Commentaire de citation sur L’Exode 28:40

AND THOU SHALT MAKE HOLY GARMENTS FOR AARON THY BROTHER FOR SPLENDOR AND BEAUTY — this means that he be distinguished and glorified with garments of distinction and beauty, just as Scripture says, as a bridegroom putteth on a priestly diadem.²⁷Isaiah 61:10. For these garments [of the High Priest] correspond in their forms to garments of royalty, which monarchs wore at the time when the Torah was given. Thus we find with reference to the tunic, and he made him a tunic of ‘pasim’²⁸Genesis 37:3. — meaning, a cloth woven of variegated colors, this being the tunic of chequer work [mentioned here], just as [Ibn Ezra] explained, which clothed him as a son of ancient kings.²⁹Isaiah 19:11. The same applies to the robe and the tunic, as it is written, Now she [Tamar] had a garment of many colors upon her; for with such robes were the king’s daughters that were virgins apparelled,³⁰II Samuel 13:18. which means that a garment of many colors was seen clearly upon her, for such was the custom that the virgin daughters of the king wore robes with which they wrapped themselves; thus the coat of many colors was upon her as an upper garment. It is for this reason that it says there, and she rent her garment of many colors that was on her.³¹Ibid., Verse 19. The mitre [mentioned here] is to this day known among kings and distinguished lords. Therefore Scripture says with reference to the fall of the kingdom [of Judah], The mitre shall be removed, and the crown taken off.³²Ezekiel 21:31. Similarly it is written, and a royal diadem.³³Isaiah 62:3. Scripture also calls them the ornamented high caps,³⁴Further, 39:28. and it is further written, They shall have linen ornamented [caps] upon their heads,³⁵Ezekiel 44:18. which are for the beauty and glory of those that are adorned with them. The ephod and the breastplate are also royal garments, just as it is written, and thou shalt have a chain of gold about thy neck.³⁶Daniel 5:16. The plate [around the forehead, which the High Priest wore], is like a king’s crown. Thus it is written, ‘yatzitz nizro’ (his crown will shine).³⁷Psalms 132:18. — Ramban thus associates the word tzitz (plate) with the expression yatzitz nizro (his crown will shine), thus suggesting that the tzitz of the High Priest is a sort of royal crown. Furthermore, [the High Priest’s garments] are made of gold, blue-purple, and red-purple³⁸Further, Verse 5. [which are all symbolic of royalty]. Thus it is written, All glorious is the king’s daughter within the palace; her raiment is of chequer work inwrought with gold,³⁹Psalms 45:14. and it is further written, thou shalt be clothed with purple, and have a chain of gold about thy neck.³⁶Daniel 5:16. As for the blue-purple, even to this day no man will lift up his hand⁴⁰Genesis 41:44. to wear it except a king of nations,⁴¹See Isaiah 14:9. and it is written, And Mordecai went forth from the presence of the king in royal apparel of blue and white, and with a great crown of gold, and with a ‘tachrich’ (robe) of fine linen and purple⁴²Esther 8:15. — the tachrich being a robe in which the wearer wraps himself.
By way of the Truth, [the mystic teachings of the Cabala,] majesty is to kavod (glory) and to tiphereth (splendor),⁴³Cabalistic terms for certain Emanations. the verse thus stating that they should make holy garments for Aaron to minister in them to the Glory of G-d Who dwells in their midst, and to the Splendor of their strength, as it is written, For Thou art the Glory of their strength,⁴⁴Psalms 89:18. and it is further stated, Our holy and our beautiful house, where our fathers praised Thee,⁴⁵Isaiah 64:10. meaning [“the house of] our Holy One” which is the Glory, and “of our Splendor” which is the Splendor of Israel. And it is further stated, Strength and beauty are in His Sanctuary,⁴⁶Psalms 96:6. and similarly, To beautify the place of My Sanctuary, and I will make the place of My feet glorious⁴⁷Isaiah 60:13. — meaning, that the place of the Sanctuary will be glorified by the Splendor, and the place of His feet, which is the place of the Sanctuary, will be honored by the presence of the Glory of G-d. And in Israel will He glorify Himself⁴⁸Ibid., 44:23. also means that in Israel He will show and designate His Splendor. Likewise He says further with respect to the garments of all of Aaron’s sons, that they are for splendor and for beauty.⁴⁹Further, Verse 40. Of the sacrifices He also says, they will come up with ‘ratzon’ (‘will’ — acceptance) on Mine altar, and I will glorify My glorious house.⁵⁰Isaiah 60:7. Thus the altar is His Will and the house of His Glory is the Splendor.
The [priestly] garments had to be made with the intention to be used for that purpose. It is possible that in making them, intent of heart [for what they symbolize] was also needed on the part of their makers. It is for this reason that He said, And thou shalt speak unto all that are wise-hearted, whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom⁵¹Verse 3. — who will understand what they will do. And the Rabbis have already said [of Alexander the Great, that when asked by his generals why he descended from his chariot to bow before the High Priest Simon the Just, he answered]:⁵²Yoma 69a. The story told there is that when Alexander the Great conquered the Land of Israel the Samaritans petitioned him to destroy the Temple in Jerusalem. Thereupon a procession of notables went out from Jerusalem headed by Simon the Just, the High Priest, who was attired in the high priestly garments. They walked a whole night with torches in their hand until dawn. In the morning as soon as Alexander saw Simon the Just, he descended from his chariot and bowed down to him. When the Samaritans said to him, “Such a great king as thou art dost thou bow thyself to that Jew?” He replied, “His image etc.” “His image glistened before me whenever I had a victory.”

ותצא אש מלפני ה' ותאכל אותם וימותו לפני ה, “Fire came forth from the presence of the Lord and consumed them, and they died in the presence of the Lord.” Seeing that they had sinned by abusing fire, they were punished by fire. The kind of death described here by the words “in the presence of the Lord” means that their body and soul underwent a “surgical” separation, the fire entering their bodies through their nostrils separating soul from body. We must be careful not to understand the verse as saying that their souls were burned, i.e. that they lost their claim to the hereafter. If that were so the words בקרובי אקדש, “by those very close to Me I become sanctified,” which Moses told Aaron in G’d’s name, would not make any sense. Why should the souls of people G’d describes as close to Him be destroyed, burned?
In reference to verse 3 our sages (Tanchuma Shemini 1) quote Moses as saying to his brother Aaron: “I knew all along that the Sanctuary would be sanctified (that someone prominent would die), but I thought it would be either I or you. Now I know that Nadav and Avihu are greater than either you or I, as G’d has chosen them to sanctify His name.” No doubt such statements are not made concerning people who have lost their claim to the hereafter. There cannot be any doubt that their very death was the atonement for their sin, that they were elevated to the celestial regions immediately and that this is the reason the story of their death is repeated in connection with the atonement rites described in Acharey Mot (Leviticus chapter 16).
In the Jerusalem Talmud Yuma 1,1 the question is raised why the death of Nadav and Avihu is mentioned in connection with Yom Kippur, seeing their deaths occurred on the first of Nissan? The answer given is that the (premature) death of the righteous acts as atonement for the people left alive.
Just as it is wrong to understand the “burning” of these sons of Aaron literally as far as their souls are concerned, so it is wrong to understand the word as referring to the burning of their bodies or even their clothing. After all, the Torah writes (verse 5) that “they carried them (out of the Sanctuary) in their tunics.” Each of these sons of Aaron had his individual tunic as we know from Exodus 28,40. The text refers to their death as “burning,” as we know from verse 6 where the Children of Israel as a whole are commanded to weep “for the conflagration which had befallen, which the Lord had ignited.”

For honor and splendor. This is only said about the garments of the high priest. Aharon was required to act with special piety and to set himself apart from the people, which was liable to bring upon him an accusation of haughtiness. Therefore it was necessary that he be distinguished in his dress so that all would know that God had chosen him to be the “Throne” of the Shechinah. Likewise is with all high priests. Whereas with the garments of the ordinary priests, only the turbans were for honor and glory, as I have written further on verse 40. However the high priest was fit to be differentiated in all of his ways.

מדו בד HIS LINEN ROBE — this is what is elsewhere termed the כתונת, the undercoat; and why then is it here called מדו? To intimate that it (the כתונת) must be made to his measure (מדו from מדד to “measure”) (Sifra, Tzav, Chapter 2 1; Yoma 23b).

על בשרו [AND LINEN DRAWERS HE SHALL PUT] UPON HIS FLESH — This implies that nothing should interpose between them (cf. Sifra, Tzav, Chapter 2 3; Zevachim 19a).

והרים את הדשן AND HE SHALL TAKE UP THE ASHES — He raked a full pan of ashes from the innermost consumed mass of ashes and deposited them at the east side of the כבש (the inclined plane leading up to the altar) (Sifra, Tzav, Chapter 1 4 Yoma 20a; cf. Jerusalem Talmud Yoma 2:1).

העולה‎ את ‎‏ אשר תאכל האש‎הדשן ‎ [HE SHALL TAKE OUT] THOSE ASHES INTO WHICH THE FIRE HATH CONSUMED THE BURNT OFFERING — and thus has made it into ashes; from those ashes he shall take out a תרומה, a portion, ושמו אצל המזבח AND PUT IT BESIDE THE ALTAR.

[על המזבח [THE BURNT OFFERING] ON THE ALTAR — This implies that if he (the priest) finds any limbs of the burnt offering that were not yet consumed he shall put them back on the altar after having raked the coals hither and thither and having taken from the innermost ashes, because it states, העולה על המזבח ‎את ‎which implies: the burnt offering (i.e.so long as it can be called an עולה and not דשן) must be ‎on the altar] (Sifra, Tzav, Chapter 1 5; Yoma 45b; cf. Rashi there s. v. ‎אשר תאכל ‎ את העולה‎).

'כתנת בד וגו [HE SHALL PUT ON] THE LINEN INNER GARMENTS etc. — This teaches us that he must not officiate in the “Interior" (in the Holy of Holies) robed in the eight garments which were the insignia of the High Priest (cf. Exodus 28:4ff) in which he performed the service outside (in the היכל and the עזרה) and in which there was gold interwoven, — because the prosecuting counsel cannot become the defending counsel) — but in the four garments (cf. Exodus 28:40), like an ordinary priest, all of these being on this occasion entirely of linen (whereas one of the four worn by the ordinary priests, the belt, was a mixture of wool and linen) (Rosh Hashanah 26a).