Blue & White; Clarity & Complexity

The First Zionist Congress was about to begin, and they needed a flag.

Every nation needs a flag, a symbol for people to rally around and to emblazon on t-shirts. Theodor Herzl, in his book Der Judenstaat, suggested a white flag with seven golden stars representing the hours of the working day. If you’re not impressed, you’re not alone. The idea did not catch on as it lacked any clear connection to Israel or Judaism.

David Wolffsohn came to the rescue. Wolffsohn was an early Zionist leader who worked closely with Herzl and succeeded him as President of the World Zionist Organization. In his memoirs, he wrote that suddenly it struck him that the Jewish people do have a flag: the tzitzit and the tallit, the prayer shawl worn during prayer.

“Let us take the tallit from its bag and unroll it before the eyes of Israel, and the eyes of all nations. So, I ordered a blue and white flag with the Shield of David painted onto it, that is how the national flag flew over Congress Hall and came to be.”

Blue and white are the colors of the Jewish people. They are also the colors that shape our religious worldview.

דַּבֵּר אֶל־בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וְאָמַרְתָּ אֲלֵהֶם וְעָשׂוּ לָהֶם צִיצִת עַל־כַּנְפֵי בִגְדֵיהֶם לְדֹרֹתָם וְנָתְנוּ עַל־צִיצִת הַכָּנָף פְּתִיל תְּכֵלֶת׃

Speak to the Israelite people and instruct them to make for themselves fringes on the corners of their garments throughout the ages; let them attach a cord of blue to the fringe at each corner.  (Bamidbar 15:38)

The mitzvah of tzitzit places blue and white front and center in our religious color spectrum. The Talmud (Menachot 43b) teaches:

“Rabbi Meir would say: What is different about tekhelet from all other types of colors such that it was chosen for the mitzvah of tzitzit? It is because tekhelet is similar in its color to the sea, and the sea is similar to the sky, and the sky is similar to the Throne of Glory…”

Blue is aspirational and inspirational. It is the color that provides a context for our efforts to reach spiritual heights.

Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik explained that blue and white represent two poles of the Jewish experience. Blue is not a simple color. The Rabbis could not even agree on which blue was blue! Rashi and Maimonides felt it was the color of the sky. But is it the daytime sky which is azure or the nighttime sky which is much darker? Both hues may be equally inspirational. Which blue is blue? Does it even matter?

The Rav, summarizes the symbolism of blue contrasting with white in the following manner. White denotes clarity, distinctness and that which is self-evident. The prophets speak of white as representing purity and forgiveness. In modern Hebrew, we find the expression, “ha-devarim melubanim,” which literally translates as the subject is white, used to mean, “the subject is crystal clear.” Tekhelet, in contrast, which the Talmud described as the color of the sea and the sky and God’s throne, is the color of the grand mysteries of the human experience which elude our precise understanding. We can never understand the seas and the heavens. They seem to stretch as far as the eye can see and contain questions far too complicated to answer:  

“They encompass the abstract and the transcendent, ultimate values and ends, man’s metaphysical quest and his efforts to rise above the self-evident and the temporal…While the color white bespeaks the clearly perceptible, tekhelet refers to a realm which is only vaguely grasped.”

Blue and white represent the complexity and clarity of our lives.

In all areas of our lives, we encounter white and blue, the clear and the complex. In science, we find mathematical precision as well as the uncertainties and imprecise formulations involved in psychology and sociology. In our personal lives, we experience this dichotomy as well. Everyone experiences moments when they feel very confident or certain in their actions. At the same time, there are bound to be periods of questioning and self-doubt. As the Rav said:

“No one can say, ‘The world and I have always gotten along together reasonably, happily, and successfully, with ambitions always being realized. I have never been defeated…’ This is the tekhelet of human experience.”

Think of the last 9 months. Since October 7, we have experienced the lows of horror and sadness and falsehood and hatred. At the same time, we have seen people rise to heroic heights and display incredible kindness, strength, and solidarity. We have had our eyes opened as to who our enemies are while also seeking – and finding – new friends. There are some things which are crystal clear: Hamas is evil and must be defeated. There are plenty of other things which are more complicated. We approach all of these in a meaningful way using the language of blue and white, complexity and clarity.

The mitzvah of tekhelet creates a framework to help us accomplish the easy things and face the challenging ones. We need to look to the blue and white – whether you wear it, are thinking of getting some, or just close your eyes and imagine it – as a guide to tackling whatever comes our way.