{"id":43014,"date":"2018-10-29T23:58:18","date_gmt":"2018-10-29T21:58:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=43014"},"modified":"2022-05-23T16:18:57","modified_gmt":"2022-05-23T13:18:57","slug":"the-bearable-weightiness-of-being","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/the-bearable-weightiness-of-being\/","title":{"rendered":"The Bearable Weightiness Of Being"},"content":{"rendered":"
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There’s something mysterious and inspiring about uniforms. The Torah’s first uniform is described in all its majestic glory in chapter 28, but according to a thought-provoking Midrash, it’s a uniform that’s been around as long as there have been people to clothe. The “leather tunics” in which God dresses Adam and Eve after the sin (Breishit 3:21), according to Midrash Tanchuma (Toldot 12), are none other than the vestments of the high priest.<\/span><\/p>\n

What does a uniform signify? If you think about ‘men in uniform’, the first images that may especially come to mind are policemen or soldiers. On these uniforms, three locations in particular are used to symbolize rank, stature, and role- the head, heart, and shoulders.<\/span><\/p>\n

The same is true of the high priest’s uniform. On his heart, he wears the <\/span>choshen<\/span><\/em>, inscribed with the names of the tribes, on his shoulders, two precious stones with a similar inscription, and on his forehead, the <\/span>tzitz<\/span><\/em>, <\/span><\/i>inscribed with the words “Holy to God.” These three are all connected by the root ‘<\/em><\/span>nasa<\/span><\/em>‘, to bear; the Kohen Gadol literally bears the burden of his office on his shoulders, and in his heart, and it is on his mind at all times.<\/span><\/p>\n

What is the nature of this burden? The purpose of the priestly garments is described in one verse as ‘to sanctify them to serve me’; and in another to be ‘for honor and glory’, and there is no contradiction between them. Honor, in Hebrew, is <\/span>kavod<\/span><\/em>, related to <\/span>kaved<\/span><\/em>, heavy. The Kohen’s glory is not a result of his fancy, expensive clothing, but rather of the heavy load of service that he takes on. A uniform expresses a person’s commitment to something larger than himself. The Hebrew <\/span>kutonet<\/span><\/em>, <\/span><\/i>tunic (which is related to the English ‘cotton’) may be connected to the word <\/span>katan<\/span><\/em>, though spelled differently.<\/span><\/p>\n

If by nature, there is an unbearable lightness to our being, a uniform represents a person making themselves small in the service of something great, paradoxically making life all the more weighty, filling it with <\/span>kavod<\/span><\/em>, but thus making it bearable. This was the glory of the priestly uniform, and this was God’s message of grace to Adam and Chava (see Sota 14b).<\/span><\/p>\n

“In the Torah of Rabbi Meir, it does not say ‘leather tunics’ (\u05e2\u05d5\u05e8, \u2018or) but ‘tunics of light’ (\u05d0\u05d5\u05e8, or)”. <\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":60139,"id":60139,"title":"2sam8-priest","filename":"2sam8-priest.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/2sam8-priest.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/david-the-superpower\/2sam8-priest\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"2sam8-priest","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":60138,"date":"2019-07-25 13:39:28","modified":"2023-03-16 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