(2) And thou shalt make holy garments for Aaron thy brother, for splendour and for beauty.
Why does the Torah want Aaron to wear special clothes?
(1) לכבוד splendour, to render honour and glory to the Almighty through the wearing of such resplendent garments when performing Temple service. (2) ולתפארת beauty, 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.
(4) And these are the garments which they shall make: a breastplate, and an ephod, and a robe, and a tunic of chequer work, a mitre, and a girdle; and they shall make holy garments for Aaron thy brother, and his sons, that he may minister unto Me in the priest’s office.
And [the priestly garments] shall be upon Aaron, and upon his sons, when they come in the Tent of Meeting, or when they come near to the Altar to minister in the holy place, that they bear not iniquity and die (28:43)
There was once a prince whose tutor would enter into the presence of the king on behalf of the prince; but the tutor was afraid of those who stood by the king lest one of them should attack him. What did the king do? He clothed him in his royal purple cloak, so that all who saw him might be afraid of him.
Similarly, Aaron used to enter [into the Divine Presence]... and had it not been for the many merits which entered with him and aided him, he would have been unable to go in, on account of the angels that were there. For this reason did G-d provide him garments after the pattern of the divine garments.... as it says (Isaiah 59:17): "And [G-d] donned righteousness as a coat of mail, and a helmet of salvation upon His head, and He put on garments of vengeance for clothing, and was clad with zeal as a mantle."
(Midrash Rabbah)
(5) The High Priest served in eight vestments, and the ordinary priest in four. The ordinary priest wore a tunic, pants, hat, and belt. The High Priest added to these the choshen [breastplate], the ephod [apron], robe, and tzitz [forehead plate].
|
The Kohanim in their Priestly Garments: the ordinary Kohen (left) |
"According to Rabbi Mordechai Katz, among the garments worn by the Kohen Gadol was a coat symbolizing atonement for sins involving derogatory speech about others. Its color (sky blue) was a reminder that our words rise to Heaven, and we should thus be careful about what we say. The neckline of the coat was tight, yet never ripped, reminding us to tighten our mouths when we are inclined to speak derogatory words about others.
The coat also had gold bells that made noise and cloth bells that were silent, hanging from the bottom, indicating that there are times when we should speak and times when we should remain silent.
Rabbi Katz says that the bells were to remind the Kohen Gadol of the need for humility in his actions, because they demonstrated a method of asking God’s permission before entering the sanctuary."
Ilene Schneider
And the Breastplate shall not budge from the Efod (apron) (28:28)
The Efod (Apron) was worn in back and below the waist; the choshen Breastplate, on the front and upper part of the wearer. Thus, the deeper significance of the commandment "And the Breastplate shall not budge from the Efod"... is that there must be no "gap" between the upper and lower aspects of life, ... True, the human being consists of both the sensitive heart and the functional foot; true, life is composed of sublimely spiritual moments as well as the daily tending to one's material/physical needs. But the "Efod" must be securely bound to the "Choshen". The upper must permeate the lower, and the external must never lose sight of its inner essence and purpose.
(The Lubavitcher Rebbe)
What does the Efod apron represent?
What does the choshen breastplate represent?
What are your spiritual moments?
What are examples of your material needs?
Can you have spiritual moments without taking care of your physical needs?
What is the Lubavitcher Rebbe trying to teach us?
Do you have special clothes you wear on special occasions?
Would you wear the same thing to a wedding as you wear to shul?
Why/Why not?
Do different clothes make you feel different inside?
What is your favorite thing to wear/Why?
How do you feel when you wear it?