Musar zu Schemot 28:32

First of all, the episode of the serpent, who spoke lashon hara of the Holy One Blessed be He and thereby brought death to the world. And (Bereshith 29:20): "If G-d will be with me and guard me," concerning which Chazal have said: "if He will guard me against lashon hara." And the episode of Joseph (Ibid. 37:2): "And Joseph brought their evil talk to their father," this being the catalyst of the descent of the Jews to Egypt. And (Shemoth 2:14): "In truth, the thing has become known" (see Rashi there and what we shall write below). There, too, (4:1) Moses our teacher, may peace be upon him, says: "But they will not believe me," and the Blessed L-rd counters (Ibid. 2): "What is this in your hand?" … (3) …and it became a serpent." Also there (6): "And, behold, his hand was leprous as snow." And (Ibid. 17:2): "And the people quarreled with Moses… (7) …over the quarrel of the children of Israel, etc." followed by (8): "And Amalek came and warred with Israel, etc." And (Ibid. 23:1): "You shall not bear a false report, which applies to both the speaker and the receiver [of lashon hara] (as we find in Makkoth 23a), followed by (2): "Do not be after many to do evil." And, in reference to the me'il [the outer robe of the ephod] (Ibid. 28:32): "A border shall there be to its mouth roundabout," and the entire section. And (35): "And its sound will be heard when he comes to the sanctuary, etc." And the entire section of Tazria and Metzora: the plague-spots of houses, the plague-spots of clothing, the plague-spots of men, (Vayikra 13:46): "Solitary shall he sit"— even outside of the camp of Israel. And his atonement— "chirping" birds. And (Ibid. 19:16): "Do not go talebearing among your people," (Ibid. 17): "Reprove, shall you reprove your neighbor, but you shall not bear sin because of him." And (Ibid. 25:17): "You shall not wrong, one man, his fellow," which relates to verbal wronging, which is also in the category of evil speech. And (Bamidbar 5:1): "And they shall send out of the camp every leper"— even if he were as great in Torah as Doeg. And (Ibid. 12:1): "And Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses, etc." And the entire section of Shelach Lecha, which speaks about the spies. And (Ibid. 21:5): "And the people spoke against G-d and against Moses." And (Devarim 23:10): "When you go out as a camp against your foes, guard yourself against every evil thing [davar ra]," concerning which Chazal have said: "davar ra" may be read as "dibbur ra" [evil speech]. And in Tetze, the "giving out of an evil name [motzi shem ra]," and (Ibid. 24:9): "Remember what the L-rd your G-d did to Miriam, etc." And (Ibid. 27:24): "Cursed be he who smites his friend in secret," which refers to lashon hara. And it is known that all of the "cursings" were preceded by blessings; and they opened with blessing, saying: "Blessed is he who does not smite"— whence we derive that one who is heedful in this is blessed.

שלא לקרוע המעיל. Rabbi Menachem Ha-Bavli comments on this too. He sees allegorical meaning in the words לפיו סביב in the same verse. The rim, פיו, of the robe which must not be torn is a symbol for the High Priest's mouth. In view of the High Priest's function of restoring harmony between G–d and His people, he, more than anyone else, must be sure not to say anything that could impair the unity or innocence of the people. Every individual who claims to be a servant of the Lord must in this regard conduct himself on the same level as did the High Priest.

(Shemoth 28:32): "And the mouth of its head shall be [folded over] within it." This intimates what Chazal have said on the verse (Job 26:7): "'He suspends the earth on nothingness [blimah]' — On whom does the earth depend? On him who clamps his mouth shut [bolem piv] in a time of quarrel." That is, he suppresses all his speech then, that it not go forth.

The reason for the bells on the rim of the robe of the High Priest is specifically spelled out in the Torah. His voice (approach) should be heard when he entered the Sanctuary. This was in the nature of securing permission before entering the Sanctuary. Anyone entering suddenly, i.e. unannounced, was guilty of death. We know of something similar in the palace of Ahasverus (Esther 4,11). I shall explain this in greater detail when I deal with Leviticus 16,17: "No one is to be in the Tent of Meeting when Aaron enters to obtain atonement in the Sanctuary." This is why the Torah commanded that he had to announce his arrival. It is not unlike the time Joseph revealed himself to his brothers. He had instructed that everyone present in the palace had to be removed first, except for himself and his brothers (Genesis 45,1). Service to the King has to be performed with no one else present. When one leaves the king one must also be granted permission so that the king's servants will know when to re-enter the king's presence. An additional dimension which is important when dealing with the presence before the King of Kings is that unless permission has been obtained both before entering and before leaving, G–d's angels are apt to kill the person who acts without permission. The Torah warns Aaron so that we may appreciate that if even a person of the exalted stature of Aaron is subject to such restrictions, anyone on a lower level does not even have to be warned specifically. When the Torah adds the words לפני ה', in 28,39, it adds stature to Aaron who is compared to an angel of the Lord of Hosts. According to our sages the reason there must not be a tear in the robe (28,31), i.e. that it should be constructed in such a way that it is not liable to be torn, is because Satan is jealous of the High Priests's stature and tries to pull him by his robe as warriors do.