Daf Ditty Shabbes 27

The Unicorn 1
The Midrash discusses the unique qualities of this creature:

‫ ַחיָּה‬:‫ ַרִבּי י ְהוָּדה אוֵֹמר‬.‫ ַרִבּי י ְהוָּדה ו ְַרִבּי נְֶחְמי ָה‬.‫שׁים‬ ִ ‫ ו ְע ֹר ֹת ֵאיִלם ְמָאָדִּמים ו ְע ֹר ֹת ְתָּח‬.'‫ו ְז ֹאת ַהְתּרוָּמה ו ְגוֹ‬
‫ ו ְנְָטלוּ אוָֹתהּ ו ְָעשׂוּ ִמֶמּנָּה‬,‫שּׁה ְגּו ָנִים‬ ָ ‫שׁ‬ִ ‫ וְּבעוָֹרהּ‬,‫ְטהוָֹרה ְגּדוָֹלה ָהי ְָתה ַבִּמְּדָבּר ו ְֶקֶרן אַַחת ָהי ָה ָלהּ ְבִּמְצָחהּ‬
?‫ ָלָמּה‬,‫שׁים‬ ִ ‫ ו ְע ֹר ֹת ְתָּח‬.‫שּׁנָה נְִגנְָזה‬
ָ ‫ ָבּהּ ַבּ‬,‫שׁנְִּבֵראת‬ ֶ ‫שָׁעה‬ ָ ‫ וְּל‬,‫שׂה נִִסּים ָהי ְָתה‬ ֵ ‫ ַמֲע‬:‫ ו ְַרִבּי נְֶחְמי ָה אוֵֹמר‬.‫י ְִריעוֹת‬
‫שָׁעה‬ ָ ‫ ְל‬,‫שׂה נֵס‬ ֵ ‫ ֶאָלּא ַמֲע‬.‫שׁים ַאָמּה‬ ִ T‫שׁ‬ ֶ ‫ י ְִריָעה‬V‫ ִמי ֵמִביא ְל‬.‫שים ָבַּאָמּה‬
ְ ‫שׁל‬ ִ T‫שׁ‬ ְ ‫ ַהי ְִריָעה ָהאַַחת‬S‫ א ֶֹר‬:‫ִדְּכִתיב‬
‫שׁנְִּבֵראת נְִגנְָזה‬ ֶ .

This is the offering … and rams’ skins dyed red, and sealskins (Exod. 25:3). R. Judah and R.
Nehemiah discussed this verse. R. Judah said: It was a large pure animal, with a single horn in its
forehead and a skin of six different colors that roamed the desert.9 They captured one of them
and from its skin made a covering for the ark. R. Nehemiah contended that it was a miraculous
creature He created for that precise moment, and that it disappeared immediately thereafter
from earth. Why is it called orot tahashim (“sealskins,” lit. “skins of tahashim”)? Because the
verse states: The length of each curtain shall be thirty cubits (Exod. 26:8). What known animal
could supply enough skin for a curtain of thirty cubits? It must, indeed, have been a miraculous
creation, which disappeared (immediately after it was created).

Terumah, Siman 6
The Tanchuma's description of an animal with a single horn has along history in culture.

“ A unicorn, mythological animal "resembling a horse or a kid with a single horn on its forehead.
The unicorn appeared in early Mesopotamian artworks, and it also was referred to in the
ancient myths of India and China. The earliest description in Greek literature of a single-horned
(Greek monokerōs, Latin unicornis) animal was by the historian Ctesias (c. 400 BCE), who
related that the Indian wild ass was the size of a horse, with a white body, purple head, and
blue eyes, and on its forehead was a cubit-long horn coloured red at the pointed tip, black in
the middle, and white at the base. Those who drank from its horn were thought to be
protected from stomach trouble, epilepsy, and poison. It was very fleet of foot and difficult to
capture." (Britannica).

Unicorn, detail from “The Lady and the Unicorn” tapestry, late 15th century; in the Musée de
Cluny, Paris
Among the various items used to build the Mishkan, (Ex 25:5):
‫ה ו ְע ֹר ֹת ֵאיִלם ְמָאָדִּמים ו ְע ֹר ֹת‬
.‫שִׁטּים‬
ִ ‫ ו ֲַעֵצי‬,‫שׁים‬ ִ ‫ְתָּח‬ "and rams' skins dyed red, and sealskins, and acacia-"

tells us that something called “tachash skins” was used for the outer covering of the Mishkan
and as a slipcover for the holy vessels while they traveled in the desert. The only other time
that Scripture mentions tachash is in Ezekiel,(16:10)

ִ ‫ ֶמ‬S‫ ו ֲַאַכֵסּ‬,‫שּׁשׁ‬
.‫שׁי‬ ֵ ‫ ַבּ‬S‫שׁ‬ ֵ ‫ י ו ָאְַלִבּי‬10 "I clothed thee also with richly
ֵ ‫ ָתַּחשׁ; ו ֶָאְחְבּ‬S‫ ו ֶָאנְֲעֵל‬,‫ ִרְקָמה‬S‫שׁ‬
woven work, and shod thee with sealskin, and I wound fine linen about thy head, and covered
thee with silk."

(suggesting footwear? )

The exact identity of the tachash has been a matter of great speculation. In the Talmud
Yerushalmi (Shabbes 2:3) , we find three opinions regarding the tachash:

Rabbi Yehuda says: “It was taynin,6 and named for its dye.”

Rabbi Nehemiah said: “It was galaktinin. Some of the more popular possible candidates (which
have also crept into various translations of the Bible) include ermine, badger, seal, antelope,
okapi, zebra and giraffe.

The other rabbis said: “It was a clean [kosher] animal, and it lived in the wilderness.”

In the late antique period the unicorn held special court:

“The unicorn,” Pliny wrote, “is the fiercest animal, and it is said that it is
impossible to capture one alive. It has the body of a horse, the head of a
stag, the feet of an elephant, the tail of a boar, and a single black horn
three feet long in the middle of its forehead. Its cry is a deep bellow.”
By the medieval period the unicorn was one of the most iconic images
in wildly popular medieval books known as bestiaries, encyclopedias of
sorts that cataloged nature’s beasts, both real and imagined. Not only
was the natural history of the animal given, but each was then
compared to a biblical figure. And the unicorn stood for Christ, since he
was captured and put to death like the unicorn is done in by the virgin.
In Kabbalah, We saw above that the 5th of the 7 pure wild animals of the Torah is a unicorn. Its
sefirah, hod, means kingly splendor, alluding to 1 horn.

The Zohar says, “She is in hod.” “She” refers to the virgin princess on her wedding day. She
reflects queenly splendor, a single horn.
Under the wedding canopy a ray of light, a “horn,” ascends from the head of the groom and the
head of the bride.

In Kabbalah, the horn of the groom is called “the glory of the groom,” and the horn of the bride
is called “the glory of the bride.”

The glory of the groom is the aura/horn above his head created by his love for his bride. The
glory of the bride is her love for her groom.

The wedding canopy unites the two horns to become one. The two auras/horns of love merge
together and ascend to heaven.

Love is expressed as both light and song. The horn symbolizes both. In the future we, the bride,
will sing to God a new song. (Gal Einai).

More tomorrow: