The final pesukim of Parashat Shelah introduce a mitzvah that all men observe each and every day – the mitzvah of tzitzit.
In principle, this mitzvah requires only that if a person chooses to wear a garment that has four corners, he must tie tzitzit strings to each of the four corners of the garment. At first glance, then, there is no obligation to wear the four-cornered garment that we wear under our shirts to fulfill the mitzvah of tzitzit.
However, the Gemara in Menahot (41a) teaches that it is vitally important to wear tzitzit. The Gemara tells the story of a Rabbi who was once walking without wearing a four-cornered garment, and he met an angel who warned him that he should be wearing tzitzit. The angel explained that בעידן ריתחא, during times when Hashem is angry, His anger will affect those who don’t bother wearing a four-cornered garment so they can fulfill this mitzvah. There is something especially important about tzitzit, which requires us to make a point of wearing a four-cornered garment so we obligate ourselves in this mitzvah. The Gemara here issues a frightening warning to those who choose to excuse themselves from the mitzvah of tzitzit by not wearing a four-cornered garment.
Additionally, the Gemara elsewhere (Shabbat 32b) states that if a person is careful to wear tzitzit, then he will, in the future, have 2,800 servants working for him. Why is the mitzvah of tzitzit so significant, and why is this the reward?
The Torah tells us that we must wear tzitzit למען תזכרו ועשיתם את כל מצוותי – to remind us to fulfill all the mitzvot. The Gemara explains that the word ציצית in gematria equals 600, and when we add the five knots and eight strings on each corner, we arrive at a total of 613 – the number of mitzvot in the Torah.
When we put on tzitzit, we are making a very powerful statement. We are proclaiming, “I want all the mitzvot to be part of me, part of my very being, 24/7.” The tzitzit are like our uniform announcing to everyone – including to ourselves – that we belong to Hashem’s “team,” that we are His loyal servants. We wear tzitzit to make it clear that no matter where we are and no matter what we are doing, we are committed to Hashem and to His laws.
This is why the reward for tzitzit is having servants. We wear tzitzit to affirm our status as Hashem servants – and so we will be rewarded by having our own servants.
As the summer sets and the weather becomes uncomfortably hot, some people are inclined to take their tzitzit off. I would argue, though, that to the contrary, the summer is when we need tzitzit more than during any other time of year. In the summer, people are generally more relaxed, and out of their usual framework. It is a time when people often travel and enjoy recreational activities, finding themselves in places and situations that lend themselves to inappropriate behavior. Specifically during the summer months, we need the reminder of the tzitzit, the proclamation of our desire to serve Hashem. During these months more than any other time, we need to reaffirm that we are Hashem’s servants, that we are bound to Him at all times, and that our greatest wish is to be close with Him and to adhere to His mitzvot.