The Third Row of Gad, Asher, and Issachar

Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on Exodus Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on Exodus 28:19 View source
Curated by Maggid·Edited by Arthur Sabintsev·

The Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on (Exodus 28:19) lists the third row of the breastplate: ligure, and agate, and amethyst, engraved with Gad, Asher, and Issachar. The tribes of this row were, in Jacob's blessings, the tribes of abundance and depth. Gad would be a warrior, a troop shall overcome him (Genesis 49:19). Asher's blessing was his bread shall be fat, and he shall yield royal dainties (Genesis 49:20). Issachar bent his shoulder to bear and became the tribe of scholars who knew the seasons.

The Sages treated the amethyst, the final stone in this row, as especially suggestive. Its Aramaic name, ein egla, means calf's eye, and some traditions linked it to Issachar, whose sons were said to have calm, clear-sighted minds fit for Torah study. The third row, in other words, became a row of inner life. Warrior, host, and scholar stood together, three different ways of sustaining a people.

The takeaway is that the middle of the breastplate was reserved for the middle work of a nation, the unspectacular labor of feeding, protecting, and studying, without which kings and judges have nothing to govern.

Themes

TempleCommunityStudy

Biblical References

Continue Reading

Midrash AggadahFive Curtains for Torah, Six for Mishnah in the TabernacleThe construction of the Mishkan is described in Exodus 26 with a catalog of measurements and materials that reads, The first reading, like an architect's invoicMidrash AggadahWisdom of Heart and the Craftsmen Who Could TeachThe Tabernacle needed more than materials. It needed people who could work them, weave, embroider, sew, carve, cast, and then show others how to do the same. TaMidrash AggadahThe Family of Abtinas and the Secret of the IncenseIn the Temple of Jerusalem, the most fragrant service of the day was the burning of the ketoret, the compound incense of eleven spices that rose in a thin columMidrash AggadahTen Cups of Wine at a Funeral — and Why the Rabbis Trimmed ThemIn the days of the Mishnah the rabbis regulated even the meals of mourning. At a funeral feast they ordered ten cups of wine to be drunk in the house of the berMidrash AggadahWhen the Temple's Lamps Lit the Streets of JerusalemThe Second Temple had a section called the Ezrat Nashim, the Court of Women, a gallery where women could gather for the great ceremonies while men stood on the Midrash AggadahHow a Question Climbed to the SanhedrinThe Sanhedrin of seventy-one was not a single institution. It was the top of a ladder, and Rabbi Yossi remembered the steps. In each city of Israel sat a provin