THE MYSTERIOUS TACHASH

 ---------------------------------------------

THE MYSTERIOUS TACHASH

In Parshat Terumah we read about the offerings donated for the construction of the Mishkan. One of these offerings were Tachash skins.

 At 26:14 we are instructed that the roof of the Mishkan is to be made up of animal skins, red dyed ram skins and the uppermost layer is to be composed of “tachash” skins.

וְעָשִׂיתָ מִכְסֶה לָאֹהֶל, עֹרֹת אֵילִם מְאָדָּמִים, וּמִכְסֵה עֹרֹת תְּחָשִׁים, מִלְמָעְלָה

"And you shall make a covering for the tent of ram skins dyed red and a covering of tachash skins above”.

Additionally, in the Book of Numbers at Chapter 4 we learn that Tachash skins were used to wrap sacred objects and ready them for transport.

It is puzzling that the Sages and the Commentators do not know what the Tachash is.  It seems so obvious.

Since the Tachash forms the uppermost layer of the Mishkan roof the animal’s hide must have been tough and maybe sort a weather proofing material.

One Rabbi in the Talmud at tractate Shabbat 28a speculates that it came from an animal with a single horn. The Prophet Ezekiel at 16:10 has the Tachash being made into is disturbing skin.  

The Tachash is a hippopotamus.  They certainly roamed in Egypt and once roamed about in Israel.  

I want to explore a little more about the tachash:

 

Not Just Another Pretty Face

From learning about its purpose we can assume that Tachash skins offered some sort of protection. waterproof, weather-resistant, tough, and very durable. The skins also provided protection against narrows and missiles. 

But what animal is the Tachash? 

There is much speculation as to its identity: a unicorn or a one-horned rhinoceros, antelope, manatee, dolphin

In the Talmud Shabbat 28a the Tachash is identified as being similar to a multi-colored animal called a sasgona, סַסְגּוֹנָא, because it glistened with different colors. It was also identified as a tela ilan, תלא  אילן  another multicolored creature.

 A sure bet is that the Tachash is a Hippopotamus.

For one thing, a hippopotamus is not what you would call a thin-skinned creature.  Its skin is so thick that it is almost bullet proof, and at 1 ½ inches thick most certainly arrow proof.

A hippo is multicolored: The hippo's upper parts are purplish-grey to blue-black, while the under parts and areas around the eyes and ears can be brownish-pink.  Their skin secretes a natural sunscreen substance which is red-colored.

The Talmud, Shabbat 28a says that the Tachash was multicolored:

שיש בו גבוונין הרבה

“…in that it was multicolored…”

A hippopotamus’ upper parts are purplish-grey to blue-black, while the under parts and areas around the eyes and ears can be brownish-pink.  When out of the water they will secrete a red oily coating that protects its skin from drying out.

If you need a proof text, consider some verses from Chapter 40 of the Book of Job in which a monstrous primeval land animal who has enormous strength and is called a “Behemoth” is described and this creature resembles a hippopotamus:

40:15 - Behold now the Behemoth that I have made with you; he eats grass like an ox.

40:17 - His tail hardens like a cedar; the sinews of his testicles are knit together.

40:18 - His limbs are as strong as copper, his bones as a load of iron.

40:21 - He lies under the shadows, hidden in the reeds and the swamp.

The hippopotamus is large, very large; males weigh more than 4000 lb. The hippopotamus spends much of its time in lakes, swamps and rivers. Before becoming locally extinct they inhabited Egypt and the region known as the Levant, which includes Canaan.  Think of the Hula Valley and the area south of Tiberias.  Archaeological evidence exists of its presence in the Levant, dating to less than 3,000 years ago.

Hippos measure 10 to 17 feet in length, including a tail of about 1 to 2 feet in length. The testes of the males descend only partially.  Their diet in nature consists almost entirely of grass. They are considered to be extremely aggressive 

On an interesting note the most powerful land animal on Earth, the Behemoth/Hippopotamus is paired in the Book of Job with another primeval monstrous animal, the Leviathan. It is the most powerful sea creature on Earth and is thought by many to be a whale.  Whales and hippopotamuses share a common origin. The most recent theory of the origins of the Hippopotamus family suggests that hippos and whales shared a common semiaquatic ancestor that branched off from their common ancestor around 60 million years ago. This ancestral group then split into two branches around 54 million years ago.

And in the World to Come, as many believe, just as the skin of the Leviathan will serve as a tent for the righteous, perhaps it is only fitting that the skin of the hippopotamus served as a tent for us when we wandered in the Wilderness.

-------------------------------