A word of Torah:
In the beginning, Adam and Eve were naked and innocent. Only after eating of the tree, did they feel the need for clothes. This week’s parsha is all about the garments of the priests. Clothes can identify a person if they are wearing a uniform. Clothes can help make us feel good about ourselves and our bodies. Clothes can help hide our bodies if we are not happy with them. Most of all clothes cover our nakedness.
Usually the clothes of the kohanim/priests are understood as distinguishing them from everyone else. The Malbim (modern Torah commentator) suggests otherwise: "But in reality, they symbolized inner vestments. The priests were to invest themselves with noble qualities which are the vestments of the soul. But God commanded Moses…to instruct them in the improvement of their souls and their character so that their inner selves would be clothed in majesty and splendor. That is the meaning of the verse 'You shall make holy garments for kavod/glory,' (Ex. 28:2) …you are to make holy garments—with which the glory/the holy soul shall clothe itself."
Another traditional commentator focuses on the qualifications of the priests: The verse: “Draw near to you Aaron and his sons…that he may minister to Me in the priest’s office,” (Ex. 28:1) hints at why Moses was not chosen to be the high priest. The reason is that the high priest carries upon himself the sins of the people. As such, he must be from the people, involved with them and know their weaknesses and faults, their needs and their worries. A person who is above the material needs of the people, who is above their desires and feelings, cannot attain such a position. The position could not go to Moses who had gone up to heaven where he had not eaten or drunk…, but to Aaron, who sought to make peace between each person and his fellow and between husband and wife. Aaron was chosen because he was “from among the children of Israel.” (Mei-otzar ha-torah).
In this understanding, the priestly garments were not to differentiate the priests from the people but rather to connect them. A similar interpretation is offered about the bells that were attached to the bottom of the priest’s robes. The bells were not to warn people of the priest’s approach rather they were to be an ongoing reminder to the priests of their sacred role.
Each morning we traditionally recite the blessing thanking God for clothing the naked/malbish arumim. We are all naked and embarrassed. We try to hide those parts of our character of which we are ashamed. This blessing encourages us to move beyond our “nakedness.” We are to see our bodies and ourselves as gifts. We can accept those gifts even as we struggle to improve. When we move beyond embarrassment, our clothes become a reflection of who we are instead of a disguise. Rather than being a distraction, our clothes become the garb of our soul.
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