וַיֶּאֱהַ֨ב הַמֶּ֤לֶךְ אֶת־אֶסְתֵּר֙ מִכָּל־הַנָּשִׁ֔ים וַתִּשָּׂא־חֵ֥ן וָחֶ֛סֶד לְפָנָ֖יו מִכָּל־הַבְּתוּלֹ֑ת וַיָּ֤שֶׂם כֶּֽתֶר־מַלְכוּת֙ בְּרֹאשָׁ֔הּ וַיַּמְלִיכֶ֖הָ תַּ֥חַת וַשְׁתִּֽי׃
(17) The king loved Esther more than all the other women, and she won his grace and favor more than all the virgins. So he set a royal diadem on her head and made her queen instead of Vashti.
Contemporary Commentary on Esther 5:1
"Esther's royal garments gave her a facade of power and authority that was necessary as she presented herself publicly. The link between clothing and political power is something we witness every day in politics and that has always been apparent in human life.... Interestingly, in describing the royal garments that Esther wore, the text actually says that Esther 'wore kingship' (tilbash malchut), when we would have expected it to read, 'Esther dressed in royal garments'. The royal garments, made up of beautiful robes, a train of pure gold, and the finest of ornaments, may have masked the anxiety she must have felt as she stood in the inner courtyard, waiting for the king to extend his scepter, inviting her to approach his throne. Nevertheless, the clothing both symbolized her position as queen and underscored the new identity she had assumed; she now acted forcefully, as befits both the queen of the palace and the leader and protector of her people." Cohen, D. N. J. (2012). Masking and Unmasking Ourselves: Interpreting Biblical Texts on Clothing & Identity (1 edition). Woodstock, VT: Jewish Lights.
| Just as on Yom Kippur, the High Priest adorns himself with four white garments, Esther too "donned her royal garb…and stood in the inner courtyard of the king." |
Purim is so-called because of Yom HaKipurim [the Day of Atonement. But literally, "the day like ( =k’) Purim"] because in the future we will delight in that day [the Day of Atonement] and transform it from [a day of] affliction to [a day of] delight [just like Purim]… And just as on that day he [the High Priest] adorns himself with the garments of atonement [the four white garments signifying the aspect of chesed] so too, regarding Esther it is written, "and she donned her royal garb" (Esther 5:1). Just as with these[white garments, the High Priest] enters the innermost sanctuary [where he attains atonement for the Jewish People], so too, "[Esther] stood in the inner courtyard of the king" (ibid.) [dressed in her royal garb] and "she found favor in his eyes."
[From Tikkunei Zohar, Tikkun 21 p. 57b. Translated with commentary by Rabbi Moshe Miller]
(א) ויצא יעקב מבאד שבע כו' (בראשית כח, י), עד סוף הפרשה. ויבואר בזה מה שאנו קורין לנס דחנוכה בשמן לשון חנוכה. כי חנוכה הוא מלשון חינוך. ותוכן הדברים, דמצינו בתורה גבי חינוך הבגדים של כהנים שנאמר (שמות כט, לג) למלא את ידם לכהן כו', דהנה כל דבר אשר נעשה מקום להשראת הקדושה עליונה צריכה מקודם לעשות כלי והכנה ובית קיבול שיהיה מקום להקדושה הבאה אחר כך לשרות בדבר ההוא וזה נקרא חינוך כמו שמחנכין הנער במצות שיהא כלי מזומנת לקבל השראת הקדושה שחל עליו בעת גדולתו.
(1) Genesis 28,10. “Yaakov left Beer Sheva, etc.;”
The reason why the miracle of Chanukah, actually the miracle of the cruse of oil, is popularly known as the “miracle of Chanukah,” is due to the word חנוכה, being a derivative of חנוך, “consecration.” We find in Exodus 29,33 in connection with the consecration of the priestly garments, that before the priests were allowed to perform their sacred service they had to be provided with suitable vessels to be used, i.e. priestly garments. Wearing these priestly garments was so important that if they performed their duties improperly dressed (even missing one of these garments) this was a cardinal sin. (Maimonides 10,4 hilchot kley hamikdash) The container in which certain offerings were presented, were as integral a part of the ritual as the ritual itself. The garments are the “container” in which the priestly body performs his sacred task. It or they, are viewed like a חנוך, educational tool, consecration, that must precede the actual ritual in order for the priest to be truly a priest.
Q: What does clothing have to do with holiness?!
(טו) וַתִּקַּ֣ח רִ֠בְקָה אֶת־בִּגְדֵ֨י עֵשָׂ֜ו בְּנָ֤הּ הַגָּדֹל֙ הַחֲמֻדֹ֔ת אֲשֶׁ֥ר אִתָּ֖הּ בַּבָּ֑יִת וַתַּלְבֵּ֥שׁ אֶֽת־יַעֲקֹ֖ב בְּנָ֥הּ הַקָּטָֽן׃
(15) Rebekah then took the best clothes of her older son Esau, which were there in the house, and had her younger son Jacob put them on;
(2) Make sacral vestments for your brother Aaron, for dignity and adornment.
Q: What does clothing have to do with identity? Perception of others?
Reclaiming the Substance of Clothing : The Surreal Spectacle of Lady Gaga
Asbjorg Dunker
This paper is motivated by the spectacular appearances of Lady Gaga, and the frequent misconception of her as a split personality and artificial copycat. The aim of the paper is to explore the difference between fashion as image and fashion as embodied experience, in an attempt to reclaim the substance of clothing. Although reclaiming the substance of clothing through an analysis of spectacular appearances may seem like a contradiction, it is possible by combining practical experience with philosophical considerations of clothes in conjunction with the act of dressing. Adapting a phenomenological perspective enables us to consider clothes as objects and their significance to human life. Through Surrealism's original engagement with fashion, we come to understand fashion and its instruments as the correlation between objects of the mind and the real world. Through a philosophical notion of the depth of life revealed in the spectacle, it all comes together, as I argue that Lady Gaga, through her engagement with clothes reclaims the substance of clothing.
It is often said that fashion is a superficial pursuit of the vain. As if being conscious about ones appearance is a one-dimensional and shallow affair. I argue that there is nothing superficial about fashion itself, but that one can choose to have a superficial engagement with fashion.
LADY GAGA: FASHION SAVES LIVES
http://www.coulture.org/fashion/2017/10/12/fashion-saves-lives
Trends fade away, but style is forever, hence why an individual's fashion can become immensely powerful in how they live their lives.
In a 2014 interview, Lady Gaga argued that fashion had saved her from depression.
She told Fashion Magazine, “Fashion is that thing that saved me from being sad. I’ve always cared about my costumes and my clothes....I just want to make you feel something with what I wear. I want you to feel happy and enjoy the theatre of my life the way that I do.”
Flash forward to 2017, however, and Lady Gaga’s sense of style has changed, but not her opinions of what fashion is capable of. In her new Netflix documentary film, Gaga: Five Foot Two, Gaga explains how she has moved on from her outrageous costumes, “The methodology behind what I've done is that when they wanted me to be sexy or they wanted me to be pop, I always f#@ing put some absurd spin on it that made me feel like I was still in control," she explained.
In 2013, her sense of control was gained through her glamorous style, but as her documentary shows, she’s “bored” with glamorous and desires a new, more honest image. And now - in 2017, Gaga’s gained that control and has striped her fashion down to a basic “black t-shirt, black jeans, and black boots” uniform. It’s a toned down look that represents a more confident Gaga who is finally beginning to feel at ease with who she is as a female recording artist.
It’s a sentiment that’s followed us for ages. When you look good, you feel good. But as Gaga illustrates it also applies in the reverse--when you feel good in the clothing you wear, your confidence shines through. In a social context, it’s an incredibly powerful philosophy that can be applied to recent increased awareness in mental health.
Co-creater of Sidetrack Series (an LGBTQ webseries), Celina Vicioso, recently wrote online how being fashion-obsessed saved her from paralyzing anxiety. She reveals that fashion “...was about me, my personal style and a process I needed to take to hone in on my individuality.”
Vicioso’s ability to refine her identity through style is an incredible tool in discovering what you like, dislike, love and hate. To have this outlet allows an individual to harness a creativity that also gives them control. For Celina, fashion was her form of self-care in the face of crippling mental illness.
Gaga and Celina’s remedial sense of personal style are just two examples of how fashion harbors the potential to heal. Life lesson: Never underestimate the power of a seemingly simple black t-shirt.
Chance the Rapper Has Perfected the Almost-Uniform
His go-to look is foolproof.
OCT 11, 2017
Purim, Masks, and Redemption
"On Purim, Jews dress up and wear masks that change faces etched in pain and suffering into joy and frivolity. On the surface, it seems that Purim involves an escape from reality, one moment in which we can mask the pain and difficulties we experience and don fanciful carnival masks and costumes. All is turn on its head on Purim; even gender roles are ignored, and men and women can dress up as the other.
Yet in a deeper way, this Jewish carnival experience allows us to challenge the inevitability of things as they are inherited identities and fates. And in so doing, Purim provides us with the hope that the garments we put on that seem only to mask our present realities can reveal the deep-seated consciousness of our potential for change, our ability to bring happiness and fulfillment to our lives.
Purim's masks may seem to conceal, if just for a moment, the chaos and pain of our present lives and enable us to escape this reality, but they may really offer us the chance to don serious masks of conscious determination to bring the light of the Divine into our world. Yes, God may not be mentioned in the entire book of Esther, and some have seen this as an intimation of the existence of sheer chaos in the world, where anarchy is at play. Yet, we may ask what lies beneath a story that intimates the absence of God and meaning, and the holiday of Purim, which is about frivolity and play.
Underneath the garment of the story is perhaps a glimpse of the existence of a force in the universe that can help us move beyond who we are and what our lives presently are, and enable us to become who we aspire to be. What may be necessary is for us to recognize that, unlike the Exodus story, in which God is recognized through redemptive miracles, the Purim story demands that we come to recognize the Presence of the Divine through the ability to hear the hidden voice of God.
The redemptive paradigm of Esther is to see the camouflaged Divine in the darkness of our lives. Purim bespeaks the existence in the world of the light of the Divine, sparks of which are hidden beneath the surface of our lives, and ours is the task to sew those sparks into a full garment of splendor that will enhance the majesty of our souls. Perhaps that is the reason why Maimonides stated that 'all prophetic books and sacred writings will cease to be read in the messianic era except the book of Esther.'"
Cohen, D. N. J. (2012). Masking and Unmasking Ourselves: Interpreting Biblical Texts on Clothing & Identity (1 edition). Woodstock, VT: Jewish Lights.