{"id":43011,"date":"2018-10-29T23:54:04","date_gmt":"2018-10-29T21:54:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=43011"},"modified":"2022-05-23T16:35:16","modified_gmt":"2022-05-23T13:35:16","slug":"kavod-and-tiferet-clothes-make-the-high-priest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/kavod-and-tiferet-clothes-make-the-high-priest\/","title":{"rendered":"Kavod And Tiferet: Clothes Make The High Priest"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Why is the Torah so specific and emphatic about the clothes to be worn by the Cohen and the Cohen Gadol (priest and high priest)? In general, Judaism is sceptical about appearances. Appearances deceive. The Hebrew word for garment, \u201cbegged<\/em>,\u201d comes from the same Hebrew word as \u201cto betray\u201d \u2013 as in the confession \u201cAshamnu, bagadnu<\/em>,\u201d – \u00a0\u201cWe are guilty, we have betrayed.\u201d Jacob uses Esau\u2019s clothes to deceive. Joseph\u2019s brothers do likewise with his bloodstained cloak. There are six such examples in the book of Genesis alone. Why then did God command that the cohanim<\/em> were to wear distinctive garments as part of their service in the tabernacle and later in the Temple?<\/span><\/p>\n

The answer lies in the two-word phrase that appears twice in this chapter, defining what the priestly vestments were to represent: \u201cle-kavod ule-tiferet<\/em>,\u201d \u201cfor dignity [or \u2018honor\u2019] and beauty.\u201d These are unusual words in the Torah, at least in a human context. The word tiferet<\/em>, \u201cbeauty\u201d or \u201cglory,\u201d appears only three times in the Torah, twice in our chapter (Ex. 28: 2, 40) and once, poetically and with a somewhat different sense, in Deuteronomy 26: 19.<\/span><\/p>\n

The word kavod<\/em>, \u201cdignity\u201d or honor,\u201d appears sixteen times, but in fourteen (2\u00d77) of these cases the reference is to the glory of God. The twice they appear in our parsha are the only occasions in which kavod<\/em> is applied to a human being. So what is happening here?<\/span><\/p>\n

The answer is that they represent the aesthetic dimension. This does not always figure prominently in Judaism. It is something we naturally connect with cultures a world apart from the Torah. The great empires \u2013 Mesopotamia, Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Greece and Rome \u2013 built monumental palaces and temples. The royal courts were marked by magnificent robes, cloaks, crowns and regalia, each rank with its own uniform and finery.<\/span><\/p>\n

Judaism by contrast often seems almost puritanical in its avoidance of pomp and display. Worshipping the invisible God, Judaism tended to devalue the visual in favor of the oral and aural: words heard rather than appearances seen.<\/span><\/p>\n

Yet the service of the tabernacle and Temple were different. Here appearances \u2013 dignity, beauty \u2013 did make a difference. Why? Maimonides gives this explanation:<\/span><\/p>\n

In order to exalt the Temple, those who ministered there received great honor, and the priests and Levites were therefore distinguished from the rest. It was commanded that the priest should be clothed properly with the most splendid and fine clothes, \u201choly garments for glory and for beauty\u201d \u2026 for the multitude does not estimate man by his true form but by \u2026 the beauty of his garments, and the Temple was to be held in great reverence by all.\u201d (Guide for the Perplexed, III:45)<\/span><\/p>\n

From <\/span>The Aesthetic in Judaism, Covenant & Conversation, Tetzaveh <\/span><\/em>(5772)<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":105065,"id":105065,"title":"-628b8d8e0f8c8--628b8d8e0f8caex28-high priest clothes.png","filename":"628b8d8e0f8c8-628b8d8e0f8caex28-high-priest-clothes.png.png","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/10\/628b8d8e0f8c8-628b8d8e0f8caex28-high-priest-clothes.png.png","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/kavod-and-tiferet-clothes-make-the-high-priest\/628b8d8e0f8c8-628b8d8e0f8caex28-high-priest-clothes-png\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"628b8d8e0f8c8-628b8d8e0f8caex28-high-priest-clothes-png","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":43011,"date":"2022-05-23 13:35:10","modified":"2022-09-04 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