Te'tza'veh תצוה

This weeks parsha, תצוה details the instructions God gives to Moses about creating the priestly garments. Just like last week's parsha, the materials used are top of the line, and the instructions are very specific.

Reading over the portion, we get a pretty clear picture of the vestments. There is the אפוד - More or less a very fine smock, made of the finest Linen, and woven from gold, blue, purple, and scarlet. On the Ayfod's shoulder straps, we attach two stones - each stone engraved with the names of six of the tribes of Israel.

Over the אפוד hangs the חושן, a breastplate, made of gold. On the breastplate are 12 holes, which are filled with stones, arranged in four rows, three stones to a row. The twelve stones also correspond to the twelve tribes.

The חושן is attached to the אפוד via a blue cord, and anchored by golden rings to the shoulder straps of the אפוד.

Until now, everything is pretty clear. Here comes the curve ball:

Exodus, Chapter 27:30

וְנָתַתָּ אֶל חֹשֶׁן הַמִּשְׁפָּט אֶת הָאוּרִים וְאֶת הַתֻּמִּים וְהָיוּ עַל לֵב אַהֲרֹן בְּבֹאוֹ לִפְנֵי יְ־הֹוָ־ה וְנָשָׂא אַהֲרֹן אֶת מִשְׁפַּט בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל עַל לִבּוֹ לִפְנֵי יְ־הֹוָ־ה תָּמִיד:

You shall place the Urim and the Tummim into the choshen of judgment, so that they will be over Aaron's heart when he comes before the Lord, and Aaron will carry the judgment of the children of Israel over his heart before the Lord at all times.

Got it? All we have to do is add the Urim and Tumim and we can move on…

So just what are the Urim and Tumim? Don't expect an explanation in the next verse, which begins to describe the priestly robes. In fact, this is the only mention of the Urim and Tumim in the entire parsha, an abrupt change from the detailed descriptions of the other equipment.

The Urim and Tumim are very mysterious. Clearly, they have something to do with judgement, but no one seems to know for sure what they were. Of course, there are some very interesting ideas.

Rashi says that on the Urim and Tumim was written the full name of HaShem - and they would light up, מאיר, or מרתמם, perfect, the verdict that was given by the high priest.

Rashi brings a proof text from the book of Numbers. God tells Moses to present Joshua to the people, and bring him before the Priest Eleazar. Moses is to "bestow some of his magic upon him, so that all the congregation of the children of Israel will take heed.

Number 27:21: "He shall stand before Eleazar the kohen and seek [counsel from] him through the judgment of the Urim before the Lord."

From this verse, we learn the the Urim is a tool for the judgement of God to come forth. This is further backed up by a story from the book of Samuel.

The prophet Samuel, who had anointed Saul King of Israel, had died. The Philistine Army was massing and seemed ready to attack.

1st Samuel, 6:5: And Saul saw the camp of the Philistines. And he feared, and his heart trembled greatly. And Saul inquired of the Lord, and the Lord did not answer; neither by dreams, nor by the Urim, nor by the prophets.

We are quite familiar with two of the above ways for God to speak with humans - dreams (the "man" wrestling with Jacob and bestowing him the name Israel is a prime example) and prophets - Isaih, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, etc. This business about the Urim and Tumim, a very rare physical manifestation of God's presence, is truly a cause for curiosity.

The above biblical verses help us to understand the role that these mysterious objects played, but not their physical form or how exactly they were used. We are even in the dark about the meaning of the words themselves.

Rashi and other scholars think of אורים as as coming from אור, lights. תומים seems to be from the root ת.מ.מ meaning innocent or perfect - like תם, the simple child, or כבשים תממים, lambs without blemish that are used in the sacrifice.

Because of this, Urim and Tummim are translated as lights and perfections. This is the translation that Yale University must have been thinking of when they chose their logo - a picture of an open book with the Hebrew words אורים ותומים and the Latin phrase "Lux Et Veritas" - "Light and Truth."

Another question is why are the names plural? According to one source, this is a case of pluralis intensivus - words that are really singular but are pluralized to enhance their majesty. This makes sense if we are thinking of the items as a reflections of God's power - on Earth we see God as providing many different lights, not just one.

There is however, another possible translation, which may make more sense. אררים is a rare biblical Hebrew word that means "curses," and is very similar to אורים. Perhaps we are talking about a tool that tells the difference between guilty (cursed) or innocent?

In any case, it is safe to say that the Urim and Tummim are one of the parts of the Torah that we don't understand fully - just like we don't fully understand many of the events in our lives.

I know in my life, and probably in many of yours, things have happened that I immediately chalked up as terrible disappointments, but with the benefit of hindsight, turned out to be incredibly beneficial in ways that I never could have imagined. This phenomenon is familiar to us through many expressions - "everything happens for a reason," "when God closes a door he opens up a window," etc.

Just like previous events in our lives are over and we cannot do anything to change them, the Urim and Tumim are part of our Torah, even thought we may not understand exactly why/who/where/what, etc. All we can control is how we react to them - after all, who couldn't use a little perfection and light in their back pocket?