Blue-ish
One of the more mystifying Mitzvas in the Torah is the command1 to wear tzitzis (strings) on the corners of a four-cornered garment. The Torah specifies that one thread should be blue. A blue-ish color called tcheles is a dye (derived from nature) that we're meant to apply to one of the strings of tzitzis. Many understand that we don't have knowledge or access to the correct dye anymore, but nonetheless the fact that we read about the tcheles every year in this week's Parsha (and twice a day in Shma) means it's still an important concept.
The Sages say2 that blue/tcheles is the particular color chosen because it is like the color of the sea, which in turn is like the color of the sky, which in turn is like the color of the "throne of G-d's glory". This progression in imagery from a thread on our garment to the sea to the sky to G-d is quite dramatic. We can sort of understand that G-d's glory has a "color" in the sense that there's a deep beauty and majesty to the sea and the sky which might remind us not only of G-d's creation of the world but also of G-d's constant involvement in it. But even if we accept that, why do we need to first be reminded of the sea and only then the sky and then G-d's glory? Blue is a pretty spiritual looking color, so just cut to the chase and say "blue reminds us of the sky and of G-d"! What's the sea doing in there?
To make things even more intriguing, Rashi says3 that the color of blue/tcheles that we have is only similar to the sea, but not exactly like the color of the sky. So, we need these gradual steps of association because the sea is actually the only one that tcheles looks like. But, if tcheles is actually pretty far off from the color of G-d's glory, then why is it chosen in the first place? The Torah should just tell us to use a dye that's the exact right heavenly color instead of starting us off with some sort of strange Trader Joe’s organic seaweed color!
Rav Moshe Feinstein answers these questions beautifully: he writes4 that G-d gave us this wonky tcheles color so that we can learn the importance of gradual growth. We often want to skip right to our end goals - that perfect, heavenly color of G-d's glory. But we all know that in truth when we try for too much too quickly we end up flat on our face, discouraged and giving up. We need instead to reach for the steps that are closest to us. We need to stretch for one step beyond ourselves, and only then go for the next step beyond that, and so on. Growth can't be acquired by leaping - it can only be gotten by taking tiny, solid, consistent steps. And at the end of the day, that which we work at slowly will be more ours than anything we could ever acquire in one fell swoop even if such a thing were possible. R' Feinstein even concludes by saying that this is perhaps why the Sages say that redemption will ultimately not come in one big flash but rather one small step at a time.
At the end of the day, G-d isn't interested in some sort of objective perfection in our lives. Such a leap is not only impossible but also just missing the point. But we're also not meant to stay still. A small shift in shade is the holiness that G-d desires. The call is to serve Hashem with our lives - to use exactly what we've been given and strive to create lives that are a bit more radiant, a bit more colorful, and a bit more similar to G-d Himself.
Shabbat Shalom!
Bamidbar 15:38
Menachos 43b
Sota 17
Darash Moshe (on Bamidbar 15:38)