ייִדישער מחשבֿה אויף זכריה 3:4

Some problems in the text of our Parshah. 1) Why does the Parshah commence with the word "ve-attah," "and you," instead of simply with the word tzav, command!? 2) Why did the Torah not wait with commanding Aaron to light the menorah until the tabernacle had been built? 3) This whole passage is repeated in Parshat Emor with the exception of the word attah. Why? The Rabbis tell us that the making of these garments and wearing them is the prerequisite to kindling the menorah. Just as the High Priest in Zecharyah 3,4, who had faced the menorah in soiled garments, had to be dressed in clean garments before he could perform his functions,- a reference to the removal of sin,- so the Torah teaches this lesson in our Parshah. We observe in Zecharyah that the High Priest Voshua could not even notice the flame of the golden candelabra until after his garments had been changed. "I have removed your iniquities from you." Obviously, the candelabra had been there before, but Yoshua had to be awakened to its presence. All this teaches that proper study should be preceded by suitable character traits, (the other meaning of the word middah) (1+2) The commandment therefore means "You, who in the future will be instructing the Jewish people to provide the proper fuel, which in turn will be arranged by Aaron and his sons nightly, will need to bring Aaron close to you, appoint him and his sons as priests. It would not be fitting for them to appear michutz laporochet, facing the curtain in the sanctuary in everyday clothing. Therefore, you will make for your brother holy garments, beautiful and impressive, as outlined in the Parshah. Even though the exterior appearance of these garments reflected pomp and ceremony, the inner garments were symbolic of purity and holiness, seeing that they were made of pure white linen. The artisans were to use their G-d given skill and wisdom in their construction, and all those who saw these garments would recognise the message they were meant to convey. The Midrash which compared the sacrifices to the priestly garments needs explaining. Sacrifices were primarily for atonement, whereas the function of the garments is described in the Torah as "le-chavod u-letif-eret," “for splendour and for beauty." (28,40) How then are the two comparable? However, just as the preoccupation with the sacrifices achieves a certain restraint, minimises the chance of such a person committing sins, so study of the deeper significance of these garments helps to remove one's own soiled garments, i.e. one's character imperfections. It spurs the student to garb himself in clean clothing, in innocence. There cannot be any greater atonement than this. Even though the garments reflect acquisition of character traits, as opposed to say the table or candelabra, which represent acquisition of knowledge and understanding, among these garments are also found the breastplate, shoulder plates and the golden headband which are distinct from the remainder of the garments in that the holy name of G-d was engraved upon them. Our sages say that the breastplate is to atone for social injustices committed. Social injustices can occur in four different ways, as mentioned by Moses, Deut. chapter four. The Torah addresses primarily the judges. 1) Do not show favoritism to litigants. 2) Do not give preference to matters involving large sums of money, if the matter involving a smaller amount has come to your attention first. 3) Do not display fear of either litigant. 4) Do not appear to know all the answers, but refer to experts any matter you are not certain about. Concerning point number one, the names of the tribes on the breastplate were arranged in chronological order of their birth, to conform with the commandment "rise in the presence of a senior person." (Leviticus 19,32) We do accord honour to natural birthright. Concerning the matter of not dealing first with litigation of matters involving large sums at the expense of keeping a litigant suing for a smaller sum waiting, the four rows of gems on the breastplate were not arranged in the order of their respective values. Neither were distinctions made in the respective sizes of the twelve gems. All this teaches that all of them are equally important in the eyes of the law. Concerning the fear of certain litigants that a judge might have, the name of G-d was engraved to remind us that "justice is the Lord's." (Deut. 1, 17) Finally, concerning item four, the most common pitfall for all judges, the desire to appear all knowing, the urim vetumim the name of G-d on a parchment embedded in a pocket in the breastplate, was to remind the judge that there is always a last recourse, i.e. revelation of Divine wisdom, which is available if human wisdom has failed to arrive at a valid decision. For the above mentioned reasons, the function of the breastplate to atone for errors in administering social justice, is clear. Our sages have stated that the Ephod, apron, and shoulder plate, atone for idol worship. They quote Hoseah 3,4, "when there will be no Ephod and Teraphim" (idols). We need a source of inspiration. We observe from Judges 18, 17, that Michah had such an Ephod and Teraphim and was therefore elected as the guru of the Danites. The Torah commands that this Ephod be worn on the back of the High Priest, on the lower part of his body. However, it was to be anchored in the two shoulder pieces linked to the breastplate by chains. This was to convey the thought that not all human resources are concentrated in the seat of the reproductive organs, but rather are drawn directly from the seat of the urim ve-tumim, the seat of Divine inspiration. Such inspiration was granted only to Israel by way of prophecy. When viewed in this light, all tendencies to worship idols would be countered effectively. Because the gift of the breastplate and what it stands for represents a special kindness on G-d’s part, David says in Psalms 147, 19, "He issues His words to Jacob, His statutes and rules to Israel. He has not done so for any other nation." Aaron constantly carried the names of the children of Israel to remind G-d of us. The Ephod is symbolic of our gift to G-d by means of which we express that we are aware that we are different from all other nations. The two gems on the shoulder pieces of the Ephod are "as a remembrance to the children of Israel,” a reminder to us of His relationship with us. Breastplate and Ephod relate to one another in a manner similar to that described by Moses in Deut. 26,17-18 "You have avouched G-d this day.. and G-d has avouched you this day." This is followed by the statement of our being a nation of special treasure to the Lord. Because of the aforesaid, it is fitting that the Ephod had to be made first, in accordance with the principle (Psalms 85, 12 ) "truth sprouts forth from earth," i.e. we first have to do our part. After that "righteousness will come down from the heavens." (ibid.) The me-il, robe, was to atone for slander, wicked use of the tongue. Several quotations throughout the Bible indicate that this robe was a type of garment worn only by superior people, people who were known to be such. Samuel I 28, 14, shows that Saul who had previously met the prophet Samuel was convinced it was he as soon as he saw a person wearing such a robe. Similarly, Job, when insisting on his own righteousness, refers to it as worn "like a robe." (Job 29, 14) So we have G-d commanding that Aaron wear a garment reflecting his piety and purity. The bells on the lower hem of this robe had to announce his entering the sanctuary. Aaron's movements were to be like a sounding to the people to commence holy communion. "Let the sound produced by a holy man, wearing pure golden bells awaken you to the imperative to seek out holiness yourself," is the message of that garment. The golden bells were set among red and blue wool and linen pomegarantes, muffling most of the sound of the bells. This teaches three lessons. 1) Man should not publicly proclaim his piety and holiness. Whatever part of his saintliness becomes public, he should consider as trifling. This is why the bells were attached to the bottom of the robe. So whatever is said about a person should be like a pomegranate, which is so much more wholesome and precious on the inside than its shell would indicate. 3) The only things which become public, are heard, should be good things, kodesh. For this reason, the sages say "may something involving sound, come and atone for matters which involved publicity. The tunic, kutonet, is to atone for bloodshed. On the one hand the Torah tells us of Joseph's brothers dipping his tunic in blood. (Genesis 37,31) Violent wicked people have a habit of wearing short tuniccs, so that the leggings would not impede them if they want to make a fast getaway. The tunic described in the Torah here is a long garment, extending down to the heel. Its wearer could not take big steps. It was the kind of garment worn by virgins. When Tamar was raped by Amnon, (Samuel I 13) we find that her tunic was torn after she had been raped. People who normally stay at home, like Joseph, wore such long tunics. Jacob had such a garment made for Joseph, a garment which impedes movement, especially if it is made- as the Torah instructs here- chequered, worked in a manner which adds to its weight, thus further impeding movement. Obviously then, its wearer not only has no designs to shed blood, but rather such a garment would inspire fear of potential murderers in its wearers. This is why the sages use the above mentioned verse (Genesis 37,31) as indicating that wearers are liable to become victims of bloodshed. The mitznefet, mitre, atones for boastfulness, pride. The High Priest did not wear a fancy high hat, but a tightly fitting cap, allowing room for the tefillin and headband, tzitz. This is in contrast with the fools nowadays who wear high hats as attention getters. We can learn modesty from the High Priest, the holiest of men, and act accordingly.

The fourth category of afflictions, the spots and stains emerging on one's clothing, is due to a person's general poor character. The Bible often describes the wearing of or removing of garments, as symbolic of the acquisition of good habits or the removal of bad habits respectively. Both Maimonides and Aristotele say that to compensate for excessively bad habits, one must cultivate excessively good habits at least temporarily, so as to achieve a balanced personality, shevil hazahav, the golden path. If a tree has been bent too far in one direction, it must be pushed back beyond its original perpendicular position first, in order to straighten it out. Otherwise, it will never resume its original position. The waiting period that the Torah determines, decides whether only the blemish or the whole garment has to be destroyed or burned, respectively. If a recurrence of the nega, blemish, stain, does not occur, then the cure may be considered permanent. Washing the garment makes it fit for the owner to wear it again. This affliction symbolises what Rabbi Shimon ben Nataniel referred to when he said that the best path in life was to be a yerey chet, a G'd fearing person.

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.