to do the things I should be doing.

Of course, they are not bad things. But isn’t that subjective? A line from Ashrei comes to mind. ‘Hashem protects all who love Him, but all the wicked He will destroy.’ It appears that if you don’t love Him, you are in the category of wicked. To love Him is to do the things He has asked us to do. To long to please Him. To be the people He desires us to be and to long for the coming redemption. I kind of forget about that sometimes. I sure am glad for His faithfulness. I know that He will take me to that place that He wants me to be and my stains will be washed white as snow.  Unlike my tzitzit.