Comentário sobre Êxodo 28:2

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.”

לכבוד, to render honour and glory to the Almighty through the wearing of such resplendent garments when performing Temple service.

ועשית בגדי קדש לאהרון…לכבבוד ולתפארת, "And you shall make holy garments for your brother Aaron for splendour and beauty." These beautiful garments are an expression of joy, and will convince Aaron that Moses wanted him to appear robed in splendour. A person who only carries out a directive under duress does not go to the trouble of constructing such splendid garments for the person who replaces him in a role that had originally been slated for himself. Although the garments in question were a must for the person wearing them whenever he performed service in the Tabernacle, G'd followed the principle of allowing Moses to accumulate this merit for himself by allowing him to perform this commandment joyfully. In this instance, Moses' action represented a rapprochement between the souls of Moses and Aaron respectively. Perhaps G'd even meant that Moses should pay out of his own funds for these garments Aaron would wear during performing the functions of his new office. Although we have learned that as a rule the cost of the priestly garments was to be defrayed by the public purse (Yuma 3,7), the Talmud allowed for individuals to donate such garments and hand them over to the public. We need to explore the meaning of the word לכבוד, for honour, in this verse after G'd had already informed us of both the purpose and the nature of these garments. If all the Torah meant to tell us was that honour and glory would be conferred upon Aaron its wearer, what have we gained by this knowledge? Perhaps we can understand the meaning of this word by reference to Avodah Zarah 34. The Talmud quotes Rabbi Akiva as not having an answer concerning the question of what garments Moses wore (when he temporarily functioned as High Priest) during the seven days of the inaugural offerings of the priests. When he enquired in the academy they told him that Moses wore a white shirt while performing the service during those days. The fact that Moses wore only a white shirt during those days is clear evidence that the priestly garments themselves were not an essential part of the Temple-service except for Aaron and his sons. If any of the other priests performed the service without wearing their special garments the sacrifices offered by such priests would be acceptable to G'd. Accordingly, the word לכבוד means that these clothes are not for G'd's sake but for man's sake, merely for the sake of the image of the priest wearing them, especially when such a person was a priest on a permanent basis. Seeing Moses performed such service only on a temporary basis, he did not have to wear such garments.

For honor and splendor. This is only said about the garments of the Kohein Gadol. 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.

ועשית בגדי קודש, “you are to make vestments to be worn during holy service.” Moses was not expected to fashion these garments himself, of course; this is a directive that he instruct the artisans charged with that task to insure that the vestments they would make would correspond to the details given in the Torah, Just as the skilled labourers constructing the Tabernacle itself were instructed by him personally, although Betzalel was the supervisor of the whole project to carry out their duties in consonance with the details recorded in Parshat Terumah.

And you shall make sacred garments: Behold, the garments that He commanded to make were ostensibly outer garments, such that their makeup is discussed - how the craftsmen are to make them with their work. But they really indicate inner clothes that the priests of God should make - to clothe their souls with thoughts and traits and proper tendencies, which are the clothes of the soul; and the craftsmen did not make those garments. But God commanded Moses that he should make these sacred garments - meaning to teach them how to refine their souls and traits, in such a way they will wear majesty and splendor upon their internal souls. And the explanation of "And you shall make sacred garments for glory," is that it is understood by us that every place that the soul of a man is called glory (as in Psalms 30:13, "In order that my glory sings"), you shall make sacred garments for the glory - meaning the soul - and I have already explained in my commentary to in Isiah (Chapter 5) that there is a distinction between glory and beauty, for a man is glorified also by his natural traits but is beautified only be his traits of volition. Corresponding to the spirituality within the soul naturally sourced in its depths is called glory, and corresponding to the light and splendor which one merits through divine service and its holiness is called beauty. And these two levels clothe in the holy garments that Moshe made, which is to say that he [Moshe] taught and aided them to merit to be garbed in precious garments and splendor and through this they "made holy garments" for the soul - which is called glory - and the soul - which is called beauty.

V. 2. בגדי קדש, eigentlich: Gewänder des Heiligtums, Gewänder, deren Bekleidung den Bekleideten als im Dienst des Heiligtums stehend bezeichnet. — כבוד ,לכבוד, ja das geistige כבֵד: das, worin sich der geistige und sittliche Gehalt, der Charakter eines Wesens ausprägt. In den Gewändern soll sich somit die Bedeutung der כהונה aussprechen. כבוד ist der reale Charakter der Gewänder. Zugleich sollen sie so gearbeitet sein, dass sie dem כהן zu תפארת gereichen. פאר, verwandt mit בחר ,בהר ,באר, denen allen der Begriff des Hervorleuchtens zu Grunde liegt. לתפארת setzt zugleich die formale Anforderung, dass sie unter Wahrung der durch לכבוד gegebenen realen Bedingungen auch dem Schönheitssinn genügen, dass sie den כהן schmückend auszeichnen. Dem durch כבוד zum Ausdruck kommenden Begriff wird durch תפארת die gebührende Wertschätzung gezollt.

ועשית בגדי קדש, “you are to make holy garments;” after G-d had taught Moses how to construct the Tabernacle, he now proceeds to teach him about the priestly vestments to be worn when the priests perform their duties in the Tabernacle.

ולתפארת, also the Priest should inspire awe among the Israelites who are all considered his disciples seeing he had the names of all the tribes engraved on these garments right opposite his heart when he wore them in his official capacity.

לכבוד ולתפארת, “for glory and splendour.” Nachmanides writes that this means that by wearing the garments described forthwith the wearer would enjoy glory and splendour in the eyes of those who saw him wearing these garments. The reason was that the garments that will be described now were all of the type worn by Royalty only. Already when Yaakov had a tunic, כתנת, made for Joseph, this was meant to distinguish the wearer, to set him apart from less distinguished peers. The מעיל, robe, was similarly a garment worn only by Royalty or other highly distinguished individuals. This is why the sages decreed that after the collapse of the independent Jewish state, grooms under the wedding canopy were no longer allowed to adorn themselves with turbans, and the brides were not wearing crowns on their heads. (compare Maimonides Taanit, based on Ezekiel 21,32). The headgear of the priests is also referred to as פארי מגבעות, as the kind of hat conferring distinction on the wearer. The breastplate too is a garment worn by Royalty. They were usually made from blue wool, gold threads, as we know from Daniel 5,7 (et al) והמונכא די דהבא על צואריה, “will wear purple and a golden chain around his neck.” The ציץ, the golden headband, corresponds to the crown worn by kings. Their crowns are made of a combination of blue and red, purple wool and gold. In Psalms 45,15 we are told כל כבודה בת מלך פנימה ממשבצות זהב לבושה, “the royal princess, her dress embroidered with golden mountings,” etc. Finally, תכלת, the wool dyed a royal blue, was also the colour worn only by Royalty. It is also possible that the meaning of the words לכבוד ולתפארת is a way of saying that seeing that the High Priest is to perform service of the Lord, he is to do so while clad in suitably decorative attire, all in honour of Hashem. [the problem with this interpretation is that the High Priest was not allowed to wear these vestments inside the Temple, only outside of it. Ed.] The Biblical verse supporting such an interpretation would be Psalms 69,19 כי תפארת עוזמו אתה, “for You are the glory of its strength.”

Alternatively, G'd wanted to give us a reason why the Torah commanded that the High Priest wear 8 garments, 4 made of white linen and four containing gold. The Torah says that the reason is לכבוד ולתפארת, for splendour and for beauty. We find the following comment in the introduction of Tikkuney Ha-Zohar. "The four golden garments are an allusion to the four letters in the Ineffable Name, whereas the four white linen garments are an allusion to the four letters in G'd's name א־ד־נ־י." We should remember that the Ineffable Name reflects G'd's attribute of תפארת, whereas G'd's name א־ד־נ־י reflects His attribute כבוד. According to this, the word לתפארת in our verse would refer to the golden garments, whereas the word לכבוד would refer to the white garments. The Torah listed varying degrees of holiness in ascending order, hence the attribute לכבוד precedes the attribute תפארת.

Hints within the holy garments

G'd directed that eight garments were to be made for the High Priest in order for him to be able to obtain atonement for his people for the various imperfections that people are guilty of as a normal part of their lives. Aaron's wearing these garments would enable the Israelites concerned to achieve their proper place in the higher regions. Having said this, we need to understand why G'd was insistent that Aaron wear these garments whereas He did not provide similar garments for Moses to wear. The Talmud (Erchin 15) tells us that each of these eight garments conferred atonement for a specific type of sin. The reason that only Aaron and his sons were commanded to wear special garments was because such atonement could be obtained only by people who were intended to serve as priests all of their lives, something that did not apply in the case of Moses. Moses' function in temporarily serving as High Priest was only to obtain atonement for the sins of Aaron and his sons so that they could assume their office as priests. As a result, Moses wore only a white shirt when acting as priest.

We have already said that just like the external body is clothed, which is like clothing for the soul and it's external clothing, so too one should clothe the inner soul with it's internal garments and become enriched by them. And just like we call external clothing with the word "measure" (מד), for they are made to the specific measurements of each person, so too the garments of the soul are called "measurements" (מדות), for the attributes (מדות) of a person and his qualities garb the soul, and through them [one's traits] it's [the soul's] powers and greatness will be expressed. And when [Moshe is] commanded on the external garments of the priests, the essence of the intention was to teach them knowledge of how to dress their souls again in the attributes and qualities of purity and holiness. And Chazal say: The tunic [ketonet] atones for bloodshed, The trousers atone for forbidden sexual relations, the mitre atones for the arrogant, the belt atones for thought of the heart, the breastplate of the High Priest atones for improper judgments, the ephod of the High Priest atones for idol worship, the robe of the High Priest atones for malicious speech, the frontplate of the High Priest atones for an act of brazenness'. And we will explain them in what seems a clarifying light these garments of the soul in the order of their donning. Behold the first garments are the ones through which the soul being an animalistic soul are covered, i.e. the power of lustful and of anger, and so come the trousers train and to clothe (immature) people to stop the lustful force to cover one's sexual organs, and the tunic which is an undergarment will remind him to squelch the power of anger, from which comes bloodshed. And a hint to this is (the verse brought in the Gemara) "...and dipped the tunic [ketonet] in the blood", for they dipped the inner tunic in the blood of anger and the vengeance came forth from the angry impulse which overpowered them. And it is known that of the imagery of the soul many are embarrassingly evil, and they are naturally imprinted in the depths of the soul, and at the time when these tendencies rise up to the heart a person thinks thoughts of evil, and about this it is said (Chronicles 1 29:18) "...keep this forever, even the imagery of the thoughts of the heart of Your people", for these are the imagery of the thoughts which come up from the depths of the soul to the heart. And on this is hinted the belt, which constricts around the heart to submerge the evil imagery in the bottom of the depths of the soul, and as such the length of it was 32 (ל"ב) Amos, like the number for heart (לב), and this act of embroidery alludes to the imagery that is made in it. And on this it's written [in the Gemara] that the belt atones for thought of the heart. And they said [in Pirkei Avos 4:28] "Jealousy, lust, and honor remove a person from the world", and after one's soul has become purified from jealousy which arises from the impulse of anger, and lust from the impulse of lust, then one must humble oneself from the attribute of arrogance. For it [arrogance] is the source of seeking honor, and through it comes the mitre to cover one's head because it's said the Shechinah [Divine presence] is above one's head, as it says [Talmud Shabbat 156b] "Cover your head so that the fear of Heaven will be upon you". For if one thinks that Hashem and all of His Holiness with him is above his own head, he will dress in humility and he "will be like dirt and ashes" in front of the honor of The King. And for this reason the mitre was 16 Amos, for the divine chariot which is above his head had 4 animals each with 4 faces, which is 16. And the mitre of the High Priest was even longer, because corresponding to his greatness he needed to surrender more and to recognize even more the greatness of his creator and his own lowliness, and this is what it [the Gemara] says 'mitre atones for the arrogant'. And all of these garments are equal for the High Priest and a normal priest, for they are garments of the (lower) animal soul, regarding which every human being is equal. However the High Priest in comparison to his brothers had another four garments to clothe his (upper) speaking & intellectual soul. For the first [garment] is that he should guard his speech and what comes out of his lips should. be nothing but Torah and Awe of Hashem, and he shouldn't increase idle chatter...