The Mystery, Meaning and Disappearance of the Tekhelet
2011; Volume: 39; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês
ISSN
0792-3910
Autores Tópico(s)Medieval and Classical Philosophy
ResumoAnd the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to the people of Israel, and bid them that they make them fringes [tzitzit] on the borders of their garments throughout their generations, and that they put upon the fringe of the borders a thread of blue [Petil Tekhelet]. And it shall be to you for a fringe, that you may look upon it, and remember all the commandments of the Lord, and do them; and that you seek not after your own heart and your own eyes, which incline you to go astray; you may remember, and do all my commandments, and be to your God (Num. 15:37-40). (1) This text is climaxed by the commands to look upon the fringes, to remember the commandments, and to do But, why and how do the fringes enable a person to become to your God? The rabbinic interpretation and explication of these biblical verses and the disappearance of the tekhelet fringe will lead us to a rather surprising exposition of talmudic mysticism. Our inquiry begins with a quote from T.B. Menahot 43b. The Talmud there first quotes from the biblical text in a Tannaitic source (Baraita), and then adds a critical point: That you may look upon it and remember ... and do Looking [upon it] leads to remembering [the commandments], and remembering leads to doing them. This comment presumably relates to the issue of looking at the fringe in order to remember the commandments. The Talmud then continues: Simeon b. Yohai says, Whosoever is scrupulous in the observance of this precept is worthy of receiving the Divine presence, for it is written here, ye may look upon it, and there it is written, You shall fear the Lord your God, and Him shall you serve (Deut. 6:13). The Talmud now digs a little deeper into the cognitive progression: It was taught: R. Meir used to say, Why is blue of all other colors specified [for this precept]? Because blue the color of the sea [oceans], and the sea the color of the sky, and the sky the color of [a sapphire, and a sapphire the color of] the Throne of Glory, as it is said, And there was under his feet as it were a paved work of sapphire stone (Ex. 24:10), and it is also written, The likeness of a throne as the appearance of a sapphire stone (Ezek. 1:26). According to both R. Simeon b. Yohai and R. Meir, the fringes in general and the thread of blue in particular are mystical and metaphysical symbols which, when one gazes upon them, are related to reaching the state of being holy to your God. Also, by winding the thread of blue around the white threads one creates a symbolic nexus between heaven and earth, between the terrestrial and celestial. Some wound it seven times, to symbolize the seven heavens, while others [in talmudic times] wound it thirteen times to symbolize the seven heavens and the six intervening realms of heavenly space (T.B. Menahot 39b). MEANING OF THE TEKHELET The mystical stream of spiritual consciousness of the blue thread in the fringes was located in still another area, in the Ark of the Covenant of the Tabernacle: When they [Israel] set forward, they spread over it [the Ark] neither a cloth of purple nor of scarlet, but a cloth all of blue. Why? Because blue is like the sea, and the sea is like the sky, and the sky is like the Throne of Glory; as it says: And above the firmament that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of sapphire stone (Ezek. 1:26) which tells us that the Ark and the Throne of Glory were alike (Bamidbar Rabbah 4:13). According to this Midrash, the Aron ha-Berit [Ark of the Covenant] was covered in blue because the Ark was the earthly equivalent of the Kisseh ha-Kavod, the Throne of Glory. It was fitting, therefore, that it be covered in blue, for as other talmudic masters have suggested, blue resembles the sea and the sea the sky and the sky the throne of divine glory (T. …
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