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Urim And Tumin: Light And Truth
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Are God's Hidden Helpers
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60
Torah Portion
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73b) offers a particularly interesting
description of how the letters would
light in sequence to spell out God's
answer.
Some Bible critics have said that
they were not "things" at all, but only
names signifying the clarity and cer-
here are times when I wish
tainty of the divine answers which
that the Torah came illus-
were obtained from the High Priest
trated, or at least had
when he personally consulted God.
descriptive footnotes.
One of the more fascinating deter-
Reading this week's portion is one of
minations of the urim and tumim
those times.
comes from the Church of Latter Day
In Exodus 28:29-30, we read that
Saints (Morman). According to that
behind the breastplate of the chief
tradition, in 1823 the angel
priest Aaron was placed "the
Moroni appeared to Joseph
Urim and the Tumim, and
Smith and directed him to
they shall be on Aaron's heart
an ancient document pre-
when he goes in before the
served on golden plates.
Lord; thus Aaron shall bear
The inscribed language of
the judgment of the Israelites
the plates was "reformed
on his heart before the Lord
Egyptian," and young
continually."
Joseph Smith translated the
It is fascinating to see
unknown language on the
what our tradition (and oth-
gold plates at a pace of
ers) have understood these
RABBI JOSEPH about eight and sometimes
urim and tumim to be.
10 full pages per day.
KL EIN
What seems clear from the
He accomplished this
Specia 1 to the
Torah text is they were used
using
the divine tool of the
Jewis h News
to determine God's answer to
urim and tumim, given him
questions put to God by the
by the angel and described
chief priest. An instance of this is
in church tradition as "spectacles"
found in II San2uel 14:41 — "Then
through which the "reformed
Saul said, Adonai, God of Israel, why
Egyptian" appeared as English.
have you not answered your servant
And because the urim and tumim
today? If this guilt is in me or in my
are a metaphor-of-sorts for the values
son Jonathan, Adonai, God of Israel,
of "received light and truth," those
give Urim; but if this guilt is in your
two Hebrew words found their way
people Israel, give Tumim.'"
onto the crest of Yale University,
And Jonathan and Saul were indi-
where they are translated into Latin.
cated by the lot, but the people were
Perhaps the most we can know
cleared. Here Saul asks God, "Who is
about the urim and tumim are that
sinful: he and Jonathan, or the people
they are reminders that God is not so
Israel?" — and God answers, "Father
removed from us that we can not go
and son."
to God with our questions, that God
Apparently the urim and tumim
does sometimes reveal answers to us.
served as an oracle from God, for
We, like the chief priest of old,
questions beyond our ability to answer
carry the urim and tumim next to our
and not already answered through the
hearts, knowing that God's light and
laws of Torah.
truth are within us always. ❑
We might best translate urim and
tumim as "lights" and "truths," but
knowing what the words seem to
mean does not get us closer to know-
ing what they were (thus my longing
for an illustrated Torah).
Biblical scholars say that the urim
and tumim were ordinary colored
stones that were thrown down to
Why do religious traditions have
reveal a positive or negative response
such different understandings of
from God. Rabbinic commentators
what
the urim and tumim were?
speak of them as jewels whose
How
might we find God's "light
engraved letters glowed to reveal a
and
truth"?
Why is it so impor-
written message from God.
tant
to
us
to
look for God's mes-
The Babylonian Talmud (Y0712a
sage of "light and truth"?
Joseph Klein is rabbi of Temple
Emanu-El.
•
Shabbat Tetzaveh:
Exodus 27:20-30:10;
Ezekiel 43:10-27.
Conversations
•