15
votes
What was the general skin color of ancient Israelis?
An important source (post-bibical) is the Mishna in Negaim (2:1) which deals with the signs of leprosy and how they may appear different based on a person's skin color:
The bright spot in a German ...
- 2,425
10
votes
Black? I ordered it dyed red!
I understand that this Halacha reflects the economic realities of the Mishna, where pretty much everyone was producing small handicraft and traded them. It could reasonably be assumed that you could ...
- 1,787
9
votes
Accepted
What was red in the stew that Jacob made for Esau?
I heard once, do not remember from who, questioning the word נא from הלעיטני נא מן האדם האדם הזה - since when did Eisav say please? The answer I was told was Eisav was not saying please, Eisav was ...
- 138k
7
votes
Accepted
Real green hair?
Yarok here means yellow, as DoubleAA wrote in the comments. As for your question, what is the difference between Yarok and Tzahov, see Rashi on the passuk who says Tzahov is similar to gold. So now we ...
- 33k
7
votes
Minhag to leave an area of the wall unpainted: does it need to be unpainted, or can it be painted another color?
R. Mordechai Yaffe mentions the custom of darkening one section of the wall as the zecher l'churban, but he says that this is not proper.
Levush O.C. 560:1
ונ"ל מה שנוהגים עכשיו הבונים בתים ...
- 48.7k
7
votes
Why is the colour כחול ('blue') not mentioned in Tanach?
In fact it is mentioned according to the Ramban Bereishis 49: 12 the word חכלילי means כחל. Also the word כחלת is mentioned in Yecezkel 23:40 which means painting of the eyes. Rashi:כחלת. מין צבע ...
- 40.3k
6
votes
Why do Jewish women wear so much black?
Well, for starters black matches with everything so its the easiest color to wear.
- 113
5
votes
What was red in the stew that Jacob made for Esau?
The Ramban on that passuk writes that the food was red either from the lentils, or it was red from some other ingredient, but Esav did not know what it was, so he just called it red.
So he does ...
- 33k
5
votes
What does the blue color mean in Judaism?
The Talmud (menachos 43a) states,
R. Meir says: Why was techelet singled out from all the various colors? Techelet is similar to the sea, and the sea is similar to the heavens, and heavens to the ...
- 2,461
5
votes
Dyeing Hair for Men
The Nishmat Avraham treats the topic of a man's dyeing once's hair at length (vol. 2 pp. 94-97). To summarize his key points
the key issue is not whether one uses a dying product for men or women, ...
- 44.6k
5
votes
Changing the High Holiday shul "look"
Rabbi David Golenkin writes here that he wasn't able to trace the custom eariler than the Sha'arei Efraim (c. 1820, by R' Ephraim Zalman Margolioth). A contemporary source here mentions that the ...
- 1,304
5
votes
History of Chabad Moshiach flag
The History:
According to Chabapedia (in Hebrew), the flag was first printed in the Hebrew year 5755 (1994-1995) by Yaakov Ben Ari of Tzfat, Israel.
The general design of the flag seems to have ...
- 23.6k
4
votes
Accepted
An obscure reference to a "golden vein"
Likely, the reference is to the story in I Samuel 5-6 where the Philistines captured the Ark of the Covenant in battle, and were stricken with hemorrhoids and rats whilst they held on to it. After 7 ...
- 96.3k
4
votes
Accepted
Is it permitted to use a thermochromic cup on Shabbos?
In sefer Shu"t Yad Dodi page 149:30 Reb Dovid Feinstein was asked about using the magic cup on shabbos ,and he his response was it is permitted to use such a cup.
Text of responsa:
- 40.3k
4
votes
Accepted
Does adding a bit of red wine to white wine change the resulting drinks' status vis-a-vis kiddush?
Rabbi Ovadia Yosef in Yalkut Yosef (272, 6) says that only if one doesn't have enough red wine (which is preferred for kiddush over white wine), one should add the little amount of red wine he has to ...
- 3,794
4
votes
Why is the colour כחול ('blue') not mentioned in Tanach?
A very interesting question!
First, it's hard to answer a question "Why there's no X in the Torah" in general, but according to the WIKI (in Hebrew), our ancestors didn't name the colors but instead ...
- 25.4k
4
votes
Why is the colour כחול ('blue') not mentioned in Tanach?
I think the answer to this question is that there are very few abstract words for colors in the Tanach altogether. Rather words are used to describe objects or processes that produce certain colors.
...
3
votes
Blue Stripes on Tallis
Stripes on Tallis states that the Pri Megadim stated that the custom was to use blue in his tim (mid to late 1700's). Apparently both customs were extant long before. I saw an article that Yigal Yadin ...
- 42.7k
3
votes
What exactly does the 'blue rainbow' refer to?
Searching for “blue rainbow” revealed this article in the Express newspaper, Jun 18, 2015 .
There was a “blue rainbow” photographed over Mount Kinabalu on the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia ...
- 46.6k
3
votes
Accepted
Wearing photo gray glasses on Shabbos
Rav Shmuel Wosner zt"l addresses this in Shevet HaLevi, cheilek dalet, siman 23, os 5. He says that going out in the sun in such glasses is not considered an act of tzoveya.
בענין המשקפים שבאור ...
- 25.3k
3
votes
Dyeing Hair for Men
The Talmud in Nazir 58B and 59A treat the subject. Let's try to answer the question. There are 3 consequences to the Law "Lo Ylbash gever Simlath Isha" (For this moment I will avoid to ...
- 22.5k
3
votes
Accepted
Why do a sefer Torah's letters have to be black?
The midrash tanchuma below brings this posuk
shir hashirim 5.11
his locks are curled, [they are as] black as a raven
Rashi
black as a raven: All these are beauty for a young man
It seems that black ...
- 7,398
3
votes
Changing the High Holiday shul "look"
I wouldn't call this a Minhag in the halachic sense of the word (TBD).
This is more like a shul operational procedure.
E.g.: The typical shul will use whatever Paroches they have, all year round.
...
- 42.4k
2
votes
Why are there colored splotches on the pages on many Jewish texts?
I have always heard that these blotches make it to where one cannot see the "stains" that are left on the sides of pages from the oil on one's fingers.
- 18k
2
votes
Why do Jewish women wear so much black?
From @RebbecaBurns answer to this question:
Black is always elegant. Always. Simple is best.
It is important to remember that the purpose of tznius is not to be ugly or unattractive, but to not ...
- 7,312
2
votes
Where can I get dark blue Techelet for my tzizit and talit?
If you want darker shades, according to my experience, you should try the niputz lishma strings Ptil Techelet or the Chabura. In general, the Chabura ones are darker than Ptil techelet even if not ...
- 275
2
votes
Is there any support for the claim that tekhelet and argaman could be derived from the same creature?
According to הרב מאיר הלוי הלמן - לבוש הארון (modern English sefer on Techeiles), on page 21:
The color of murex dye was commonly known as “Tyrian Purple”, as the
city of Tyre (today in Lebanon) ...
- 18.9k
2
votes
Cesem found on someone with dark skin
The poskim at Dinonline answered this very question saying,
Chut Shani (Rav Nissim Karelitz, Niddah, Shaar Ha-Zion 168) writes
that this is a matter of doubt.
However, it stands to reason ...
- 13.2k
2
votes
Why say the rams are reddened?
There are a few possible answers and facts here that build on each other:
1) A previous comment of Rashi just before on 75a, already spelled out the case by saying we do not learn out "from the red ...
- 10.6k
2
votes
What does the blue color mean in Judaism?
In the Zohar in several places, blue (תכלת) is taken to be the attribute of divine severity or judgment, e.g.:
זהר ויקרא רכו ב --
האי תכלת איהי דין
This blue is severity.
זהר שמות קמז א --
...
- 4,851
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