Main Text
Chapter 4 (text courtesy: Sefaria):
English Translation
46. In Parshas Beshalach (49) {48}, 2, it says about Zevulun, etc., that the Sea of Kinneret (Gennesar) was in his territory, and from there the chilazon for techeiles was found. This is repeated in Parshas Terumah 149, 2 at the beginning: “and techeiles…”—from that Sea of Ginosar. It’s stated a third time in Parshas Beha’aloscha 150, column 1, and a fourth time in Parshas {Shelach} 175, 2: “What is techeiles…”—from one fish found in the Sea of Kinneret. And a fifth time in the “Chesronos” attached to section 1, 5, 1: “and in the Sea of Kinneret, from there comes the techeiles.”
All this is difficult and against the facts. The Ginosar area (i.e., the Kinneret) fell to the tribe of Naftali on the eastern side of Eretz Yisrael, while the Akko area on the Great Sea (Mediterranean) to the west fell to Zevulun, as is explicit in Scripture and as Chazal write clearly in Perek “Yesh Nochlin.” Regarding chilazon fishing, they said in Shabbos 26a (“Bameh Madlikin”): “to the vine-tenders and the harvesters.” Rabbi Yosef taught: “harvesters” are the chilazon trappers from Sulma d’Tzur to Haifa. Non-Jewish geographers likewise record that the fish whose blood dyes techeiles is found only between those two places.
It is known that Tzur (Tyre) and Tzidon (Sidon) sit on the Mediterranean coast. The people of Tyre and Sidon trapped it and traded it—especially after the destruction of the Land of Israel—and supplied techeiles dye to many lands. It was also trapped in Zevulun’s portion (his boundary reached Sidon). When the land was settled, this entire trade and its great profit belonged to Zevulun more than to the other tribes, as our Sages said: “All of them need you on account of the chilazon.” And on the verse “sefunei temunei chol,” Rabbi Yehudah taught: “sefunei” is the chilazon; “temunei chol” is white glass. That too was in the Sidonian/Tyrian region, since the sand there on the Mediterranean coast is the best for high-quality glass—unmatched elsewhere in the land.
But that a chilazon is found in the Sea of Kinneret—on the east of the country and north within Naftali’s territory—we have never heard. Nor anything like it. I also mean what the Rambam (Rav haMaimoni) wrote in Hilchos Tzitzis 2, that the chilazon for techeiles is found in the Dead Sea—this too is incorrect. The Dead Sea is to the east and south, between the tribes of Yehudah and Reuven. It is a great wonder about so great a man, and an expert in natural matters like the Rambam, that he did not know this. And this is even more difficult than the first claim: the Sea of Kinneret produces fish, but the Dead Sea—Sedom’s sea—produces no living creatures; even fish that enter from the Jordan die immediately from its extreme salinity. That is why, in the vernacular, it is called “Mare Morta,” i.e., the Dead Sea. So this is a clear error in the Rambam, as I wrote there on his work, with Heaven’s help.
In any case, it seems the mistake spread from there, and the later annotator on the Zohar—meaning well—swapped it in his text, but in doing so exchanged good for bad.
