en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seder_hishtalshelus
1 correction found
but in natural science, avir is a modality about the orbital mechanism of constellations and silica in the esoteric traditions of Eastern Europe. The "celestial green color"is the first iridescence of Jupiter. In the more accessible Halakhah, all this corresponds to the tzitzit of the tallit: the tekhelet of the threads.
This passage misdefines both avir and tekhelet. Kabbalistic sources use avir to mean "air," "atmosphere," or "empty air/space," and rabbinic sources explain tekhelet as the blue color associated with the sea, sky, and the Throne of Glory—not Jupiter, silica, or constellation mechanics.
Full reasoning
The sentence combines claims that contradict standard Jewish sources.
-
Aviris not a scientific doctrine about constellations, silica, or Jupiter. In Lurianic/Kabbalistic usage, avir means air / atmosphere / empty air / space. A primary Lurianic text, Etz Chaim 1:2:3, describes the aftermath of the tzimtzum as a remaining "space and empty air". An explanatory Kabbalah source on avir kadmon likewise defines the word avir as "atmosphere" or "air." -
Tekheletis not explained in halakhic sources by reference to Jupiter or a "celestial green color." The classic rabbinic explanation in Menachot 43b is that tekhelet was chosen because its color resembles the sea, the sea resembles the sky, and the sky resembles the Throne of Glory. A modern explanatory article summarizing this same passage says the blue thread in tzitzit evokes a chain of associations: sea, sky, and God's throne.
Because the cited Jewish sources define avir and tekhelet in very different terms, this passage is factually wrong, not just interpretive or stylistic.
4 sources
- Sefer Etz Chaim 1:2:3 | Sefaria Library
"After the aforementioned contraction, there remained a space and empty air in the middle of the light of Ein Sof exactly as before."
- Basics in Kabbalah and Chassidut: Avir Kadmon - GalEinai
"The word avir–'atmosphere' or 'air'..." and "This lower half of the primordial 'space' is referred to as avir kadmon."
- Menachot 43b | Sefaria Library
"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..."
- The Blue of the Ocean, the Sky and the Tzitzit | My Jewish Learning
"Because blue resembles the sea, and the sea resembles sky, and the sky resembles God's Throne of Glory..."