Books The Rarest Blue: The Remarkable Story of an Ancient Color Lost to History and Rediscovered By Baruch Sterman with Judy Taubes Sterman Lyons Press Guilford, Connecticut, 2012 305 pages Reviewed by Alfred Cohen
Speak to the children of Israel, and let them make for themselves tzitzit at the corners of their garments, for all generations. And they shall put . . . a strand of techelet . . . at the corner. And [when] you see it, you will remember all the mitzvoth of the Lord and do them . . . (Exodus 15:37). the mitzvah of donning tzitzit While is fairly straightforward—one must wear fringes at the corners of a four-cornered garment—the requirement to include a strand of techelet is somewhat ambiguous. What is techelet? What purpose does it serve? Elucidating the verse above, the rabbis state: Techelet is the same color as the heavens, and when a person sees it on his garment, he will remember God Who dwells in Heaven and has given us commandments, and thereby he will be prompted to observe all the mitzvot of the Torah (Rashi, ibid.). [Interestingly, the blue stripe in the Israeli flag is evocative of the strand of blue in the tzitzit.] For thousands of years, tzitzit did indeed include the thread of techelet, but almost 1,000 years ago the practice lapsed because the knowledge of how to make techelet was lost. The blue strand in the tzitzit needs to be specifically techelet, the color of blue dye derived from the secretions or “blood” of Rabbi Alfred Cohen is editor of the Journal of Halacha and Contemporary Society and the rabbi of Congregation Ohaiv Yisroel in Monsey.
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a sea creature called the chilazon, and the identity of the elusive chilazon was lost. Around 120 years ago, an attempt was made to identify this creature and restore the practice of wearing techelet in tzitzit. The attempt, initiated by Rabbi Henoch Leiner (of Radzyn, Poland) and generally regarded as failing to correctly identify the chilazon, nevertheless succeeded in stimulating great interest in reviving the lost mitzvah. Numerous rabbinic and scientific studies have been undertaken to verify the true identity of the chilazon, and the story of that quest as well as full discussions of the scientific data which support that inquiry are the subject of a fascinating new book, The Rarest Blue, written by Baruch Sterman with his wife, Judy Taubes Sterman. The Rarest Blue reports on a broad range of inquiries into the scientific aspects of determining which sea creature is indeed the chilazon, which the book identifies as the murex trunculus, based upon descriptions in the Talmud and in rabbinic literature. Furthermore, The Rarest Blue details the production methods, including how the potential techelet is extracted from the murex and how the dye is manufactured. The authors even delve into the question of how color is perceived by the human eye. Their comprehensive and absorbing discussions are an excellent review of the scientific studies associated with the attempt to restore an ancient mitzvah, which include not only determining which sea creature could be the chilazon, but also the surprisingly complex endeavor to replicate the ancient extraction and dyeing methods. In addition, the Stermans offer the history of this whole undertaking and explain what Rabbi Leiner attempted to do and why many think he arrived at the wrong conclusion. Among those who differed with Rabbi Leiner was Rabbi Isaac Herzog, who later became the chief rabbi of Israel and wrote his PhD thesis on his own attempts to identify the chilazon. There are also
those who contend that Rabbi Herzog was equally mistaken in his own analyses. The Stermans’ research makes for interesting reading and provides valuable information. The Rarest Blue is an indispensable source of information, both historical and scientific, for those interested in the possible restoration of the mitzvah of techelet in the modern age. Nevertheless, despite its excellent qualities, this book is only a first step in the process of reviving the ancient mitzvah, if that is even possible. This is because halachah does not emerge from scientific inquiry alone, albeit scientific knowledge is certainly an essential component of the halachic process. There are two distinct and essential procedures in determining Jewish law. First, it is necessary to ascertain the realities of the situation, scientific or otherwise. Thus, before a rabbi can decide whether it is permissible to use an electrical device on Shabbat, he must understand how electricity works and how the particular device is to be used. Similarly, before he can decide whether something is kosher, he needs to know its ingredients and how it is manufactured. Every competent posek has his medical experts, psychologists, chemists and other experts who inform him of the technical realia of the issue he needs to determine. Second, once he has clarified the facts, a posek then needs to apply the pertinent halachic rules to the question. While halachah has to be based on technical information, that information does not create the halachah. Jewish law is determined by examining the facts and thereafter applying appropriate legal and religious principles. Ultimately, then, we must conclude that while in the realm of information and background this book performs an excellent and important service, it actually deals with only one part of the equation, and not the definitive part at that. On the question of wearing a thread of blue in tzitzit nowadays, dyed by