H

e was in the fourth grade at the Hebrew Academy of Cleveland when his teacher presented a lesson on the deep blue dye that was worn on the corner of tzitzis and that decorated the Mishkan and the clothes of the Kohanim.

Year later, when he heard that his uncle Rav Yisroel Belsky ztz”l, rosh yeshivah of Torah Vodaath, had started to wear techeiles on his Shabbos tallis katan, it sparked his interest further.

And then, when Rabbi Barkin was learning in a dayanus kollel in Lakewood, his chavrusa, Rabbi Yisrael Rosenberg, also expressed an interest in learning about techeiles. Together, the pair dedicated themselves to learning the subject in depth — from the maamarei Chazal through the Rishonim, Acharonim, and down to the contemporary poskim. The more Rabbi Barkin and  Rabbi Rosenberg learned, the more convinced they became that Murex trunculus, a snail found throughout the Mediterranean, was the chilazon that Chazal described as the source of techeiles.

At one point, Rabbi Barkin asked Rav Belsky if he should start wearing techeiles, and if so, how many strings of blue he should include in his tzitzis. Rav Belsky instructed his nephew precisely, noting that the only reason he didn’t wear techeiles on his tallis gadol was to avoid making a public statement.

“However,” he said, “since you are not a public figure, you should wear them.”

“At first I wore them tucked in,” Barkin recalls, “but eventually I felt more comfortable and started wearing them out.”

Rabbi Rosenberg did the same. Although the two were initially met with skepticism from their peers in kollel, inquisitiveness soon followed.

“We realized that most people simply did not have a basic understanding of the halachic sugya,” Rosenberg says. “We felt an obligation to share our findings with the greater public.”

The pair began to write articles and seforim on the topic with acknowledgments from leading rabbanim. They produced a slideshow, and started making presentations at various yeshivos and shuls in Lakewood, Brooklyn, and Monsey that laid out both sides of the debate.

“At first I was afraid they would stone me,” Rabbi Rosenberg says, “but in fact I found people to be very receptive.”

Rabbi Rosenberg says that many people who go through the sources emerge convinced. “There may be some good questions — but in my opinion, the proofs are much stronger. Every year it picks up more and more force. Hundreds of people in Brooklyn and Lakewood are now wearing it publicly, and for every one person wearing it out, there’s another ten wearing it b’tzinah, privately.”

However, despite what they believe to be strong evidence for the Murex, the vast majority of rabbanim have rejected the claims. In North America, the most outspoken opponents of Murex as the source of techeiles are Rav Shlomo Miller, av beis din of Va’ad Harabonim of Lakewood and rosh kollel of Kollel Avreichim Institute in Toronto; Rav Yisroel Reisman, rosh yeshivah of Torah Vodaath and rav of the Agudath Israel of Madison in Brooklyn; and Rav Daniel Osher Kleinman of K’hal Nachlas Dovid. In Eretz Yisrael, Rav Moshe Sternbuch of the Eidah Hachareidis and Rav Asher Weiss have issued written halachic responsa against the Murex.

One might think that the matter ends there. However, in recent years, Jews from all the major frum communities around the world have begun to wear techeiles — both publicly and privately. Some of the most notable supporters of the Murex techeiles include: Rav Yisroel Belsky ztz”l, rosh yeshivah of Torah Vodaath; Rav Zundel Kroizer ztz”l of Tchebin; and ybdlcht”a Rav Meir Mazuz, rosh yeshivah of Kisei Rachamim; Rav Zalman Nechemia Goldberg, av beis din of the Rabbinical High Court in Jerusalem; Rav Hershel Schachter, rosh yeshivah of Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary; Rav Avraham Dov Auerbach, av beis din in Teveria; Rav Moshe Mordechai Farbstein, rosh yeshivah of Chevron; Rav Moshe Mordechai Karp, renowned posek of Kiryat Sefer; the mekubal Rav Gamliel Rabinowitz, rosh yeshivah of Shaarei Shamayim; and Rav Gershon Meltzer, posek at Yeshivas Mir, Yerushalayim. Indeed, the noted dayan Rav Avrohom Rubin notes in his kosher certification for the Murex techeiles that “many gedolei Yisrael have agreed to this [identification].”

Wrapped in Tradition

He was in the fourth grade at the Hebrew Academy of Cleveland when his teacher presented a lesson on the deep blue dye that was worn on the corner of tzitzis and that decorated the Mishkan and the clothes of the Kohanim.

Year later, when he heard that his uncle Rav Yisroel Belsky ztz”l, rosh yeshivah of Torah Vodaath, had started to wear techeiles on his Shabbos tallis katan, it sparked his interest further.