Spark of Jewish Experience

  I love vivid colors. If I see a car parked on the street with a sharp,striking color I stop and allow it to have one of those “breathtaking effects”. It reminds me of those sharp colors that was the style in the sixties. The hot-pink pocket books that our mothers had; the psychedelic red or light blue leather couches was always a sight tosee.  Perhaps I specifically appreciate color more than the average Joe, because while growing up in the late 60’s, our family only had a black and white television while our friends the Alibayof’s had a color set.  The world is fantastically rich in color, with so many different shades, and hues. Look out on a fall day and see the trees in their glory, the seemingly endless array of brilliant reds, oranges, and yellows forming a magnificent tapestry stretching across the mountains. Look out at the sun as it sets and see the full radiant spectrum of an artist’s pallet, painted against a powdery gray backdrop.  This week’s parsha is dedicated to the Priestly garments. It goes on in detail on the materials, textures, and specific shades of color the garments must be. Interestingly, these garments have a dual function. Besides having the Kohen and Kohen Gadol dress to perfection and look like royalty, the Talmud relates [Zevachim 88b] that the different priestly garments atone for different sins and the robe (me’il) specifically atones for lashon harah [gossip]. The Maharal explains the connection between lashon harah and the priestly garments ingeneral and between lashon harah and the me’il specifically. One may ask, is it so important to go into such detail of the color of these garments and how does it atone for the sin of Loshon Horah?

The answer is that, actually, specifically, the robe (me’il) was the garment that atoned for lashon harah. The Maharal explains that the me’il was the most striking of all the garments. It was made out of blue techeilet. When one would see the me’il, the idea is that a thought pattern would be triggered in a person’s mind that is supposed to come to mind whenever one sees techeilet. [Menachot 43b]: The bluetecheilet reminds one of the sea. The sea reminds one of the sky. The sky reminds one of the Divine Throne (Kiseh haKavod). Thus seeing techeilet prompts one to think of the Almighty and do mitzvot.

Wow!! Seems like a stretch to me.

Interestingly, we find something strikingly similar in parshat Korach. Korach   became jealous over the leadership of Elitzafan the son of Uzi’eil, whom Moshe appointed as leader over Kehos’ descendants by G-d’s word (Bamidbar 3:30). Moshe passed over Korach even though he should have been according to Korach calculation next in line for the position. “What did he [Korach] do? He gathered together two hundred and fifty heads of Sanhedrin, most of them from the tribe of Reuven, his neighbors….and he dressed them in Taletim that were completely Techelet. They came and stood before Moshe, saying to him: Is a Talit that is completely Techelet obligated or exempt from the requirement of Tzitzit? He responded: It is obligated. They laughed. ‘Is it possible that a garment of any other type can fulfill its requirement by one strand of Techelet, yet this garment that is completely Techelet will not be exempt?'” Korach stages a rebellion against Moshe, denying the very basis of Torah and prophecy. By ridiculing the Mitzvot, Korach hopes to achieve his objectives, rallying others to his personal crusade.

The Torah commands us to place one strand of Techelet upon our four-cornered garments, and this is meant to be a reminder of all the Mitzvot. In explaining how Techelet sparks this memory, Rashi points to the numerical symbolism of the Tzizit; its knots, loops, and strands.

Ramban however, has a different approach: “The reminder is the string of Techelet, which alludes to the trait that incorporates everything…..for Techelet is similar to the sea, and the sea is similar to the heavens, and the heavens compare to the Throne of Glory.” (Menachot 43b) “… this similarity is in name [the word Techelet compares to ‘Tachlit’], and in color, and from a distance everything appears in that color, therefore it is referred to as Techelet.” (Ramban, Bamidbar 15:38) “Techelet is a kind of blue that reminds one of the sea and the sky, – (and here we go again) – theclean, crisp image of an unbroken horizon. In actuality, both the sea and sky are not really blue, but they appear to be, and this is for good reason.”

The pattern continues. Here is another place where the concern for color is the utmost priority.  HASHEM spoke to Moses and Aaron saying: The Children of Israel shall encamp, each man by his division, with the flag staffs of their fathers’ house; some distance from the Tent of Meeting they shall encamp. (Bamidbar 2:1) With the flag staffs: Every division shall have its own flag staff, with a colored flag hanging on it; the color of one being different from the color of any other. (Rashi) Why is theTorah so obsessed with colors?

The answer is: Color is something that we take for granted. Of course, there is color in the world; it was always there. But G-d created this thing that we call color, and He put it in the world for a particular reason: so that we should enjoy what we see. The world didn’t have to be this way. If G-d was only concerned with functionality – creating a world that could be used – black and white would have sufficed. We would still be able to recognize everything, even shadows and depth, within the spectrum of the gray scale. If you remember watching black and white TV, it did a fine job, but it lacked a dimension, and so it wasn’t as enjoyable. G-d wants us to enjoy this world, and so He created the entity called color.

Everything in this world is created for a purpose. G-d created the world to serve us. This wonderful life is a giant playground of tools so we can better ourselves. We have to be clever and use every aspect to our advantage. Humans are a goal oriented species, and this is especially true for us Jews. This is what the Torah is trying toconvey and therefore we use something deep down in our psychological repertoire to use color to serve G-d.  Whether sub-conscience or conscience, “association” is a vital key that drives us. Here in this week’s parsha, we use it to conquer Loshon Horah. This, says the Maharal, is the me’il’s connection with lashon harah. So much of lashon harah has to do with what the mind automatically sees. The me’il demonstrates the speed of the mind. A mind can be quicker than a computer. Lashon harah has everything to do with how a person thinks and where his mind is:

We can see someone and automatically see his pros. On the other hand, we can see someone and automatically see his cons. Lashon harah is perhaps less a sin of articulating evil than it is a sin of perceiving the evil in someone else. Just like a person can be trained that if he sees blue he can think “The Divine Throne”, so too a person can be trained to see an individual and think “good heartedness” and focus onall of his positive character traits. However, like anything else in life, one can see just the negative as well.

Everyone has both good characteristics and bad. The question is, what is a person’s mind is trained to see in his fellow man — the good or the bad? Do we see the cup and call it half full or half empty? Lashon harah is about people who have trained themselves to see the negative.  The me’il teaches us to make positive connections when we perceive something visually. When we look at a person, we should try to see his Tzelem Elokim (G-dly Image). We should try to overlook the evil.

The association of colors to Loshon Horah, Tzitzit or for that matter anything is extraordinarily powerful. The power of colors cannot be denied, more so, as it is the sole instance of life on earth. Although sight and the human brain has helped in identifying colors and their delights, it’s interesting to note what colors mean to us in totality. Colors can define the mood of a person, they can also create a specific aura or energy in the atmosphere

On a higher level, blue Techelet is what the nation of Israel saw when they received the Torah three thousand years ago. The Medrash describes the heavens opened up several million Israelites saw G-d’s throne and it was the wondrous color blue. While science is still decoding the mind’s processes, Jewish psychology has gone ahead andtaught us how to make use of the phenomenon.  The giving of the Torah was an unusual experience.  The people saw the sounds.  Hassidic Psychology explains that in an elevated state the soul’s capability flows with extraordinary power throughout the body resulting in greater inner awareness.

What is that experience?  Can we have a glimpse of it today? Can we tap into what they felt?

The human body experienced a revelation, a first for an inner body reality. Besides receiving the Torah G-d revealed to us that one must take advantage of our capacity to change by redirecting our intellect and feelings so that we can experience true creative freedom and personal liberty. The following exercise is designed to help us gain access into our emotions state and translating feeling into other senses. You begin by identifying emotions and thought as colors and shapes.  Unlike feeling or thoughts which are vague and difficult to control these sensory objects carry no judgment. By consciously altering the shapes and colors the thought s and feelings can also be changed.

Although association of colors to manmade subject matters is very common, it is not naturally powerful as the Mount Sinai/blue heaven revelation.  Nevertheless it has its impact and effectiveness throughout history. More than half the globe loves the color blue. We sure agree. Red is the second-most favorite color on earth. Be it theFerrari red or a svelte red dress, red is an intense color, and defines many emotions and moods. The most important being, the color of love, passion, seduction, and desire. It also defines enthusiasm, power, and heat. This color also represents anger, violence, and aggression. Red portrays danger and bloodshed. Lighter shades definesexuality, passion, and joy, while darker shades mean anger, willpower, aggression, leadership, rage, and courage.

Ever wonder why the Russian flag is red? It is quite the opposite of the white flag of the previous regime the Monarch before communism. The Bolsheviks wanted to arouse the people; they wanted to make a revolution. Red, as we pointed out, is the color of anger. This the feeling that the communist party wanted energize in its people. They wanted a revolution. Interestingly when the Palestinians wanted tocreate a flag, light blue was part of their colors. However they felt uncomfortable with it for the Jewish state had the light blue.

We are all subject to our biased and associations in a tremendous way. Every time I see orange and blue it reminds me of the New York Mets Baseball team; the football team Jets have the green; the Rangers of hockey wear the blue and white. My father loved his business for he dealt in colored gem stones. There was nothing like a beautiful cornflower blue Sapphire or a red Burma Ruby he would say. I would watch him as he would look at the stones with breathtaking awe. When I was in the Jewelry business, I once took a blue Sapphire stone on consignment for a possible sale. Although the stone was not purchased, I was reluctant to return it. I fell in love with the color and its brilliance. To this very day every time my wife wears the pendant with the beautiful the Sapphire in it which I purchased, it is quite difficult not to stare at the color and brilliance.

Modern technology has changed drastically. Once, as a child, our little gang were coloring. The girl whose house we were at permitted us to color in her coloring book. I mistakenly colored Superman uniform greyish orange. She nearly took my head off, berating me “how I ruined her coloring book by not coloring Superman’s uniform blue”. But that is what I saw on my black and white television set. We can do so much with color. It’s a vehicle for spirituality; it’s a vehicle for association; it’s just plain old beautiful.