Exodus Chapter 25-27:20 - The Urim and Tumim
by Rabbi Jeremy Rosen
Those who care about American Ivy League Universities will know that Yale's motto is Lux et Veritas, in Latin (or Light and Truth) and Hebrew Urim ve Thummim. Harvard’s is simply Veritas. In so far as we know , the words come from the Hebrew word Or, light, perhaps enlightenment, and Tam, purity or honesty. Neither institution is now known for either, as woke ideology has captured the naïve, ignorant minds of what are supposed to be the elite of America.
What were the Urim and Tumim as referred to in this week’s Torah (Exodus 28:13-30)? The Torah describes the Choshen Mishpat, as the breast plate worn by the High Priest, which had four rows, each of three different precious stones, representing the twelve tribes of Israel. There were also two jewels engraved with the names of the tribes on the shoulders of the High Priest’s garments that clasped the chains that supported the breastplate which are often confused with the Urim and Tumim.
The Torah says the breastplate should be on top of the High Priest’s garments and the Urim and Tumim should be inside, which has led to the assumption that the breastplate had a flap into which one would insert a request and letters on the stones would be illuminated.
In Numbers 27:21 when Moshe talks about who will succeed him, he mentions Yehoshua but also Elazar the son of Aaron who will consult the Urim (notice no mention of the Tumim) to decide when they should go to war or not. And in Moshe’s final blessings he says Levi will be the possessors or the keepers of the Urim and Tumim which were to be a sign of priestly piety ( Devarim 33:8).
There are several references to consulting God through the oracle in the early period of Israelite rule. Although they often do not specify using the Urim and Tumim. Should the tribes go to war with Benjamin over the rape at Giveah?(Judges 20:28).How King Saul cast lots to discover who had disobeyed him ?(1 Samuel 14:41).
David consulted the Urim on the Ephod over whether to attack Ziklag (1 Samuel 30:8) and again whether he could trust the men of Keila not betray him or not (I Samuel 23:11). But after that there is nothing until Ezra and Nehemiah who rebuilt the Second Temple who say that the High Priest should wear the Urim and Tumim “when they reappear” (Ezra 2:63 and Nehemiah 7:65). Yet they were not in the second Temple. Were they some sort of oracle, common amongst the religions of the ancient world? Think of the Delphic Oracle in Greece. But is this not against the Torah’s own laws against oracles?
I can't think of any other feature of the high priests’ garments over which there is so much disagreement. Many argued that the rituals involving Urim and Tumim were answered by rays of light shining out of certain jewels on the breastplate. Some suggested the jewels themselves moved in a way that made them stand out from the rest or formed groups of words. Others suggested the letters protruded and the priest then had to combine these letters to form words and others that the letters rearrange themselves.
According to the Talmud (Yoma 73a and 73b) in order for the Urim and Tumim to give an answer, it was first necessary for the individual to stand facing the fully dressed high priest and express the question briefly and in a simple way, though not necessarily for it to be loud enough for anyone else to hear.
Maimonides (Laws of Temple Vessels 8:11) explains that the High Priest would stand facing the Ark with the inquirer behind him, facing the Priest's back. After the inquirer asked his question, a Divine Spirit would immediately overcome the Priest, and he would see the letters protruding in a prophetic vision. He also claimed that in the Second Temple the Urim and Tumim existed but no longer functioned, since the priests then did not possess the Holy Spirit. Others disagreed. One could argue that that the oracle, like prophesy, was a creation of its time and like other examples of Biblical Judaism, fell into disuse over time as circumstances or attitudes changed.
But the idea of an oracle continues to engage the imagination of most human beings all over the world. Whether it is Tarot Cards, Astrology, Nostradamus, even messianism, all bring comfort and reassurance. People are desperate for answers. Ironically the Torah repeatedly warns against soothsayers, magicians and superstition. But they are as prevalent today as they were thousands of years go. The Urim and Tumim were crucial at that moment in time. Yet there are people who think that the Temple will be rebuilt again, and all its contents and elements will come back as they were. Others believe that Elijah will come and tell us what and what not to do, what to keep and what not. Who knows ?
Meanwhile, although we do not have the Urim and the Tumim they are a metaphor for the supernatural. Is that what we mean by faith?
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Jeremy Rosen was born in Manchester, England, the eldest son of Rabbi Kopul Rosen and Bella Rosen. Rosen's thinking was strongly influenced by his father, who rejected fundamentalist and obscurantist approaches in favour of being open to the best the secular world has to offer while remaining committed to religious life. He was first educated at Carmel College, the school his father had founded based on this philosophical orientation. At his father's direction, Rosen also studied at Be'er Yaakov Yeshiva in Israel (1957–1958 and 1960). He then went on to Merkaz Harav Kook (1961), and Mir Yeshiva (1965–1968) in Jerusalem, where he received semicha from Rabbi Chaim Leib Shmuelevitz in addition to Rabbi Dovid Povarsky of Ponevezh and Rabbi Moshe Shmuel Shapiro of Yeshivat Be'er Ya'akov. In between Rosen attended Cambridge University (1962–1965), graduating with a degree in Moral Sciences.