STRING THEORY TORAH
by Jeremy Chance Springfield
9/17/2017
The Creator of heaven and earth fills all His creation in a way that we cannot fathom. His Presence invigorates and permeates all which emanated from His mind at the beginning of creation. From the first spark of light ignited by His initial resonating utterance so long ago, to every passing moment since, He touches all that was, is, and will be with His Spirit. From the loftiest of the heavens, to the basest of earth, from space and time and all that connects in-between: He is intimately involved with His worlds.
His involvement does not exclude mankind. It is true, though, that sin separates us from His unity with all things. Sin tore a chasm that cut us off from life eternal – the very essence of His nature. In that vacuum of spiritual separation, man came to know what it is like living apart from true Meaning and Purpose. Without Him, we lost all sense of worth. However, that terrible rift between flesh and Spirit can be bridged when we reconnect with His will. That comes by performing His Word. His Word was given to re-establish mankind into what He intended of us to be, to recondition our minds that every act is meaningful, that every deed has purpose, and through aligning ourselves to His desires, we can be restored to the vibrant Life from which we fled in our sins.
Even the Messiah Yeshua stated the implicit reality of obedience to the Word that reconnects us to the Creator's nature of life everlasting. Messiah made the truth clear in the passage of Matthew 19:16-17, where the Aramaic text of the Peshitta records so strikingly the words that were spoken:
Even the Messiah Yeshua stated the implicit reality of obedience to the Word that reconnects us to the Creator's nature of life everlasting. Messiah made the truth clear in the passage of Matthew 19:16-17, where the Aramaic text of the Peshitta records so strikingly the words that were spoken:

16 And one came, and drew near, and said to Him, “Good Teacher, what that is good should I perform that there shall be for me life that is everlasting?”
17 But He said to him, “Why do you call Me the good one? None is good, except if one – Alaha! Yet, if you are desiring that you should enter to life, you must keep the commandments!”
The intensity of Yeshua’s words in this case are clear in the Aramaic grammar: TAR PUQDANE’ = “you must keep the commandments,” with the word “keep” in the imperative tense in the Aramaic – a grammatical demand, essentially. There is no beating around the bush, so to speak. There is no hesitancy on the Messiah’s part. The blatant truth is spoken to a man asking a sincere question: what must I do to live forever? What must I do to reconnect to the Creator? Messiah responds with the clarity one would expect when a person’s eternity is on the line, and so we should all do well to meditate upon and carefully heed the reply Yeshua gave to this seeker: “you must keep the commandments.”
It should be pointed out here that what Yeshua has stated is astonishing. It is amazing to read the gravity of His words in the context of Scripture and ancient Judaism. Consider the reason why: no verse in the Torah / Law ever clearly elevates the performance of the commandments to such a degree that a person’s eternal standing before the Most High is dependent upon whether they observed them, or not. The closest the Torah ever seems to come to such a statement is found in Deuteronomy 30:19, where Moses says the famous line:
It should be pointed out here that what Yeshua has stated is astonishing. It is amazing to read the gravity of His words in the context of Scripture and ancient Judaism. Consider the reason why: no verse in the Torah / Law ever clearly elevates the performance of the commandments to such a degree that a person’s eternal standing before the Most High is dependent upon whether they observed them, or not. The closest the Torah ever seems to come to such a statement is found in Deuteronomy 30:19, where Moses says the famous line:

“I charge with you today the heavens and the earth: the life and the death I have set before you; the blessing and the curse. And make your choice with life, so that you and your seed shall live.”
Yeshua, in His very explicit words, clarifies that “the life” of which Moses speaks in this verse must ultimately be everlasting life. His is the first historical voice among all Scripture and among all recorded rabbinic teachers of Israel that the performance of the commandments in this life directly affects our placement in the next life. Yeshua dared to state of the Torah what was never explicitly stated before Him! It is a declaration that is rather scandalous to most of Christendom, but the validity of it is borne up by His divine authority - He speaks no falsehood, only truth! Keeping the commandments reconnects us to the Creator – to eternal life. This is a spiritual endeavor, and cannot be done without the power of the Spirit, as both the prophet Ezekiel, in Ezekiel 11:19-20, and the apostle Paul, in Romans 7:14, make very clear.

19 And I shall give to them one heart, and a new spirit I shall place in your inward part, and I shall take away the heart of stone from your flesh, and I shall give to you a heart of flesh,
20 so that in My statutes you shall walk, and My judgments you shall keep, and you shall do them. And they shall be for Me for a people, and I shall be for them for Elohim.”
and

"For we recognize that the Instruction is of the Spirit, yet I am of the flesh, and I am sold unto sin…"

Keeping the commandments triumphantly through the power of the Spirit that only Yeshua can give to us is the key to living a life that is everlasting. There is simply no other way to enter eternal life, according to the words of the Messiah Himself! The above text of Romans in the Aramaic should also be properly understood as Paul referring to the situation of a person in sin, for no redeemed person is "sold unto sin" any longer. Thus, if the unredeemed can rightly assert that the Torah is of the Spirit, how much more so can the redeemed who has the Spirit see the true purpose of the Torah in the lifestyle of trust by the power of the Spirit?
The commandments we are called to keep are many and varied. In a show of a desire for intimacy from us, for wholeness for us, the Spirit has written commandments of subtle degree and purpose. He has woven in them a tapestry of righteousness for us to perform at every moment and with each new situation we find ourselves in while living a life before Him. He wants us to draw close to Him in every avenue of life – in day-to-day mundane endeavors, as well as in special moments, and also to draw near to Him at every place we find ourselves at in His world. These commandments run the spectrum of human experience, so that we can reconnect with Him in these acts of obedience and righteousness in all kinds of ways.
The text of Deuteronomy holds a special passage that, I believe, can be shown to be a concise example of what we are to perform before Him. In Deuteronomy 6:4-9, in what is known popularly as the SHEMA, we read the following words:
The commandments we are called to keep are many and varied. In a show of a desire for intimacy from us, for wholeness for us, the Spirit has written commandments of subtle degree and purpose. He has woven in them a tapestry of righteousness for us to perform at every moment and with each new situation we find ourselves in while living a life before Him. He wants us to draw close to Him in every avenue of life – in day-to-day mundane endeavors, as well as in special moments, and also to draw near to Him at every place we find ourselves at in His world. These commandments run the spectrum of human experience, so that we can reconnect with Him in these acts of obedience and righteousness in all kinds of ways.
The text of Deuteronomy holds a special passage that, I believe, can be shown to be a concise example of what we are to perform before Him. In Deuteronomy 6:4-9, in what is known popularly as the SHEMA, we read the following words:

4 Hear, Yisra’El: YHWH your Elohim, YHWH is one.
5 And you shall love YHWH your Elohim with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your very-ness.
6 And these words which I command you today shall be upon your heart,
7 and you shall impress them unto your sons, and shall speak of them in your rest in your home, and in your going in the way, and in your lying down, and in your rising,
8 and shall bind them for a sign upon your hand, and they shall be for frontlets between your eyes.
9 And you shall write them upon the doorposts of your home, and your gates.
5 And you shall love YHWH your Elohim with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your very-ness.
6 And these words which I command you today shall be upon your heart,
7 and you shall impress them unto your sons, and shall speak of them in your rest in your home, and in your going in the way, and in your lying down, and in your rising,
8 and shall bind them for a sign upon your hand, and they shall be for frontlets between your eyes.
9 And you shall write them upon the doorposts of your home, and your gates.
In these words are the blueprint that covers the spectrum of our performance of the commandments before Him in this world. By breaking them down just a little bit, this reality can be appreciated.
THE INCUMBENT COMMANDMENT UPON US ALL:
4 Hear, Yisra’El: YHWH your Elohim, YHWH is one.
5 And you shall love YHWH your Elohim with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your very-ness.
Such command is sweeping in nature. It involves all of who we are, and touches every part of our life. There is a reason this is viewed by Judaism and Christianity both as the greatest commandment in Scripture. The text continues by explaining what the above means in the life of the believer.
HOW THE COMMANDMENT IS PERFORMED:
“impress them upon your sons” – a conditional potential based on situation
(if this is your reality, do this)
“at home / going in the way / your lying down / rising up” – a locational performance
(when in this place, do this)
“bind them as frontlets / written upon doorposts” – a physical performance
(in this world, do this)
Almost all the commandments fall into these simple parameters:
There are conditional commandments that can only be fulfilled under specific circumstances in life. Teaching His Word to our children is a commandment that hinges upon the presence of children in our lives – only when one is a parent are they liable to perform this commandment. There are many such commandments as these, like laws for farmers, laws for judges, laws for sacrifices. Commandments that are dependent upon a specific situation / circumstance in our lives fall under this category.
There are locational commandments that can only be fulfilled when the believer is in certain positions in life. Speaking of the commandments when in our homes, or on a journey, or lying down, or rising, are those dependent upon where we are at to perform. The Torah possesses such laws that are only performed when in a certain location, such as the use of a tithe during the festival of Tabernacles when in Jerusalem, or the pronouncing of blessing and cursing when at Mount Ebal and Gerizim. Commandments that rest upon where one is at in this world fall into this category.
There are physical commandments that are fulfilled repeatedly in the day-to-day living of life. Performing day-to-day commandments is assumed to be incumbent upon us despite situation at the time and where we are at locally. These types of commandments, such as those involving prayer, or Scripture study, or as the example here provides of frontlets, are done without regard to outside circumstance, but rather, are to be performed to maintain a daily fulfillment of His Word, and fall into this category.
These commandments run the range of all life experiences. They are ones we can fulfill at the time of the opportunity to do them. The event is presented to us as it so falls upon us, and we extend ourselves in faith to be reconnected once more to Him in such ways – to draw nearer to His Presence that permeates all things.
There is one commandment, however, that is different in its nature when compared to these other categories. It is deceptively simple in its performance, because it would be assumed that it could be done like many of the above commandments, but the essence of the performance of this commandment is instead incredibly unique.
The commandment of which I reference is that of TZITZIT – the wearing of tassels on a four-cornered garment, or what is known in Hebrew as a TALLIT. The commandment to wear TZITZIT is found in two places in the Torah. In Deuteronomy 22:12, the law is presented in its minimalist expression:
THE INCUMBENT COMMANDMENT UPON US ALL:
4 Hear, Yisra’El: YHWH your Elohim, YHWH is one.
5 And you shall love YHWH your Elohim with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your very-ness.
Such command is sweeping in nature. It involves all of who we are, and touches every part of our life. There is a reason this is viewed by Judaism and Christianity both as the greatest commandment in Scripture. The text continues by explaining what the above means in the life of the believer.
HOW THE COMMANDMENT IS PERFORMED:
“impress them upon your sons” – a conditional potential based on situation
(if this is your reality, do this)
“at home / going in the way / your lying down / rising up” – a locational performance
(when in this place, do this)
“bind them as frontlets / written upon doorposts” – a physical performance
(in this world, do this)
Almost all the commandments fall into these simple parameters:
There are conditional commandments that can only be fulfilled under specific circumstances in life. Teaching His Word to our children is a commandment that hinges upon the presence of children in our lives – only when one is a parent are they liable to perform this commandment. There are many such commandments as these, like laws for farmers, laws for judges, laws for sacrifices. Commandments that are dependent upon a specific situation / circumstance in our lives fall under this category.
There are locational commandments that can only be fulfilled when the believer is in certain positions in life. Speaking of the commandments when in our homes, or on a journey, or lying down, or rising, are those dependent upon where we are at to perform. The Torah possesses such laws that are only performed when in a certain location, such as the use of a tithe during the festival of Tabernacles when in Jerusalem, or the pronouncing of blessing and cursing when at Mount Ebal and Gerizim. Commandments that rest upon where one is at in this world fall into this category.
There are physical commandments that are fulfilled repeatedly in the day-to-day living of life. Performing day-to-day commandments is assumed to be incumbent upon us despite situation at the time and where we are at locally. These types of commandments, such as those involving prayer, or Scripture study, or as the example here provides of frontlets, are done without regard to outside circumstance, but rather, are to be performed to maintain a daily fulfillment of His Word, and fall into this category.
These commandments run the range of all life experiences. They are ones we can fulfill at the time of the opportunity to do them. The event is presented to us as it so falls upon us, and we extend ourselves in faith to be reconnected once more to Him in such ways – to draw nearer to His Presence that permeates all things.
There is one commandment, however, that is different in its nature when compared to these other categories. It is deceptively simple in its performance, because it would be assumed that it could be done like many of the above commandments, but the essence of the performance of this commandment is instead incredibly unique.
The commandment of which I reference is that of TZITZIT – the wearing of tassels on a four-cornered garment, or what is known in Hebrew as a TALLIT. The commandment to wear TZITZIT is found in two places in the Torah. In Deuteronomy 22:12, the law is presented in its minimalist expression:

You shall make braids upon the four corners of your coverings in which you cover yourself.
This text is the generic statement that guides our outward performance of the commandment. When we wear a garment made with four corners, there are to be braids placed at each corner. Quite clearly put. Ostensibly simple. But let us look at the other appearance in the Torah of this commandment in Numbers 15:37-40, and things begin to get a little more involved.

37 And YHWH spoke to Mosheh, saying,
38 “Talk to the sons of Yisra’El, and speak to them, that they make for themselves tassels upon the corners on their garments, for their generations, and that they place upon the tassels of the corner a cord of blue.
39 And it shall be to you for a tassel, and you shall see it, and you shall remember all the commandments of YHWH, and you shall do them. And you shall not search after your heart, and after your eyes, after which you whore,
40 so that you shall remember, and shall perform all of My commandments, and you shall be set apart for your Elohim.”
38 “Talk to the sons of Yisra’El, and speak to them, that they make for themselves tassels upon the corners on their garments, for their generations, and that they place upon the tassels of the corner a cord of blue.
39 And it shall be to you for a tassel, and you shall see it, and you shall remember all the commandments of YHWH, and you shall do them. And you shall not search after your heart, and after your eyes, after which you whore,
40 so that you shall remember, and shall perform all of My commandments, and you shall be set apart for your Elohim.”

This declaration of the commandment is elaborated upon: not only are the TZITZIT to be upon the four corners of the garment, but they are to be given a blue thread, as well. Between these details and the other in Deuteronomy 22:12, a complete picture emerges of what the TZITZIT is to look like: a braid and a tassel with a blue thread. The Hebrew term for “braid” is GEDALIM, which is to say, the word GADOL (“great”), and the Hebrew word for “tassel” is from TZITZ (“feather”). Thus, we see that all TZITZIT are both braided and possess free-hanging tassels, as well, with a blue thread running throughout to fulfill that detail.
Scripture does not demand that they be fashioned in any other specific manner. The rabbis of Judaism spent some effort in discussing possible variant forms, and what would be viewed as acceptable in fulfillment, but the consensus is that the performance of this commandment is open to some degree of personal ingenuity. Because of this, there are several different types of TZITZIT that believers wear, and many styles reflect the particular belief perspectives of the wearer. There is all manner of ways to tie the tassels in the wide spectrum of Jewish observance. Many observers, unsure of the precise color of blue intended, even opt to refrain from including that thread until they know for sure, so as not to possibly transgress with a wrong hue of blue. Yet another ancient Jewish tradition is to include two threads of blue among the threads on each corner, so the color is prominently visible to fulfill the command. The differing methods show that this simple commandment can be applied in several different ways.
In addition to these details of how the tassel is to be physically constructed, the text gives us the purpose of our performance of this commandment: to look upon, and to remember to do the commandments. In this manner, we see a subtle word-play at work. This word-play can best be appreciated when viewed how the Hebrew uses the root word TZITZIT in another place. In The Song of Songs 2:9, we can begin to understand what is going on a bit better.

My beloved is like a gazelle, or a fawn deer: behold, this one stands behind our wall, gazing from the windows, glancing from the lattice.

The Hebrew phrase in this passage of MEYTZITZ MIN HAKHARAKIM “glancing from the lattice,” is the significant part. The root of TZITZ has as its ultimate meaning something that is “seen.” The verse also is of merit regarding the link to TZITZIT in that the phrase MIN HAKHARAKIM can not only mean “from the lattice,” but literally “from the braids!”
Taking this understanding of the term TZITZ back to the passage from Numbers 15, we can appreciate what is being said as hinting at:
And it shall be to you for a seeing, and you shall see it, and you shall remember all the commandments of YHWH, and you shall do them.
The Hebrew word-play helps us to understand that the TZITZIT is intended to do more than merely hang from our sides and thus be a fulfillment of the commandment to do so. Rather, what we find by looking deeper into the commandment to wear them is something that ultimately goes beyond the simple “do it” and be satisfied of the fulfillment, as happens with so many other commandments.
Inherent in these tassels is a spiritual connection to what is to come – an act of future faithfulness on our part. Its performance at this moment is not meant to only meet the requirements for obedience on this day, but to promote obedience by performing the commandment in a time yet to be. The TZITZIT is a tether into every tomorrow.
Taking this understanding of the term TZITZ back to the passage from Numbers 15, we can appreciate what is being said as hinting at:
And it shall be to you for a seeing, and you shall see it, and you shall remember all the commandments of YHWH, and you shall do them.
The Hebrew word-play helps us to understand that the TZITZIT is intended to do more than merely hang from our sides and thus be a fulfillment of the commandment to do so. Rather, what we find by looking deeper into the commandment to wear them is something that ultimately goes beyond the simple “do it” and be satisfied of the fulfillment, as happens with so many other commandments.
Inherent in these tassels is a spiritual connection to what is to come – an act of future faithfulness on our part. Its performance at this moment is not meant to only meet the requirements for obedience on this day, but to promote obedience by performing the commandment in a time yet to be. The TZITZIT is a tether into every tomorrow.

It may initially sound bizarre, but consider how this is so: the commandment to wear these tassels has as its purpose the unfinished tense of “shall remember” to do the commandments. Therefore, in the performance of the commandment to wear TZITZIT, we are pledging ourselves to future fulfillment of His commandments – one of which, obviously is TZITZIT. What does that mean? It means that in the act of donning TZITZIT, we begin a remembering to perform TZITZIT yet again, so that our act is always unfinished.
Unlike other commandments which can be done and fulfilled in that moment of completion, TZITZIT can be started, but its purpose in performance is never completed. The very purpose of the commandment to wear TZITZIT is a reminder for us to perform the commandment to wear TZITZIT in the future, so that what the Spirit in writing the declaration to us has created is an infinite loop in the Law, essentially a faith-based fractal in time and space. Each performance of wearing the threads is itself a thread that beckons us to remember to wear them, which yet again will cause us to remember to wear them, and so on, and so forth. The wearing of these tassels becomes eternal in our performance of them, for we can initiate the act, but we can never claim it is fulfilled.
Unlike other commandments which can be done and fulfilled in that moment of completion, TZITZIT can be started, but its purpose in performance is never completed. The very purpose of the commandment to wear TZITZIT is a reminder for us to perform the commandment to wear TZITZIT in the future, so that what the Spirit in writing the declaration to us has created is an infinite loop in the Law, essentially a faith-based fractal in time and space. Each performance of wearing the threads is itself a thread that beckons us to remember to wear them, which yet again will cause us to remember to wear them, and so on, and so forth. The wearing of these tassels becomes eternal in our performance of them, for we can initiate the act, but we can never claim it is fulfilled.

This factor places the commandment into an unusual and unique category. Each donning of TZITZIT is a further unraveling of a cord of a commandment whose fulfillment spirals endlessly into eternity. Therefore, our obedience to such a simple command locks us into a spiritual pathway that links us in this moment in time to the unending, timeless æons of infinity.
With the act of TZITZIT, man becomes "plugged in," so to speak, to be eternally faithful in the fulfillment of the commandments. That may sound strange to initially consider, but the key here is that of remembering. Memory links the past to the present, but in this case, according to the purpose of the TZITZIT as laid forth in the holy commandment, memory links the present to the future. Such a thought is perhaps mind-boggling, but is supported even by the text of Scripture in a stunning manner. In Revelation 22:17, we read of such future memory of the faithful calling back down through the centuries and millennia to us now, who presently strive to obey the commandments in this very moment.
With the act of TZITZIT, man becomes "plugged in," so to speak, to be eternally faithful in the fulfillment of the commandments. That may sound strange to initially consider, but the key here is that of remembering. Memory links the past to the present, but in this case, according to the purpose of the TZITZIT as laid forth in the holy commandment, memory links the present to the future. Such a thought is perhaps mind-boggling, but is supported even by the text of Scripture in a stunning manner. In Revelation 22:17, we read of such future memory of the faithful calling back down through the centuries and millennia to us now, who presently strive to obey the commandments in this very moment.

And the Spirit and the Bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears, say, “Come!” And let him who thirsts come. And whomever purposes, let him take the water of life gratuitously.

We read with eyes opened anew there at the end of all things, just five verses from the close of the last book of Scripture, after the Millennium of Messiah’s peaceful reign upon the earth, after the great Judgment of the living and the dead, after the sublime creation of the new heavens and new earth, after the awe-inspiring descent of the New Jerusalem, that the Spirit and the completed Bride of Messiah (all redeemed united) call out together from the brink of eternity to us here now, beckoning us to come. We therefore are given an astonishing portrait of ourselves made whole at long last, remembering collectively our great struggle and dedicated race to victory in the faith, and in John’s vision we are depicted sending backwards in time the fervent call to not give up, but to persevere in coming to the finish line of our faith. The cry comes back to us now from the precipice of forever, just as the performance of TZITZIT is a thread whose line links our lives now to the fulfillment in the future.

Thus, it is that along with the commandments given to us from the Holy Spirit in the Torah which touch every situation of life – from daily, to situational, to time-specific observances, He also gifted us with a commandment whose performance ties us from today, into tomorrow, and all the way into eternity. When we understand just what He has done with His commandments, we can see exactly why Yeshua decreed in Matthew 19:17 that life everlasting is obtained by keeping His commandments.
His statement proved to be not only correct according to the Word, elevating obedience to something greater than we ever imagined, but He also showed Himself utterly brilliant in linking the performance of the commandments to eternal life, once the purpose of TZITZIT is factored into our performance. When we appreciate that the Most High fills all time, space, and eternity, we can see that the performance of the commandments He has given us to reconnect to Him also touches all time, space, and eternity, so that we can once more be with Him in a union far more intimate than our minds can fathom – for now.
His statement proved to be not only correct according to the Word, elevating obedience to something greater than we ever imagined, but He also showed Himself utterly brilliant in linking the performance of the commandments to eternal life, once the purpose of TZITZIT is factored into our performance. When we appreciate that the Most High fills all time, space, and eternity, we can see that the performance of the commandments He has given us to reconnect to Him also touches all time, space, and eternity, so that we can once more be with Him in a union far more intimate than our minds can fathom – for now.
All study contents Copyright Jeremy Chance Springfield, except for graphics and images, which are Copyright their respective creators.