Sukkot - V'Zot HaBeracha - 5782

Sukkot - V'Zot HaBeracha - 5782

Rabbi Hal Miller

And of Levi he said, "Your Tumim and Your Urim befit Your devout one whom You

tested at Massah, whom You challenged at the waters of Meribah." [Devarim 33:8]

Everywhere else we see it written, urim v'tumim. Why is it written in the opposite

order here? To answer, we need to understand what the words mean, even if we

do not fully understand what the devices were nor how they worked.

In Yoma [73b] we learn that urim means that it enlightens its words, from the word

'or', meaning light. Tumim means it fulfills its words, from the word 'tam', meaning

complete. In Berachot [3b-4a] we are told that alternative names are kereisi and

peleisi, where kereisi means precise rendering of words, and peleisi means that

the words were wonderous. The two Gemoras can easily be read as saying the

same thing.

In Bamidbar [27:21], the verse says, "By the judgment of the urim". This is

understood that the urim are the prime communicator, leaving the tumim to be a

support for what the urim tell the Kohen Gadol. In our verse, then, Moshe is

referring primarily to the support given by the tumim rather than the actual

judgment of the urim. Why? Rav Hirsch explains that it refers to the tribe of

Levi, who are considered tam, complete, and who are worthy of hearing the

words of God.

Onkelos and Rav Chaim of Volozhin view it from the opposite angle. Onkelos

specifies that Moshe here is not speaking to the tribe of Levi, rather directly to

God, Who has no need to be given judgment, but is Himself tam, complete.

According to Onkelos, the order of the two words is because of who is being

addressed. Rav Chaim, with a slightly different explanation, comes down with

the same answer. He said that when worn by the Kohen Gadol, the urim

enlightens him, and the tumim ensures his understanding is accurate. Here

in our verse, God is, so to speak, wearing them, and He has no need to be

enlightened, but is always accurate.