Hem of His Garment

by

Dr. John D. Garr

Tzitzit and Tekhelet

    Considering the exorbitant cost of tekhelet dye, why would God require every Israeli male to display a thread of this blue in each corner of his mantle (tallit)? And, considering the difficulty and cost of constructing fringes and attaching them to the outer garment, why would God consider it important for his people to make such a display? The tzitziyot are certainly not essential to the structural integrity of the garment and are of no material benefit.

    For the Jewish man, the blue thread in the tzitzit was a reminder of God, himself. Rabbi Meir spoke about the tekhelet thread in the tzitzit of the tallit: "Why was the color blue chosen from all the other colors? Because the blue resembles the sea, the sea resembles the sky, and the sky resembles the Throne of Glory."1  God’s throne is described biblically as "like sapphire stone, and as the sky itself for clearness."2  Very often in Jewish history and practice, God, himself, is referred to by the euphemism heaven, so as not to say, "God," and in any way show disrespect for his holiness. This was the case in the ministry of Jesus as reported in the Gospel of Matthew where the term kingdom of heaven is used instead of kingdom of God as in the other gospels. When a Jewish man in biblical times looked at the tzitzit in the corners of his mantle, he saw a blue thread that reminded him of heaven and the sapphire throne of God.

    The thread of tekhelet (blue) was to be exactly the same color of the High Priest’s robe, which was "all of blue."3  The other elements of the High Priest’s garments were decorated with tekhelet as well as with gold, purple, and scarlet (crimson). The official uniform, then, in which the High Priest approached the service of the Tabernacle was "all of tekhelet" with various other accents. This fact is very important when one considers its implications when applied to each Jewish man’s tallit.

    Jacob Milgrom has succinctly stated what has long been believed among the Jews as God’s reason for requiring a blue thread in each man’s tzitzit. He noted that "the democratic thrust within Judaism which equalizes not by leveling but by elevating" is manifest in the tekhelet of the tzitzit. "All of Israel is enjoined to become a nation of priests," he wrote. Since in ancient times tekhelet was the outward sign of nobility and of priesthood, God required the Jews to wear this blue woolen cord as a sign that in Israel he had "combined nobility with priesthood" so that Israel was "not to rule man but to serve God." Tekhelet in the tzitzit was not restricted to kings, priests, sages, or rabbis. "It is the uniform of all Israel," Milgrom noted.4  Rudolph Brasch has made this observation regarding the tallit as Israel’s uniform: "The Jew’s battle is not that of bloodshed. He serves the King of Kings. His fight is more difficult since he strives not for tangible conquests, but for the values of the spirit. To identify himself as God’s soldier and to make himself recognizable as such to the world, he dons his uniform, the tallit. Its whiteness symbolizes the purity of his mission."5 

    Perhaps another reason that God made this requirement was to emphasize the fact that every man in Israel had the responsibility as the head of a family to be both king and priest in his home. He was to lead his family in worship of God and in the priestly act of extending God’s providential blessings upon both his wife and children, the same blessings that God instructed Aaron to place upon all the children of Israel.6  When any Jew saw the blue thread in his tzitzit, he was immediately reminded that he was a part of that "Kingdom of Priests" that God had uniquely called unto himself.7  The Israelites were commanded to place a thread of blue in the tzitzit of their tallit because they understood themselves to be "banim la-Makom, noble sons of the King of the Universe, always pursuing His mitzvot,"8  an understanding that remains to this day.

    The second reason for the tekhelet in the tzitzit was so that "ye may look upon it, and remember all the commandments of the Lord, and do them." Both the tzitzit and the tekhelet are physical reminders of all the commandments of God, encouraging Israelis to "do them." This passage that requires the placement of tzitzit and tekhelet in the garments of Israelis is a part of the kri’at ha-Shema prayer complex that is recited twice daily by observant Jews; therefore, it is a constant reminder of the commandments. This call to remembrance and observance of the commandments is manifest in the tzitzit of the tallit on three different levels, first with the Shema (the greatest commandment), then with the Decalogue, and finally with the sum total of all the commandments (mitzvot).

    The most important commandment in the entire Word of God is the Shema: "Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One: and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might." Jesus, himself, confirmed the fact that this was the first and greatest commandment.9  The most important statement in the Shema is, "The Lord is One." (Allusions to each of the Ten Commandments can be found in the three paragraphs of the Shema.) In Hebrew this phrase is (Y-H-W-H Echad). The Hebrew for "The Lord" is commonly written by Jews as L_rd or G-d in order not to desecrate the Holy Name.10

    Each letter in the Hebrew alphabet has a numerical equivalent, so that a (aleph [a] ) is 1, b (beth [b] ) is 2, g (gimel [g]) is 3, and so forth. When the corresponding numbers for the Hebrew letters in Y-H-W-H (y+h+w+h) are totaled, the sum is 26; therefore, the word Y-H-W-H numerically equals 26.When the corresponding numbers for it, are totaled, the sum is 13.

    These numbers (and their corresponding Hebrew words) are seen in the tzitzit in the following manner: The tzitzit (tassel) has five double knots with four sets of wrappings between them. The first three sets of wrappings total 26 (set one: 7 wrappings; set two: 8 wrappings; set three: 11 wrappings), the numerical equivalent of God’s personal name (Y-H-W-H). Even more specifically, 7 + 8 = 15, the equivalent of (Y+H), and 11 is the equivalent of (W+H). Then, the fourth set of wrappings totals 13, the numerical equivalent of (echad), "one" (see chart). When an observant Jew, then, observes the tzitzit of his prayer shawl, he first sees the numbers 26 and 13, which correspond precisely to (Y-H-W-H Echad, "the Lord is one"), the essential words of the greatest of all commandments, the Shema.

    When he looks upon the tzitzit with tekhelet, the praying man also sees the Decalogue, the two tablets containing the Ten Commandments. Mishnat Rabbi Elie-zer, chapter 14 says, "And the Rabbis said: Why does the Torah enjoin us regarding tekhelet? Because tekhelet resembles sapphire, and the Tablets were of sapphire, to tell you that so long as the people of Yisrael gaze upon this tekhelet they are reminded of that which is inscribed on the Tablets and they fulfill it, and so it is written, ‘And you shall see it and remember.’ "11  By seeing the blue in the tzitzit, the Jewish man remembers the two tablets upon which the Shekhinah, the fiery finger of God himself, wrote the Decalogue, the ten commandments that are the categories under which all other commandments are delineated. The Zohar also notes that the word tekhelet means "takhlit," the "absolute and ultimate end and object of everything (viz. the Shekhinah).12

    As a Jewish man looks upon the tzitzit of his tallit, he also sees the sum total of the mitzvot. Rashi, the great eleventh century Jewish commentator, explained how looking at the fringes reminds the Jewish man of all God’s commandments, not just the Decalogue (as noted above). Again, using the fact that the letters of the Hebrew alphabet have numerical equivalents, Rashi explained that the Hebrew word (13) (tzitzit) is numerically equivalent to 600 (x [90] + y [10] + x [90] + y [10] + t [400] = 600) and that the tzitzit are comprised of a total of 8 strings, tied with 5 knots, making a total of 13. When these numbers are added together, the sum is 613, the exact number of commandments (mitzvot) in the Torah.14 It should be noted that there are 365 negative commandments (the "thou shalt not’s"), corresponding to the number of days in a year, and 248 positive commandments (the "thou shalt’s"), corresponding to the number of days remaining in a year after all sabbaths and holy days have been subtracted. The Jewish people also traditionally count 248 bones in the human body, held together by 365 ligaments.

    The 613 mitzvot are also manifest in the blue thread of the tzitzit in the very color tekhelet itself. As two Belgian scientists recently studied characteristics of dye molecules obtained from the Murex trunculus sea mollusk, they made a startling discovery. One of the measurements was the absorption spectrum of the molecule. Light is made up of many colors (the spectrum) measured in units of nanometers. The human eye perceives color in a complex way, based on the various combinations of colors of light that strike it. The tekhelet molecule (indigotin) gets its color from a strong absorption peak centered at exactly 613 nanometers!15

    When an observant Jewish man looks upon and touches to his eyes the tzitzit of his tallit (prayer shawl), he recognizes the Shema (the first and greatest commandment), the Ten Commandments, and the 613 mitzvot. Furthermore, he is constantly reminded to do them, thereby submitting himself to the Word and will of God.

    Since a blue thread stands for the Torah or the Word of God, is it perhaps more than mere coincidence that the color blue has long been associated with truth. Who does not recognize the phrase true blue as a statement that something or someone is profoundly correct or faithful? Is it coincidence that the most outstanding example in any contest receives the "blue ribbon" award?

    The tallit with its tzitziot and tekhelet is a curious, unique tradition, part of God’s grand design of mnemonic devices to call his people to the remembrance of his mighty acts in their behalf and to the expression of their devotion to him; however, it has fulfilled its function for over 3,500 years and to this day still calls observant Jews back to Sinai and the presence of God’s Torah.

Footnotes:

1Talmud. Seder Nashim, Mas. Sotah 17a.

 2 Exodus 24:10.

 3 Exodus 28:31.

 4 Jacob Milgrom. "The Tassel and the Tallit" (Fourth Annual Rabbi Louis Fineberg Memorial Lecture, University of Cincinnati, 1981).

 5 Rudolph Brasch, p. 239.

 6 Numbers 6:24, 25.

 7 Exodus 19:16.

 8 See P’til Tekhelet (Internet Website: www.techeiles.org.il), p. 2.

 9 Matthew 22:36-37.

10 ’h is commonly used among the Jewish people to indicate the Tetragrammaton (four-letter name of God) that appears throughout the Hebrew Scriptures. The name is spelled in Hebrew y�dh, heh, waw, heh. Where the Tetragrammaton is used in the Hebrew text of Scripture, it is vowel pointed with the vowels of the word Adonai (Lord), so that it may be pronounced, "Adonai." This time-honored tradition that predates the days of Jesus shows ultimate respect for the personal name of God by not permitting its use. It also reflects the Jewish people’s attempt to avoid violation of the third commandment of the Decalogue: "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain." Jesus, himself, respected this tradition by using "kingdom of heaven" instead of "kingdom of God," substituting "heaven" as a euphemism for "God," just as all Jews do, using "Adonai" for the Tetragrammaton, and as many do, using "HaShem" (The Name) instead of "God." It is important that Christians understand the fact that God does have a personal name. That name is Y/H/W/H. A close, yet inaccurate translation/transliteration of this personal name has appeared as Jehovah. This rendering repeats the mistake made by the late Renaissance Christian Hebraists when they saw y�dh, heh, waw, heh in the Masoretic Hebrew text with the nekudot (vowel pointing) of the Hebrew word Adonai (Lord) supplied (vowels emphasized). Since in German the letter "y" corresponds to "j" and "w" corresponds to "v," the transliteration became Yehowah or Yehovah, which came into English as Jehovah. Though Jehovah is etymologically incorrect, it is a cultural English (or other language) equivalent of HaShem that can (some would argue, should) be used by Christians to avoid pronunciation of the Tetragrammaton. In respect to our Jewish friends, we have noted the Tetragrammaton as here ’h.

11 See P’til Tekhelet (Internet Website: www.techeiles.org.il), p. 1.

12 Zohar, III:175b, 226b.

13 In the third paragraph of the Shema (Numbers 15:38-39), tzitzit istxiyx, which is "defective," without the final y�dh. Elsewhere it is written "plene" with the final y�dh.

14 For a detailed discussion of this concept, cf. Karl D. Coke. "Prayer Lessons from Jewish Culture," Restore!, Vol. 4, No. 3.

15 James Kern, "Tsitsit and Tekhelet" (an unpublished paper).