25 Jun PARSHAS SHLACH: TAKING SPIRITUAL GROWTH ONE STEP AT A TIME

The pasuk says
regarding Tzitzis,
“And you shall
remember all the
commandments of
Hashem.” The
Talmud says, “Rabbi Meir used to
say: How is Techeles different from
all other colors? The Techeles looks
like the sea, and the sea looks like the
sky and the sky looks like a sapphire
stone and the sapphire stone looks
like the Throne of Honor (of the
Almighty).” [Chullin 89a]
What is the need for all the
intermediate allusions? Cut out the
middle- man! Let Rabbi Meir simply
say that the color of Techeles is like
that of the Throne of Honor!
An important answer that I saw is that
in the service of G-d, one must go one
step at a time. We must grow

spiritually, but gradually. We cannot
“grab it all at once.” Unfortunately,
we see all too many times that people
gets into something new and go
overboard. It is not well thought out.
It is not well grounded. It is a ‘fad’.
One who bites off more than he can
chew is left with nothing.
Chazal say to go slowly. Small steps.
“Techeles is like the sea.” This we can
relate to right away. Later we will be
able to absorb the meaning of “the sea
is like the sky.” Then we can compare
the sky to sapphire. Ultimately, we
will then hopefully make the
connection that sapphire is like the
Throne of Honor.”
The Rabbeinu Tam writes in the Sefer
HaYashar: If one wants to get into
some type of good activity, he should
not make it too difficult in the
beginning. One should take upon

himself the ‘yoke of
mitzvos’ bit by bit,
based on what he is
able to handle.
This is the same idea
mentioned before. If
one assumes too much
at once, he will remain
with nothing. We put
on the Tallis before the
Tefillin, even though
the Tefillin are holier
than the Tallis. The
operating principle is
“we ascend in levels of holiness (we
do not drop down).” We should not
rush straight to put on the Tefillin. We
need to build up to that level of
holiness by first donning the Tallis, a
less sanctified item.
Proceeding gradually and in an
orderly fashion allows for great and

lasting conquests. One who tries to
jump to the top of the mountain,
without taking the middle steps, winds
up crashing.
The Techeles looks like the sea. The
sea looks like the sky. The sky looks
like sapphire stone. Sapphire stone
looks like the Holy Throne. Take
things one step at a time.