לרפואת איתמר יוסף בן רווית אסתר בתוך שח"י.
R' Yehuda Bar Ilai would wash his face on Erev Shabbos and wrap himself in white garments with Tzitzis ["Jew-Threads"], sit and wait for the Shabbos queen and was similar to an angel of G-d. [Shabbos 25b] What is the connection between Shabbos and Tzitzis?
On Shabbos we eat and that has a parallel to the state of Man before the sin. In the garden he would also eat. מכל עץ הגן אכול תאכל. So eating can relate to Man in his ideal state as he will be when Moshiach comes. But clothing is the result of SIN. Before sin Man wore NOTHING. So how is dressing up a Shabbos-friendly concept??
Clothing has two purposes: 1] To cover up what needs to be covered. 2] To reveal the glory of man's body. [I wear tight shirts so that everyone can appreciate my bulging muscles]. During the week, we get dressed for reason number one which is the outgrowth of sin. On Shabbos we get dressed for the second reason. Just as the "garment" of Adam [his body] accentuated the glory of his Neshama [before the sin when the body-soul connection was greatly severed], so too our Shabbos clothing.
In the parsha of Tzitzis it says ולא תתורו אחרי לבבכם ואחרי עיניכם. Chazal teach that this means that we have to guard our thoughts [אחרי ללבכם זו זנות אחרי עיניכם זו מינות] and have generally clean and pure thoughts [it can't be referring only to sexually illicit thoughts or idolatrous thoughts b/c we already have psukim that forbid those so it must be talking in a more general sense]!!! Then we will see our Tzitzis and remember all of the mitzvos - וזכרתם את כל מצוותי. In other words - there will be a cohesive and seamless connection between the inside and outside, thought and action.
Oמ Shabbos we have a special connection with Tzitzis which represent the connection between what is inside and outside, thought and deed. That is what Shabbos is about - connecting body to soul, פנימיות to חיצוניות. R' Yehuda Bar Ilai would wear Tzitzis when waiting for the Shabbos Queen.
He would also be similar an angel of Hashem. Animals were created together with their חיות and vitality. תוצא הארץ נפש חיה. Angels are also called animals - חיות הקודש. They and their חיות are one. Man was created first w/o חיות. He was mere dust of the earth. [Much like I feel when my alarm clock sounds MUCH TOO EARLY!!!]. Only then were his חיות and soul added. Man sinned and was penalized. חיות did not and remained in their pristine state. R' Yehuda washed his face and looked like a Malach, meaning a complete match between inside and out. חיות הקודש.
[ עפ"י תורת ראש הישיבה זצ"ל ]
