Tekhelet in Judaism

Because blue is the color of the sky and sea, it has often symbolized divinity, as well as height and depth. It can also represent equilibrium, since its hue suggests a shade midway between white and black, day and night. To the ancient Egyptians, blue was the color of truth. To many Jews, because of its association with religious tradition, popular folklore, and the modern state of Israel, it has become the quintessential Jewish color.

In the Torah, the Israelites were commanded to put fringes, tzitzit, on the corners of their garments, and to weave within these fringes a “twisted thread of blue (tekhelet).” In ancient days, this blue thread was made from a dye extracted from a Mediterranean snail called the hilazon. Maimonides claimed that this blue was the color of “the clear noonday sky”; Rashi, the color of the evening sky.

From ancient times, blue has been considered a lucky color among the peoples of the Middle East and North Africa. Like their Arab neighbors, Jews of this region have painted their doorposts, heads, and other parts of their bodies with blue dyes; have ornamented their children with blue ribbons and markings; and have used this color in protective amulets. Blue has been considered especially effective against the Evil Eye, perhaps because blue eyes are such a rarity among Semitic peoples and because blue is so rare in the plant and animal world.

According to several rabbinic sages, blue is the color of God’s Glory. Staring at this color aids in mediation, bringing us a glimpse of the “pavement of sapphire, like the very sky for purity,” which is a likeness of the Throne of God. (The Hebrew word for glory, kavod, means “blue” in Arabic.) Many items in the Mishkan, the portable sanctuary in the wilderness, such as the menorah, many of the vessels, and the Ark of the Covenant, were covered with blue cloth when transported from place to place.

The Israeli flag has two blue stripes and a blue Star of David against a white background. An early Zionists poem explains that the color white symbolizes great faith; blue the appearance of the firmament. (The original dark blue stripes were later lightened to heighten visibility at sea.) Because of its association with the State of Israel, blue has become very popular in contemporary Jewish design. Modern tallitot, for example, often have blue stripes on a white background.

Frankel, Ellen and Betsy Platkin Teutsch. The Encyclopedia of Jewish Symbols. Northvale, NJ: J. Aronson, 1992.