Home Home / Exchange with Ptil Tekhelet about Purch…

Correspondence

May 2002

Exchange with Ptil Tekhelet about Purchasing Tekhelet (2002)

Practical Halacha Biographical Material

1. R. Lamm to Joel Guberman

1. R. Lamm to Joel Guberman (May 14, 2002)

1. R. Lamm to Joel Guberman (May 14, 2002)

View The Text

This content is currently available in its original PDF format. As we expand the library, we plan to add a text version as well.

Next Letter

RELATED CONTENT

Article

New Discoveries and the Halacha on Tekhelet (1995)

The biblical verse directs us: Ve’natnu al ha-kanaf petil tekhelet – you shall add to the lavan (white fringe) a thread of tekhelet (blue), and this becomes tzitzit. This tekhelet, according to the Tosefta, derives from an organism called hilazon. A Beraita teaches that “its body resembles the sea [in color] and [biologically] it is similar to a fish (domeh le’dag)” – it emerges “once in seventy years,” and with its blood one dyes the tekhelet, making it very expensive. Many Rishonim read “seven” years, and Rambam omits any mention of frequency. R. Herzog proposed that “seventy” is a metaphor for rarity. Even when tekhelet was in use, it was rare and costly. Beyond economic reasons, political factors contributed to its cessation – it was reserved for royalty, and its use by commoners could be punishable by death. The Gemara’s use of dam refers not to “blood” but to a glandular secretion from a snail that oxidizes into violet-blue tekhelet. This process was known through the biblical and Mishnaic eras. Tekhelet fell out of use by the Geonic period – some say earlier. Geography also mattered – some regions had more access. Semag claims it was never lost – the hilazon still exists in the Mediterranean. About 100 years ago, R. Gershon Henoch Leiner of Radzin sought to renew the mitzvah. A non-conformist polymath and formidable talmid chacham, he identified the hilazon as a cuttlefish, producing dye his Hasidim continue to use. This sparked wide halakhic debate involving R. Yitzchak Elchanan Spector, R. Yehoshua Trunk, and others. R. Herzog, in his PhD thesis, doubted the cuttlefish identification. More recently, scientific inquiry confirmed that the Radziner dye was actually Prussian Blue – synthetic, inorganic, and unrelated to any mollusk. The currently accepted hilazon is the mollusk Murex trunculus, native to the Mediterranean. Greeks and Romans revered tekhelet and argaman, reserving them for aristocracy – unauthorized use could incur capital punishment. There ar…
Talmudic Analysis Practical Halacha

Correspondence

Exchange with R. Teller about His Review of "Torah Lishmah" (1990)

Dear Rabbi Lamm: Enclosed please find my review of your book. I do not know if they will be running it in the initial edition of the paper. Sincerely, Hanoch Teller
Biographical Material

Correspondence

Exchange with Tali Horwitz about Serving on Advisory Committee for Ptil Tekhelet (1999)

Dear Rabbi Lamm, It has been many years since we have had contact. You may recall me best as a 12 year old when we shared the same podium at my Bat-Mitzvah in Silver Spring, Maryland. My father, Willy Frank z”l and mother Ruth, arranged for you to be the guest speaker while I was the “main” speaker that year. That was 24 years ago and I still giggle that I was the “main” speaker with you present. Today I am living in Maale Adumim, mother of 4, married to a wonderful man Tony Horwitz. I recently began to work with Ptil Tekhelet as Director of PR which includes grant writing and assisting organizationally. Through my work I am reminded of your support for Tekhelet. Ptil Tekhelet has benefited tremendously from your contributions. Today we proudly display the video, which you supported, in our educational/recreational programs. Recently we developed a Hebrew version of the video and are putting the finishing touches on a third video which demonstrates the technique of tying Tzitzit. Your initial contribution set us in motion for which we remain grateful. Presently, Ptil Tekhelet is establishing an Advisory Committee comprised of distinguished scholars and supporters of our work. We are inviting you to join our Advisory Committee. Your involvement would lend credibility and stature to our organization. We are interested in sharing the names of our Advisory Committee with foundations and selected individuals. We would be honored to add your name, with your permission. The following individuals have joined this committee to date: Prof. Roald Hoffman (Nobel Laureate, chemistry), Rabbi Shlomo Riskin, Dr. Roy Stern, and Mr. Shlomo Ben Zvi. This is a lay position, that carries no legal or financial responsibilities and involves no meetings. As you know, the work of Ptil Tekhelet is an example of Torah U’mada. We are dedicated to highlighting this beautiful relationship. To explain the multi-disciplined nature of this mitzvah and discuss its implications, we would like to sug…
Practical Halacha Biographical Material