Save "Some Links to Midrashim for Terumah"
Some Links to Midrashim for Terumah
Rashi and Midrash Tanchuma on the Tachash aka dolphin skins mentioned in Exodus 25:5
(ה) וְעֹרֹ֨ת אֵילִ֧ם מְאׇדָּמִ֛ים וְעֹרֹ֥ת תְּחָשִׁ֖ים וַעֲצֵ֥י שִׁטִּֽים׃
(5) tanned ram skins, dolphin skins, and acacia wood;
תחשים. מִין חַיָּה, וְלֹא הָיְתָה אֶלָּא לְשָׁעָה, וְהַרְבֵּה גְּוָנִים הָיוּ לָהּ, לְכָךְ מְתֻרְגָּם סַסְגּוֹנָא שֶׁשָּׂשׂ וּמִתְפָּאֵר בִּגְוָנִין שֶׁלּוֹ (שבת כ"ח):
תחשים TACHASH was a kind of wild beast. It existed only at that time (when Israel built the Tabernacle). It was multi-coloured and therefore it is translated in the Targum by ססגונה, and it is so translated because it delights (שָׂשׂ) and prides itself in its colours (גונא) (Shabbat 28; Midrash Tanchuma, Terumah 6).
(א)וְזֹאת הַתְּרוּמָה וְגוֹ'. וְעֹרֹת אֵילִם מְאָדָּמִים וְעֹרֹת תְּחָשִׁים. רַבִּי יְהוּדָה וְרַבִּי נֶחְמְיָה. רַבִּי יְהוּדָה אוֹמֵר: חַיָּה טְהוֹרָה גְּדוֹלָה הָיְתָה בַּמִּדְבָּר וְקֶרֶן אַחַת הָיָה לָהּ בְּמִצְחָהּ, וּבְעוֹרָהּ שִׁשָּׁה גְּוָנִים, וְנָטְלוּ אוֹתָהּ וְעָשׂוּ מִמֶּנָּה יְרִיעוֹת. וְרַבִּי נְחֶמְיָה אוֹמֵר: מַעֲשֵׂה נִסִּים הָיְתָה, וּלְשָׁעָה שֶׁנִּבְרֵאת, בָּהּ בַּשָּׁנָה נִגְנְזָה. וְעֹרֹת תְּחָשִׁים, לָמָּה? דִּכְתִיב: אֹרֶךְ הַיְרִיעָה הָאַחַת שְׁלֹשִים בָּאַמָּה. מִי מֵבִיא לְךָ יְרִיעָה שֶׁל שְׁלֹשִׁים אַמָּה. אֶלָּא מַעֲשֵׂה נֵס, לְשָׁעָה שֶׁנִּבְרֵאת נִגְנְזָה.
(1) This is the offering … and rams’ skins dyed red, and sealskins (Exod. 25:3). R. Judah and R. Nehemiah discussed this verse. R. Judah said: It was a large pure animal, with a single horn in its forehead and a skin of six different colors that roamed the desert. They captured one of them and from its skin made a covering for the ark. R. Nehemiah contended that it was a miraculous creature He created for that precise moment, and that it disappeared immediately thereafter from earth. Why is it called orot tahashim (“sealskins,” lit. “skins of tahashim”)? Because the verse states: The length of each curtain shall be thirty cubits (Exod. 26:8). What known animal could supply enough skin for a curtain of thirty cubits? It must, indeed, have been a miraculous creation, which disappeared (immediately after it was created).