Shabbat Parashat Pekudei - 5785

Shabbat Parashat Pekudei - 5785

Rabbi Hal Miller

  The stones were according to the names of the sons of Israel, twelve according to their names like the engraving of a

signet seal, each man by his name for the twelve tribes. [Shemot 39:14]

On the Ephod, the vest that the Kohen Gadol wore, were fourteen precious stones, one on each shoulder and twelve in a pattern across the chest. The pair on the shoulders were covered in chapter 28, and our verse refers to the twelve on the chest, but they have something important in common, that the names of the tribes were engraved on the stones. While on the shoulders, each stone carries six names, here each stone has only one. But the big question of order of names applies to both situations. There are many opinions as to what the order was, both on the shoulders and on the chest. What would the order mean? Also, is there is a relationship between the types of stones and the names, as our verse seems to imply?

Rashi gives the sequence on the two shoulder stones as the birth order: Reuven, Shimeon, Levi, Yehudah, Dan and Naphtali on one, then on the second Gad, Asher, Yissachar, Zevulun, Yoseph and Binyamin. Rambam alternates between the two stones, listing the tribes by birth mother, thus Reuven, Levi, Yissachar, Naftali, Gad and Yoseph; then on the second stone, Shimeon, Yehudah, Zevulun, Dan, Asher and Binyamin. In Yoma [87] Rav Kahana lists Yehudah, Reuven, Shimeon, Levi, Dan, Naphtali, then Gad, Asher, Yissachar, Zevulun, Yoseph and Binyamin, but the sages reject his opinion and give Reuven, Gad, Asher, Zevulun, Dan and Naphtali, then Shimeon, Levi, Yehudah, Yissachar, Yoseph and Binyamin.

There are listings of the tribes in various places in the Torah. For example, Bamidbar [1:5-15] lists Reuven, Shimeon, Yehudah, Yissachar, Zevulun, Yoseph (as Ephraim then Menashe), Binyamin, Dan, Asher, Gad and Naphtali. In Sotah [36a], Rabbi Chanina ben Gamliel says that the order of names on the stones is not like Bamidbar, rather like Shemot [1:2-4], which is Reuven, Shimeon, Levi, Yehudah, Yissachar, Zevulun, Binyamin, Dan, Naphtali, Gad and Asher, and of course Yoseph was already in Egypt. Thus according to Rabbi Chanina, the first shoulder stone bore the names of Leah's sons, and the second had Rachel's sons first and last with the sons of the maidservants in the middle. In Bamidbar chapter 2, the Torah lists the order of march, combining into groups: Yehudah with Yissachar and Zevulun, then Reuven with Shimeon and Gad, in the middle Levi, then Ephraim with Menashe and Binyamin, and last Dan with Asher and Naphtali.

We thus have numerous unlike lists, with no obvious reconciliation. Some commentators have tried, either by counting letters on each of the two shoulder stones, or birth order, or many other ideas, but none seems any better than the others.

The two stones on the shoulders and also the middle one in the fourth row are the same, shoham. Does that indicate a relationship between the tribe on that one with the entirety of the tribes from above? Which tribe is listed on that fourth row stone? Since we do not have an authoritative order, we cannot know for certain, and if we look at the various lists, there are numerous possible tribes that could be in that position. In fact, we do not know whether the order of names was applied to the twelve stones right-to-left, up-down, or in some other pattern. We do know the order of the stones, but cannot pin down which tribe is related to which stone, so we are not going to come up via logic with any understanding of tribal characteristics from the type of stone to which they were assigned. So why does the Torah go to great lengths to tell us about the engraving?

Perhaps the Torah is telling us the order in which the stones were engraved, being birth order, and not tying this order to the location on the Ephod that they will be mounted. Perhaps it is telling us that, although tribal order is dictated in some situations, other than those, the order is not important and all of Israel is considered just as important as any other portion. Or, when it says in our verse and in Shemot 28:21 that the engraving is to be according to the names, perhaps it does not mean order, but rather spelling of the names, and is thus tied to the idea of a signet ring with its legal implications.