Kaisipang Hudyo sa Isaias 61:10: Akeidat Yitzchak & Kol HaTor

These are the eight garments which the most perfect human being wore. He did not wear them just for ornamental, visual effect, but to help him achieve the moral perfection of which they were to remind both him and others. From that point of view it is obvious that their physical absence in our time, does not make these garments less important, since we can absorb the lessons that they represented. Moreover, these lessons can be absorbed by every Jew, since we are a nation of priests. Isaiah 61, 10, exclaims " My soul will rejoice with G-d, for He has clothed me in garments of salvation draped over me a robe of righteousness, like a bridegroom adorned with splendour." The Talmud Sotah 44, exhorts man to perfect himself as much as possible before he proceeds to take a wife and build a home. A proper wife helps man achieve the moral standard represented by the eight priestly garments. The union of Adam and Eve in gan eden before the fall, unfortunately had not resulted in man being morally elevated through his wife. Ever since then, the slow and gradual ascent from the fall was punctuated by the acquisition of simple garments, till at the end of time Isaiah envisions the "garments of splendour" as the ultimate, symbolising our emancipation from the sin of the tree of knowledge. When Rabbi Meir's Torah scroll is reputed as having spelled the words “kotnot or” the garments which G-d had provided for Adam and Eve, with the letter “aleph" in the word or instead of the traditional “ayin" if the word was to mean leather, skin, he wanted to indicate the ultimate purpose of these garments. These garments, according to Rabbi Meir, serve a dual purpose. They are a physical covering. They are also to serve however, as an ongoing reminder to regain the or the light that we lost when we sinned in the garden of Eden. The garments then are are a spiritual endowment provided by G-d to help us along that road. Now we understand why the priestly garments were worn only after the tabernacle had been consecrated. The sons of Aaron had first brought some sacrifices to attain the moral stature that enabled them to wear these garments. The symbolic meaning of these offerings during the consecration ceremonies may be understood in the following way. The par, bull, represents the body that is to be dedicated to G-d. The two male rams represent the two spiritual forces in man, the theoretical, speculative, and the practical. A person who puts all three powers at the disposal of the Divine, may wear the precious priestly garments, each according to his status. Only a minute part of the bull's blood was used for sprinkling on the altar, i.e. sacrificial service. The remainder was burned, since only insignificant parts of our body can rise to such noble heights. Of the rams, the one which was offered in incense and had all its blood sprinkled on the altar, represents the theoretical speculative, spiritual power in man, seeing it is all holy. The second ram however, representing holiness in action, was only used partially in the sacrificial rites. Corresponding to the famous "we shall hear and we shall do," (Deut. 5,24) the ear and upper leg became part of the sacrificial service. The balance of the ram was consumed by the owners, since by means of holy deeds inspired by holy thoughts, the body becomes sanctified to the extent that this is possible. All of the foregoing teaches all of us the order in which we are to proceed to achieve the highest level in the service of G-d.

If repentance has to commence at the place where the sin was committed, only the fig tree could provide the leaves, seeing that it had been instrumental in man's fall (assuming that the fig tree was the tree of knowledge). Man hid, i.e. he considered himself beyond the sphere of Divine attention, just as the animal kingdom of which he now felt a part was outside the domain of G-d’s personal supervision. Only when addressed by G-d directly did man perceive that he had been wrong in his assumptions. This in turn led to complete repentance, recognition of his error. G-d’s rhetorical question "How could you feel naked unless you had eaten from the tree I told you not to eat from or you would become mortal," meant "You came out of earth's lap naked and you will return to earth naked." Adam replied, "True, I ate, but I was obliged to eat since the woman You gave me, gave me to eat." This stamps man as an ingrate, and woman who argued that her having succumbed was due to the serpent's enticement, claimed that her sin was natural, almost preordained. It is man's task to "hit the snake on the head," to neutralize its ability to mislead us and to distort the powers of our imagination. The snake's way is underhanded, it attacks the unprotected rear. It is our task to smash it head-on. Having abused our intelligence, we are condemned to attain our perfection via the route of gaining our sustenance through toil and sweat. The animal kingdom, having remained true to its instincts, does not need to fend for a living and finds its needs readily provided for (see Rabbi Eliezer at the end of tractate Kidushin). "On your belly you will move," i.e. even things suitable for you, you will find only with difficulty. This is the penalty for the serpent which had not been true to its instincts. The enmity between woman and the serpent is the disdain felt by people of sincere convictions (Torah) for those who adhere to all kinds of physical self-indulgence. The ability to crush the power of imaginary enjoyments will be greater than the power of those enjoyments to seduce, though that power will be great. The painfully slow process of pregnancy and giving birth, has its parallel in the equally gradual growth of perception of true values. Constant vigilance against falsehoods portrayed as true values in life renders such growth painful. Woman's mentor will henceforth be her husband, and he will be predominant in her thinking. "To Adam He had said," He called him Adam on account of the qualities he had originally been equipped with. When true to his purpose, the earth will be blessed by his conduct, and will yield its fruit willingly. When untrue, such as during this episode, man's ascendancy over earth as a superior is naught, hence the earth does not feel it needs to respond to man's efforts. The right to use nature for his own ends is based on man's doing so in the service of his Creator. Only then does earth also serve its Creator by serving man. "For you are dust," the intellectual faculties per se must not be viewed as ruach hakodesh, holy spirit. Through their being used constantly to fulfil tasks set for us by G-d, they gradually evolve, gain spiritual content, and ultimately—as in Jacob's dream with the ladder—may be transformed and become truly spiritual intellect. Adam was a pious man, who separated from Eve for 130 years once he had realized that he had brought mortality into the lives of the human species. During this period, he fasted and placed fig leaves on his flesh as a form of atonement. There are three kinds of repentance, corresponding to three types of sin. 1) Fasting is an antidote for errors committed through contamination of one's intellect through certain kinds of food or drink, which induce heretical views. 2) Sexual continence, in this case from his wife, who had seduced him into sinning. 3) The fig branches that tormented his body. When Adam called his wife chavah, he expressed the recognition that she had misled him, an act of repentance on his part. When G-d fashioned the leather coats for man, this was a sign that their repentance had been accepted. In the same way as leather garments are good for protecting the body, the light of Torah protects man's eyes. Both together are the way G-d in His kindness enables us to overcome the mortality which had resulted from eating of the tree of knowledge. Compare Onkelos on Leviticus 18,5 "When you observe the Torah, you will live forever." G-d’s Torah restores life to the condemned. (10) Rabbi Meir's version of the spelling of the word or with an aleph expresses the same thought that Onkelos stated on the verse in Leviticus.

(Isa. 61:10) “like a bridegroom who adorns himself with splendor” -- Adornment is part of the mission of Mashiach ben Yosef from the aspect of Yosef ben Jacob in the sefira Tiferet.