Yalkut Yosef Taking Tichla D’Pilazon Way Too Seriously

…In Bechoros (38a), it says that the Chilazon has long threads like a snake, and its blood is black like ink, along with other simanim that Chazal gave for the Chilazon. In 1889, the Radziner Rebbe dyed his tzitzis with this techeiles. After some time, he published his sefer Ein HaTecheiles to respond to those who disagreed with him. The Radziner Chassidim still follow his derech today. [Even though they hold like this l’chumra, they still didn’t go as far as to be meikil and allow kilayim in tzitzis because of the techeiles they found.]

But, there were those who questioned his findings. That’s why all the Gedolei HaDor shlit”a and most people don’t wear this techeiles, like the Beis HaLevi from Brisk held. It’s brought down in Or Tzaddikim that someone once asked Rav Velvel (the Brisker Rav – הגרי”ז) why he doesn’t put techeiles on his tzitzis to do the mitzvah properly. The person even offered to give him threads from the techeiles the Radziner Rebbe had made. Rav Velvel answered that his grandfather, the Beis HaLevi, wrote on the pasuk, “Ask your father and he’ll tell you, your elders and they’ll say to you”—why the pasuk repeats itself. He said the first part talks about things that are mesorah-based; you need a tradition for them—“Ask your father and he’ll tell you.” The second part, even for things that are based on facts, like identifying the Chilazon, we still need mesorah. Like if the Torah says “ox,” but if we didn’t have a mesorah from our fathers about what an ox is, we wouldn’t know exactly which animal the Torah meant. That’s why the pasuk repeats, “Your elders will tell you.”

The Brisker Rav also said the Vilna Gaon was medayek in the pasuk, “And they shall make tzitzis… for their generations (LeDorosam).” The word “for their generations” is written by the white threads, but by techeiles, it doesn’t say that. This hints that techeiles won’t be for every generation—only the white will be. This diyuk is also brought in the Alshich HaKadosh, the Or HaChaim HaKadosh, and the Mahari Kara on the Torah.

Even Rav Yitzchak Herzog zt”l [author of Heichal Yitzchak] disproved most of the Radziner Rebbe’s proofs and said it’s a totally different species. Many experts today agree. The Acharonim go into this at length—see Noda B’Yehuda (Mahadura Tinyana, Siman 3), B’samim Rosh (Siman 244), and Yeshuos Malka mentioned before. There’s a lot more to say, but this isn’t the place.

I also saw in Kovetz Teshuvos from Rav Elyashiv (Siman 2) that he wrote: Since it’s written in Siman 9 that tzitzis should match the color of the tallis, because we need “min kanfei,” and the Pri Megadim says Hashem Himself wrapped in a tallis, and His clothing is white like snow, so the tallis and tzitzis must be white. And over there, it brings down that over 100 years ago, the Gedolei Yisrael didn’t agree with the techeiles, and later researchers came and disproved the Radziner Rebbe’s techeiles, pointing to something else as the Chilazon. And after more time, more scientists came and said everything until now was false, and only they know the real Chilazon. Who knows—maybe in a few more years, others will come and disprove them too.

The Beis HaLevi argued against the Radziner Rebbe’s techeiles, saying: If this fish existed and its dye was known at any time since techeiles stopped being used in Klal Yisrael, and still our fathers didn’t wear it, that’s like we have a mesorah from them that this fish and its dye aren’t the real Chilazon and techeiles—even if it fits all the signs Chazal gave. And I don’t know what to say about the discovery of today’s researchers, if the same argument applies to their techeiles too.

In Shaarei Halacha U’Minhag (Chabad, Orach Chaim, p. 45), it says that the Rebbe Maharash didn’t agree with this new techeiles at all. According to Kabbalah, techeiles will only come back l’asid lavo.

By us, the Sephardim and Edot HaMizrach, we never saw this practice by our Rabbanim. We had the zchus to know the Rosh Yeshiva, Rav Ezra Attiya, and the Geonim Rav Yaakov Ades, Chacham Ephraim HaCohen, and Rav Ovadia Hedaya, zt”l, and none of them were machmir to wear techeiles out of concern that maybe this is the real techeiles, and maybe there’s a mitzvah d’Oraisa here. It’s clear they didn’t worry about it at all. Even the big Rabbanim in Eretz Yisrael and Bnei Brak—like the Chazon Ish and the Steipler, zt”l—didn’t take this chumra on themselves, even though they were machmir about many things, like the size of the tallis, etc. We look to the elders, and therefore, we don’t create new practices that our Rabbanim and the Gedolei HaDor didn’t follow.

Rav Yitzchak Arieli, in Toras R’keinu (about Rav Shmuel Salant, p. 98), wrote that Rav Moshe Gelbstein was strongly opposed to the Radziner Rebbe’s techeiles. Once, he saw a chassid wrapping in a tallis with techeiles, and he got so angry he grabbed the tallis and burned it. When they told Rav Shmuel Salant, he said, “Your zeal is for Hashem’s sake, according to your opinion, but you still have to pay for the tallis.”

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They showed me a kuntrus called Techeiles d’Pzalon, where it proves there were actually two Chilazons: one in the Mediterranean Sea, called the Purpura, which is not kosher for tzitzis, and one in the Kinneret, which is kosher for tzitzis. And with this, we can resolve the contradiction in Chazal regarding where the Chilazon is found. And proof that the Chilazon of the Kinneret is the kosher Techeiles? Simple! The Gemara says it is domeh l’yam (resembles the sea), and anyone can see that the Chilazon of the Kinneret resembles the sea exactly—like two drops of water! So much so, that no one in the world could tell the difference between them.

And know that when we find that Shevet Zevulun used to catch Chilazon—both in the Mediterranean and in the Kinneret—that’s because there were actually two Shevatim of Zevulun! That’s why it’s written in the plural form, “Zevulun,” unlike any other Shevet. Really, it should have been just “Zevul,” but since there were two Zevuluns, one for each Chilazon, it’s all a perfect match (Keptor V’Ferach).

[And don’t ask, “But doesn’t it say that Bnei Yaakov were twelve? Wouldn’t that make them thirteen if there were two Zevuluns?” Simple answer: there were actually two Yaakovs! After all, the pasuk says, Vaya’akveini zeh pa’amayim—he has tricked me twice! And guess what? There were also two Yitzchaks! It’s clear as day in the Torah: “Eileh toldos Yitzchak ben Avraham, Avraham holid es Yitzchak”—if Avraham had to be mentioned twice, it must mean there were two Yitzchaks as well! And it’s even written explicitly: “Echad haya Avraham”—meaning, only Avraham was one, but not Yitzchak!

And with this, we can also resolve the contradiction in Chazal regarding how old Yitzchak was at the Akeidah. Simple—each Yitzchak was sacrificed at a different time! And at the same time, we can also answer whether Rivkah was three years old or fourteen years old when she married Yitzchak. Simple—each Yitzchak had his own Rivkah!]

And really, it’s now perfectly clear that when Hashem promised to give Eretz Yisroel to Yitzchak, He meant each Yitzchak! That means there were actually two Eretz Yisroels! And with this, we can finally resolve many questions: Chazal say Eretz Yisroel is the highest land, but our Eretz Yisroel isn’t the highest. The Gra made a map of Eretz Yisroel, but it doesn’t look like the land we have today. Chazal say Avira D’Eretz Yisroel Machkim (the air of Eretz Yisroel makes a person wise), yet I haven’t seen this work for everyone… So it must be that there’s a second Eretz Yisroel, one for each Yitzchak and Yaakov! And if you ask why we don’t see the second one anywhere in the world, simple—there must be two worlds! And really, this world of ours isn’t at all like the one described in Chazal. Our world is round, but Chazal say the world is shaped like an aksadra (portico). So they were talking about the other world, where there’s a square Eretz Yisroel, and there, in the Kinneret portion of the second Zevulun, there’s a kosher Chilazon—complete with bones and sinews—and from its blood, they dye the real Techeiles. And it’s very possible that the second Bnei Yisroel are using it!

And all these things are simple and clear proofs. And don’t think this is something new, because we find something just like this by Iyov. There’s a contradiction in Chazal—some say Iyov never existed, while others say he did exist. The only possible answer? There must have been two Iyovs—one who existed, and one who never existed! ]

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But, because of yuhara (showing off), someone who buys tzitzis with techeiles shouldn’t worry about it. There are legitimate sources backing those who do this.

And someone who was wearing techeiles and wants to stop, Rav Chaim Kanievsky says you don’t need hataras nedarim (nullifying vows), because it’s considered a mistaken practice. Techeiles was hidden and only Eliyahu HaNavi will bring it back.