Shabbos 28
“The taḥash that existed in the days of Moses was a creature unto itself, and the Sages did not determine whether it was a type of undomesticated animal or a type of domesticated animal. And it had a single horn on its forehead, and this taḥash happened to come to Moses for the moment while the Tabernacle was being built, and he made the covering for the Tabernacle from it. And from then on the taḥash was suppressed and is no longer found.”
After yesterday’s discussion of cloth and garments and the prohibition of mixing linen and wool, today we are presented with Tabernacle coverings and hides and creeping animals and biblical leprosy and lighting lamps with folded cloth.
Rabbi Rava asks: “What is the comparison to leprosy and creeping animals?” and he answers, “the common denominator is that they both transmit ritual impurity when smaller than an olive bulk.” It is difficult to read this passage without considering the tiny droplet of coronavirus that must be no larger than an olive bulk, which can transmit disease from person to person.
It is difficult to not read Covid-19 into everything. The Rabbis lived in a world without flu shots and anti-viral medicines and epidemics of disease must have been something they lived with. This text resonates with the image of the tents that have been set up in Central Park in New York City to treat coronavirus patients: “When a man dies in a tent, every one that comes into the tent, and everything that is in the tent, shall be impure seven days.” Can you imagine what it must be like to be fighting the disease of your life alone in a makeshift tent in Central Park? Most people that are treated in these tents recover, but some do not. It seems like a lonely end to die in a tent being treated by healthcare workers in protective clothing and without anyone you know nearby.
Among all the pain that we are living with today, comes the wonderful image of a tahash, who existed at the time of Moses. This mysterious animal with a single horn and multi-colored hide was deemed to be kosher and its hide appropriate for the Tabernacle. The Koren Talmud’s notes say that some have considered the tahash a type of whale, while others have conjectured that it is related to a giraffe.
I like the comparison My Jewish Learning’s daily email makes with a unicorn. This mythical animal of unknown origin is believed to have become extinct after his hide was used to adorn the tabernacle. It is as though he was conjured for this one transcendent purpose. The idea of the one-horned creature lives on in our imagination, as the Tabernacle does in its reminder of the time when we were wandering in the desert. And right now, it is nice for a moment to suspend disbelief and believe in a little bit of magic.