Bava Kama 101
The Rainbow Connection
On our daf we have the seemingly strange question of if
wool is dyed accidentally, or malevolently, are the wool and the dye two
separate items or have they become one new item. In either case, we ask how can we determine the
value of the item(s) and who receives the payment for them. This leads us to
the topic of dyes and dyeing – how was it done, what did it cost and other
details.
Dyeing is an ancient craft and was often a family
business, with the trade secrets passed down from father to son. Jews were
dyers in the time of the Mishna and continued in the trade through the Middle
Ages and even into pre-modern times. When Benjamin of Tudela writes in the 12th
century about visiting Jewish communities all over the world, he often talks
about the Jewish dyers. He tells us there were dyers in Jerusalem and the
Ramban, a century later, mentions the same fact. Even today, you can meet people with the
family name of Sabag, which means dyer צבעי .
What were the dyes made of? The most popular (and least
expensive) dyes were made of plants. The
Mishnah in Shviit 7:1-3 lists some of the most important ones. There isאסטיס or
Isatis tinctorum, popularly known as woad. This is a plant that makes a blue
color.
(Wikipedia)
Then there isפואה
, rubia tinctorum or madder, which
produces red.
(Wikipedia)
Other plants, as well as peels and shells of fruit, made yellow,
black and purple. The indigo plant, קלע אילן , produced a deep
blue that Hazal worried would be mistaken for techelet.
This brings us to animal-based dyes. The most well-known
are those from the murex snail חילזון
,
(Wikipedia)
used for the blue techelet
color, and the crimson worm, תולעת
שני , used to make red. These
animal dyes were very expensive and only used by royalty or very wealthy
individuals. That is part of the idea of techelet – all Jewish males are
considered sons of kings בני
מלכים, and therefore need to
wear a royal addition on their garment.
The names of two dyes are the names of two sons of Yissachar: תולע and פו(א)ה. Perhaps Yissachar was a dye maker.
The important fact about dyeing is that it is an
expensive process. Two thousand kilo of Isatis leaves produce four kilo of dye.
Twelve thousand murex snails make less than two kilo of purple dye. Dyeing vats
found at the Biblical site of Tel Bet Mirsim have a rim so that when the cloth
is taken out of the vat, all the leftover dye flows back inside, so as not to
waste one drop.
(Library of Congress)
The expense and the
expertise needed to make colored wool help us to understand our cases in Bava
Kama – of course the craftsman wants to be paid for his work! Of course the
owner of the wool is upset that the color came out wrong or inferior!
Today archaeology is helping us understand even more
about these precious colors. Just recently, Professor Naama Sukenik analyzed
fabric remnants from the Wadi Murabaat caves in the Judean Desert. These are
caves that Bar Kokhba rebels hid in almost two thousand years ago. According to
her analysis, these fabrics were colored with dyes of techelet, argaman and
tolaat shani, indicating that the cave housed VIP refugees. http://www.livescience.com/42265-ancient-israeli-fabrics-regal-dye.html
Another way these colors are coming alive today is through
craftspeople who are reviving the ancient arts. Among them are Suri Provisor of
Shilo http://kedmaancientcrafts.com/about-kedma-ancient-crafts/
and the crafts workshops of BeHefetz Kapehah in Ein Karem http://melachot.co.il/. They are helping to
renew our (colorful) days as of old!
(melachot.co.il)
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