From Ecology to Theology. Also, A Thread of Blue!

 A very full morning of Torah and Jewish Thought was had this Sunday morning with the Sixth Grade, and one of those topics was from Ecology to Theology. What unites thsoe two topics? 

That's the question our 6th graders tried to use today. Here's one of the first questions they had to tackle: 

Who among the following draws water from the Jordan River:

a)    Israelis? 

b)    Syrians?

c)     Lebanse?

d)    Palestinians?

e)     All of the above?

 

It’s all of the above. As our students learned in a far-ranging set of  questions in a quiz, there is a large number of people dependent on a very small source of water in and around Eretz Yisrael. The drain on the Jordan river is so intense, very little water even makes it to the Dead Sea, which is shrinking at a horrifying rate. The need for rain in the Middle East cannot be understated, and the power of droughts in that arid climate is a serious threat. This is why Israel has actually invested heavily in water reclamation and desalinization efforts. Desalinization is expensive and electricity intensive, but it puts less of a strain on the water sources of the area.  Israel now gets up to 80% of its fresh water from plants on the coast like this one in Hadera.

In comparison to the Midwest, where there is no rainy season, Israel has a clear rainy season that begins around some coat in the fall and ends at Passover time in the spring. Ensuring there's enough moisture just in the general atmosphere to keep crops alive has been a serious concern of any people who farm in this area of the world.

And that's why we were looking at and listening to the prayer for dew, or Tal . The prayer is a very flowery, beautiful poem asking for God to bless us in multiple ways, each blessing to fall like tall dew.  This special prayer is inserted into the musaf service on the 7th day of Passover. The issue of water is so serious that the prayer is still chanted in part or whole in the nusach/melodic mode of the Yamim Nora’im,  the High Holidays!  

Here’s a simple rendition of prayer:

And here is  full text and translation :

:אֱלהֵינוּ וֵאלהֵי אֲבותֵינוּ טַל תֵּן לִִרְצּות אַרְצָךְ שִׁיתֵנוּ בְרָכָה בְּדִיצָךְ רוב דָגָן וְתִירושׁ בְּהַפְרִיצָךְ קומֵם עִיר בָּהּ חֶפְצָךְ :בְּטַל טַל צַוֵּה שָׁנָה טובָה וּמְעֻטֶרֶת פְּרִי הָאָרֶץ לְגָאון וּלְתִפְאֶרֶת עִיר כְּסֻּכָּה נותֶרֶת שימָהּ בְּיָדְךָ עֲטֶרֶת :בְּטַל טַל נופֵף עֲלֵי אֶרֶץ בְּרוּכָה מִמֶּגֶד שָׁמַיִם שבְּעֵנוּ בְרָכָה לְהָאִיר מִתּוךְ חֲשֵׁכָה כַּנָה אַחֲרֶיךָ מְשׁוּכָה :בְּטַל טַל יַעֲסִיס צוּף הָרִים טְעֵם בִּמְאודֶךָ מֻבְחָרִים חֲנוּנֶיךָ חַלֵץ מִמַסְגֵרִים זִמְרָה נַנְעִים וְקול נָרִים בְּטַל: טַל וָשובַע מַלֵּא אֲסָמֵינוּ הֲכָעֵת תְּחַדֵּשׁ יָמֵינוּ דוד כְּעֶרְכְּךָ הַעֲמֵד שְׁמֵנוּ גַּן רָוֶה שימֵנוּ :בְּטַל טַל בּו תְבָרֵךְ מָזון בְּמַשְׁמַנֵּינוּ אַל יְהִי רָזון אֲיֻמָה אֲשֶׁר הִסַּעְתָּ כַצּאן אָנָא תָּפֵק לָהּ רָצון :בְּטַל שָׁאַתָּה הוּא ה’ אֱלהֵינוּ מַשִּׁיב הָרוּחַ וּמורִיד הַטָּל :לִבְרָכָה וְלא לִקְלָלָה. אמן :לְחַיִּים וְלא לַמָּוֶת. אמן :לְשובַע וְלא לְרָזון. אמן

Our God and God of our ancestors: Dew, precious dew, unto Your land forlorn, Pour out our blessing in Your exultation, To strengthen us with ample wine and corn, And give Your chosen city safe foundation In dew. Dew, precious dew, the good year’s crown, we await, That earth in pride and glory may be fruited, And that the city once so desolate Into a gleaming crown may be transmuted By dew. Dew, precious dew, let fall upon the land; From heaven’s treasury be this accorded; So shall the darkness by a beam be spanned, The faithful of Your vineyard be rewarded With dew. Dew, precious dew to make the mountains sweet, The savor of Your excellence recalling. Deliver us from exile, we entreat, So we may sing Your praises, softly falling As dew. Dew, precious dew, our granaries to fill, And all our youthful excesses pardon. Beloved God, uplift us at Your will And make us as a richly watered garden With dew. Dew, precious dew, that we our harvest reap, And guard our fatted flocks and herds from leanness. Behold our people follow You like sheep, And look to You to give the earth her greenness With dew. You are Adonai our God who causes the wind to blow and the dew to fall. For a blessing, not for a curse, Amen. For life, not for death, Amen. For abundance, not for famine, Amen.

 

In addition to exploring Tal,  we spend a bit of time talking about the Four Children in the Haggadah, and how the Talmud Yerushalmi,  the Talmud of the Land of Israel,  explains the wicked son in a very particular way.  That and a bit of fun with the four sons and we took a few minutes to finish up our unit on the Tallit. 

Until the mid 1980’s,  there was commandment in Sefer Bamidbar, the Book of Numbers (ch. 15, vv.37-39), that nobody could perform for over 1500 years. Which one? 

וַיֹּ֥אמֶר יְהוָ֖ה אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֥ה לֵּאמֹֽר׃

Adonai said to Moses as follows:

דַּבֵּ֞ר אֶל־בְּנֵ֤י יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ וְאָמַרְתָּ֣ אֲלֵהֶ֔ם וְעָשׂ֨וּ לָהֶ֥ם צִיצִ֛ת עַל־כַּנְפֵ֥י בִגְדֵיהֶ֖ם לְדֹרֹתָ֑ם וְנָֽתְנ֛וּ עַל־צִיצִ֥ת הַכָּנָ֖ף פְּתִ֥יל תְּכֵֽלֶת׃

Speak to families of Yisrael and instruct them to make for themselves fringes on the corners of their garments throughout the ages; let them attach a string of blue to the fringe at each corner.

וְהָיָ֣ה לָכֶם֮ לְצִיצִת֒ וּרְאִיתֶ֣ם אֹת֗וֹ וּזְכַרְתֶּם֙ אֶת־כָּל־מִצְוֺ֣ת יְהוָ֔ה וַעֲשִׂיתֶ֖ם אֹתָ֑ם וְלֹֽא־תָתֻ֜רוּ אַחֲרֵ֤י לְבַבְכֶם֙ וְאַחֲרֵ֣י עֵֽינֵיכֶ֔ם אֲשֶׁר־אַתֶּ֥ם זֹנִ֖ים אַחֲרֵיהֶֽם׃

That shall be your fringe; look at it and recall all the mitzvot of Adonai and observe them, so that you do not get distracted by your heart or let your eyes lead you astray.

The commandment to place a string of techeylet/sky blue,  was impossible for Jews to fulfill after the Jewish dyeing industry was wiped out in the Byzantine period.  The color, derived from a snail known only as the chilazon,  became an object of legend and myth.

Colorfast blue and purple dyes were extremely expensive in the ancient near east,  saved for royalty and priesthood.  Even once lost, Jews dreamed of restoring the blue threat to their tallitot, as the Talmud taught of its powerful spirutual meaning in Tractate Menachot (43b if you want to check) where we find the words of Rebbe Meir:  "For the techeyelt is as the color of the sea,  and the sea is as the color of the sky, and the sky is as the color of God's glorious throne." 

 It remained a dream until the modern period, where a series of Torah scholars and scientists searched for the creature.  In the 1980’s,  a new group of scholars and activists worked to restore the blue dye successfully.   Any tallit is acceptable with all white fringes,   but now there those who wear the blue threads on the corners of their tallitot in a dazzling array of gorgeous patterns as in centuries past:

 

So why, aside from the extra step to tie these blue threads, do so few people wear this blue?  Our students agreed the answer may lay in that there is a cost to the strings, over $40 a set.  In the times of the Mishnah,  wool dyed with genuine techeylet was worth more than its weight in gold! The other reason we discussed  that this mitzvah has just recently been restored to function, and Jewish tradition can be slow to change, even when that change is going back to the way things used to be!  But our hope is that our students, regardless of gender, now understand something of why so many do embrace the practice of wearing tzitzit with Techeylet.

 

Rabbi Bonna Haberman Browns, zichronah livracha/of blessed memory, in prayer with with techelyet strung tzitzit and tefilin.