Menachos Daf 43 מנחוס דַף 43

A Baraisa states that all Jews are obligated in tzitzis, including women, but Rebbe Shimon says women are exempt, because it is a מצות עשה שהזמן גרמא – positive commandment which is dependent on a specific time (as explained below), and women are exempt from any מצות עשה שהזמן גרמא. A Baraisa explains Rebbe Shimon’s view: "וראיתם אותו" – and you shall see it, פרט לכסות לילה – this excludes a night garment from tzitzis, which is a time they are not seen. A blind person (who cannot see his tzitzis) is included by the phrase "אשר תכסה בה" – with which you cover yourself. It is more reasonable to include a blind person’s garment and exclude a night garment, rather than the reverse, שישנה בראיה אצל אחרים – because [a blind person’s garment] can be seen by others, whereas a night garment cannot be seen by anyone. Several other derashos from the phrase "וראיתם אותו" are presented, including: "וראיתם אותו וזכרתם את כל מצות ה'" – and you shall see it and remember all of Hashem’s mitzvos, teaching: שקולה מצוה זו כנגד כל המצות כולן – this mitzvah is equal to all the mitzvos combined. Rashi adds that "ציצית" has the gematria of 600, plus eight threads and five knots, totaling 613, paralleling תרי"ג מצות.

A Baraisa states: חביבין ישראל – Beloved are the Jewish people, שסיבבן הקדוש ברוך הוא במצות – for Hashem surrounded them with mitzvos: tefillin upon their heads and arms, tzitzis on the four corners of their garments, and מזוזות on their doorways. About these mitzvos Dovid Hamelech said: שבע ביום הללתיך על משפטי צדקך – “seven” times a day I praised You for Your righteous laws (because these mitzvos total seven). When Dovid entered a bathhouse and found himself standing unclothed (without these mitzvos), he said: אוי לי שאעמוד ערום בלא מצוה – “Woe is to me, that I should stand unclothed without any mitzvah!” But once he remembered his ברית מילה, he was relieved. After he left, he said a שירה about this mitzvah: "למנצח על השמינית מזמור לדוד" – for the conductor, on the eighth, a psalm by Dovid, על מילה שניתנה בשמיני – this is about מילה which was given to be performed on the eighth day of a baby’s life. Rebbe Elazar ben Yaakov says: whoever has tefillin on his head, tefillin on his arm, tzitzis on his garment, and a mezuzah on his doorway, הכל בחיזוק שלא יחטא – there is a complete presumption that he will not sin, as the passuk says: והחוט המשולש לא במהרה ינתק – and the three-ply cord is not easily severed.

Rebbe Meir used to say: חייב אדם לברך מאה ברכות בכל יום – a person is obligated to recite one hundred blessings every day, because the passuk says: ועתה ישראל מה ה' אלקיך שואל מעמך – now, Yisroel, what does Hashem, your G-d, ask of you? The word "מה" can be read as if it says "מאה" – one hundred. The Gemara reports that Rav Chiya brei d’Rav Avya, on Shabbos and Yom Tov (when there are fewer ברכות because there are only seven ברכות in שמונה עשרה), would strain himself to fill his quota of one hundred berachos באיספרמקי ומגדי – with making ברכות on fragrant spices and delicacies.