“Like a Throne of Glory:” The Apotropaic Potential of Ṣîṣîṯ in the Hebrew Bible and Early Rabbinic Literature

Abstract

Although at first glanceṣîṣîṯmeet the definitional criteria of an amulet, there are just three passages in the early rabbinic literature that only indirectly suggest such an interpretation. Yet, as it turns out, the tassels feature strong connections with the priestly clothes, and given the protective role played by the latter inside the Tabernacle,ṣîṣîṯcan be interpreted as a lay functional equivalent of the sacerdotal garment. The present paper has three main purposes: first, to scrutinize the passages from B. Men. (41a, 43b and 44a) that are often taken as witnessing to the apotropaic function of fringes; second, to contextualize tassels in the network of the priestly objects:teḵēlęṯ, ša‘aṭnēzandṣîṣ; third, to advance a hypothesis regarding the implicit apotropaic potential ofṣîṣîṯ.