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Thoughts on the Parsha ~
Parshas Tetzaveh
Measure for Measure
By: Daniel Listhaus
וְעָשִׂיתָ בִגְדֵי קֹדֶשׁ
לְאַהֲרֹן אָחִיךָ לְכָבוֹד וּלְתִפְאָרֶת: וְאַתָּה תְּדַבֵּר אֶל כָּל
חַכְמֵי לֵב אֲשֶׁר מִלֵּאתִיו רוּחַ חָכְמָה וְעָשׂוּ אֶת בִּגְדֵי אַהֲרֹן לְקַדְּשׁוֹ
לְכַהֲנוֹ לִי
וְחֵשֶׁב אֲפֻדָּתוֹ אֲשֶׁר
עָלָיו כְּמַעֲשֵׂהוּ מִמֶּנּוּ יִהְיֶה זָהָב תְּכֵלֶת וְאַרְגָּמָן וְתוֹלַעַת
שָׁנִי וְשֵׁשׁ מָשְׁזָר
“You shall make
garments of sanctity for Aharon your brother, for glory and for splendor. And
you shall speak to each of the wise-hearted people whom I have invested with a
spirit of wisdom, and they shall make the garments of Aharon, to sanctify him,
so that he shall be a Kohen to Me.”
-Tetzaveh
28:2-3
“...[And] the cheishev
with which he is beautified, which is above it, like its work, of it shall be
of gold, turquoise wool, purple wool, scarlet wool, and twisted linen.”
-Tetzaveh 28:8
There
is no doubt that the bigdei kehunah (special clothes that the kohanim
had to wear) were spectacular and royal. When it comes to discussing the cheishev
(belt), Rashi[1]
writes that the Kohen Gadol's cheishev was the belt above the eiphod
(apron) which beautified and enhanced the Kohen, and adorned him.
There
are two issues with the way Rashi is explaining this passuk (verse).
First, even though certainly one aspect of the bigdei kehunah was to
make the kohen look prestigious, why is it that this aspect is stressed
so much in the Torah and this Rashi? It sounds as if this was the most
important fact of the bigdei kehunah. Second, this Rashi does not
seem to flow so well. Rashi starts by explaining that the bigdei
kehunah beautified and enhanced the kohen. Then, Rashi adds
in as an after-thought that the bigdei kehunah also adorned him. Why
does Rashi not list all three descriptions as part of the same series?
However,
there is an even more potent question, regarding the bigdei kehuna in
general, which stems from an understanding of a story in the Gemara. The
Gemara[2]
relates a story of a non-Jew who overheard someone teaching his talmidim
(students) about the garments that the kohen gadol would wear. This
man went over to Shammai and told him that he wanted to convert in order to
become the kohen gadol and wear the eight pieces of bigdei kohen
gadol. Shammai's immediate response was to chase him out with a stick. This
individual then went to Hillel and told him the same thing, that he wanted to
become Jewish in order to be able to become the kohen gadol and wear the
special garments. Hillel listened patiently and advised this gentile to first
learn all the halachos (laws) of being a kohen. The man did so,
but when he got up to the passuk (verse), “The stranger that comes near
shall be put to death”,[3]
he was very confused. He asked Hillel, “Who does this passuk refer to?”
Hillel replied, “This passuk even applies to Dovid HaMelech.
Anyone who is not a kohen cannot do the avodah (work in the Beis
HaMikdash).” The Gemara then continues to say that despite the fact
that this man's aspirations were shot, he ultimately became Jewish anyway
because of Hillel's patience.
The
Kli Yakar[4]
is bothered by this whole story. Who did this guy think he was? If he just
wanted a good Purim costume, why go through the whole process of becoming
Jewish and having to accept the Torah and mitzvos? He should have just
went to the local costume store and bought a similar copy made in China! Was
this man for real that he wanted to convert just so that he could wear the
garments of the kohen gadol?
The Kli Yakar therefore answers that it must be
that this gentile heard more than just the list of special garments that the kohen
wore. Rather, he must have overheard a Rabbi describing the following Gemara.
The Gemara[5]
lists the four garments of the kohen hedyot (regular kohen)
and the additional four garments of the kohen gadol. The Gemara
then elaborates that each of the garments acted as an atonement for different
great sins.[6]
Upon hearing this, the gentile had an idea. He knew that he had done horrible
things in his life, and he wanted to start anew. He thought that achieving the
position of kohen gadol and getting the chance to adorn these garments
would grant him the quick-fix absolution needed to rest his mind of guilt.
This
whole concept is so hard to understand. What did the bigdei kehunah have
to do with atoning sins? Could it really be that because the kohen would
dress up in a certain way, that we become “off the hook” for some of the
horrible things we have done?[7]
In
order to answer these questions, let us take a step back and try to understand
the role that the bigdei kehunah played in adorning the Kohen in
the Beis HaMikdash.
The
Malbim[8]
makes an incredible observation. He writes that a word used to describe the bigdei
kehunah is “mada”. The word mada comes from the root meaning
measurement. The reason for this is simply because one gets his clothing
tailored according to the dimensions of his guf (body). The body's
measurements are what one uses to deduce the accurate size of one's clothing.
Similarly,
one's character traits are called middos – referring to the different
allocations of qualities that each and every individual uniquely possesses.
People are born with different measurements of haughtiness, humility,
embarrassment, brazenness, anger, patience, etc. Our job, as the Orchos
Tzadikkim[9]
maintains, is to study and analyze each middah and realize where it is
inside us. Then, we must work on each and every middah and qualify it in
a positive way. Every middah could be directed to be used for good or
bad. It is our duty to make sure that our middos are shaped in the right
way.
The
Malbim continues to write that the reason for the kohen to wear
the bigdei kehunah – the outer measurements which cover his body, was in
order to have an effect and guide the inner measurements – the middos surrounding
his nefesh (soul).
Each
of the garments of the kohen gadol represented some of the most
difficult and important middos of which a person must take control – the
direct effects of kinah (jealousy), taivah (desires), and kavod
(honor), which Pirkei Avos[10]
describe “remove a person from this world”.
Somehow,
merely wearing the types of clothing that the kohen gadol wore, brought
about these good middos from the kohen gadol, and had him
thinking along pure thoughts in these areas. It is no coincidence that the sins
that the bigdei kehunah atoned for were done due to lack of control in
the middos that they each represented. These pure thoughts of the
kohen, the representative of the entire Jewish people, when wearing the begadim,
received a collective kaparah for the entire B'nei Yisroel.
Perhaps
now we could better appreciate the aforementioned Rashi. The bigdei
kehunah served multiple purposes. On the one hand they adorned the kohen
– giving him a prestigious and royal look to stand out above everyone else as
the one chosen to serve Hashem.[11]
Additionally, the bigdei kehunah were designated garments only used to serve
Hashem, expressing incredible amounts of kavod Hashem. However, a third
aspect of the bigdei kehunah was to effect and direct the kohen's thoughts
in order to spark a kaparah.
The
clothing we wear has the ability to give power to and bring forth certain
aspects of the middos contained within us. Movie producers are well
aware of this fact and indeed have their actors wear the clothing of their
respective characters for a long time before the actual filming in order to get
the full feel of the character. The clothing they wear is able to export
different measurements of their born-qualities, thereby creating almost new people
within themselves based on their influenced temporary choice of
characteristics.
The
clothing we wear has an impact on the way we think and act. Let us choose
carefully in order that the measurements of the guf should have a
positive impact on the measurements of the nefesh; for indeed the way we
dress effects our middos – measure for measure.
[1] Shemos 28:8
[2] Shabbos 31a
[3] Bamidbar 3:10
[4] Shemos 28:39. The Kli Yakar later
continues to get into a whole discussion about Achashveirosh during the Purim story
when he wore the bigdei kehunah and used the keilim from the Beis
HaMikdash.
[5] Eiruchin 16a
[6] The Gemara lists the following begadim
and that for which they atoned:
ñ Kesones (tunic)
– shfichus damim (murder/bloodshed)
ñ Michnasa'im (pants)
– giluy arayos (immorality)
ñ Mechaperes (turban)
– gasei haruach (arrogance)
ñ Avneit (belt)
– hirhur lev (improper thoughts of the heart)
ñ Choshein (breastplate)
– dinim (incorrect judging)
ñ Eiphod (apron)
– avoda zarah (idol worship)
ñ Me'il (jacket)
– lashon harah (evil speech)
ñ Tzitz (head-plate)
– ma'aseh azei panim (brazen acts)
[7] Berachos 28a
[8] Shemos 28:15
[9] He writes this in his introduction to the sefer
as well as throughout his sefer when discussing the various character
traits.
[10] Avos 4:28
[11] See S'forno on Shemos 28:2
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