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38 [1] Speak etc. and you shall say: Since there is an element of commandment as well as advantage, and honor which come from the commandment, therefore it said both Speaking (in a commanding form) and saying (in a gentle and respectful form).
[2] And the shall make for themselves: The reason this passage is connected via the connecting "Vov-and" is as the sages taught, which I wrote about the previous verse, that Moses said to G-d, "During the week your people don phylacteries (tefillin) and thus remember etc. Thus when G-d comes to instruct him that they make fringes (tzitzit), one might mistakenly think that this commandment will take the place of phylacteries (tefillin), that when you wish you may don phylacteries (tefillin) and when you wish you may don fringes (tzitzit) without the phylacteries, even on the week days, implying that either one of these commandments suffices as the reminder about the commandments. Therefore it said, "And they shall make..." implying that the commandment of phylacteries remains and the commandment of fringes is added.
[3] **לדרתם ונתנו…פתיל תכלת. "throughout the generations and they shall put…a thread of blue."** There is a good reason for writing the word לדרתם. Inasmuch as the Torah describes the function of the fringes as a means to remind the Israelites of their duties, I could have thought that when there would arise a generation which did not need to be reminded of its duties the people of that generation could dispense with the need to observe this commandment. The Torah therefore had to write: "throughout their generations," in order to remind us that this commandment would remain in force at all times.
[4] Another reason why the Torah wrote the word לדרתם in the middle of the verse describing the commandment is that the commandment consists of two parts. We have the white threads and the blue thread. The former form part of the commandment throughout the generations. The latter is mandatory only at a time when the proper colour is available. G'd was careful to write the word "throughout their generations" **before** mentioning the blue thread, to make it plain that the first half of the commandment, i.e. the white threads applies always whereas the instructions to make one of the threads of blue wool applied only when the colour was at hand. *Menachot* 38 rules that the availability or non-availability of either kind of thread is no impediment to fulfilling the commandment with the kinds of threads which are available.
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