Defining Our Sacred Space

The parsha of Tetsaveh devotes great attention to the details of the vestments of the Kohen Gadol.

Why are these details so important? Ramban notes and stresses that kings also wore clothing that was not dissimilar to the Kohen Gadol. The Ramban then remarks that dress gives definition to our stature in the eyes of other people. In this instance, Bnai Yisrael became aware of the grandeur of its leader Aaron, through his specified and ornate clothing.

A commentator, Benno Jakob, believes that clothing connotes something far more powerful than dignity. Remember that the Holy One, blessed be He, personally made clothes for primordial man in the Garden. This act separated the man and woman from the beasts of the world. While the animals wore only their natural fur, shell or skin humanity was now cloaked in vestments that were foreign to their bodies. The clothes Adam and Havvah wore differentiated them from beasts. Of all the things that God could have given humanity – food, shelter, gifts of all sorts - He chose to make for them clothes.

What Benno Jakob is telling us is that not only do clothes change the way we are seen they also have an impact on how we view ourselves. They separate us from animals, lower life. Yet, it is not only clothes alone that separate us from the beasts of the earth because we could wear ornaments that would only magnify the worst aspects of animal instinct. Clothes can also have the ability to separate us from our worst, most base animal instincts. For this reason, Judaism places great emphasis on dress, how we present ourselves.

Modesty of dress is one avenue of connection to the world and to the Divine. Modesty means that we respect borders and privacy. The way that we dress, for one example, is about limiting others from accessing our privacy. It is the outward symbol of our desire to connect with other people positively and then as a result connect with the Divine One. That is why the prophet Micah urges us, "to walk with modesty before God." 6:8

Moshe personally clothed his sibling, Aaron. It was his task to appoint and dress the first Kohen. Moshe installed Aaron as the Kohen Gadol. When people saw Aaron wearing his Kohen garb they would accept him for his powerful office and high status. At the same time, Aaron would also feel special because the clothing would remind him that he was different.

Clothes are distinctive reminders of our being. A tale of Nachum of Chernobyl tells of when he once lost sensation in his legs on a Shabbat. He looked down and discovered he was still wearing his weekday trousers. The soul of the tzaddik was sensitive to Shabbat and the great division between the mundane and the kodesh. His subconscious was mindful of the holiness that his Shabbat clothes provided.

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This is the only Torah parsha -- outside of Genesis -- where the name of Moshe Rabbeinu goes unmentioned. After the sin of the Golden Calf Moshe begged the Holy One to not destroy the Jews for their unconscionable sin. He prayed to the Holy One to pardon his people. Moshe was so insistent that he said, … “if not, erase me from Your book." Exodus 32:32.

The Holy One did relent. He heard and accepted the plea from His faithful servant. Yet, the power of this leader was so great that while God forgave Israel the words of Moses remained. No word of a tzaddik is lost. Each utterance is of consequence. That is why the name of Moshe Rabbeinu does not appear in this Torah parsha.

Proverbs goes so far as to state that, "Death and life are in the power of the tongue." Through the example of Moshe we learn that when we speak every word is counted, each sentence has great import. How many times have you received an e-mail where you read and re-read the message looking for underlying clues of malicious intent? Even while we know there may have been no ill will we scour each word and wring it for inner meaning. Others have done the same to our letters. Such things can destroy relationships forever.

The same is true of words spoken. Sometimes they are remembered, dissected and found to contain meanings that we did not intend. We must be very careful before we write or speak.Torah believes that words spoken are not only important between people but that the Holy One also listens to each word and remembers.

On the other side, rich rewards sate very meeting where Truth is spoken. Hananya ben Teradyon taught: “When two people sit and words of Torah pass between them, the Divine Presence rests between them.” Avot 3.3 Godliness lies in the message.

Implicit in the Torah is the importance of every spoken word. In the tale of Noah God states, “Go into the tevah [the ark] with your household.” (Gen 7:1) Tevah is usually translated as “ark.” However tevah also means “word.” That is why the hidden meaning of the text regarding Noah is that we need to be vigilant about every word that we utter. Before we even open our mouth we ought to think about what we want to say and how it could be interpreted. Our commitment to travel into every “word” is of paramount importance.

There are words that are powerful builders of truth and there are words of waste and terrible destruction. It is a scared task to speak. In fact many traditional commentaries on Genesis explicate the hidden meaning of “man was created in the image of God.” They reveal that being cast in the image of the Holy One means being given the gift of speaking. Each word of the Torah is imbued with depth and meaning. So too is each word spoken by us.

Any word possesses the inherent ability to create or destroy. Our task is to use our God-given gift well. At all costs it must not be abused. The Kotzker Rebbe once said, “It is not enough to pass through the Talmud, the Talmud must pass through us.” Every word is sacred.