Tetzaveh
Parashat Tetzaveh sets Aaron and his sons up as the priests and goes into great detail regarding their vestments and their consecration as priests. We are also given very detailed instructions as to how to build the altar.
Tetzaveh – Ellen Flax
Ellen Flax, ordained at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, directs the Schusterman Rabbinical Fellowship Program and is a consultant to nonprofits and foundations.
In a parasha filled with great detail about the special garments that Aaron and his offspring were required to wear as they performed their holy service, the description of the me’il, the robe, is particularly intriguing. Hanging from the entire length of the hem, we are told, were pomegranates made of blue, purple, and scarlet threads, and gold bells. This latter design element, we learn, was more than merely decorative: "And it [the bells] must be on Aaron in order to minister; and its sound will be heard when he goes to the holy place before the Lord, and he when he comes out, that he should not die." (Ex. 28:35)
Why was it significant that the High Priest's entrance and exit from the sanctuary be audible? In the eyes of some rabbinic commentators, the clinking bells provided physical protection to the Priest - just as one might face danger if he were to approach a King uninvited and unannounced, all the more so was the High Priest required to make his presence known before God before he made his petition on behalf of his people! Alternatively, some have suggested that the tinkling of the bells provided reassurance to the people of Israel - if they could actually hear the High Priest exit the sanctuary, it would be safe to assume that he had successfully performed his ritual of expiation on their behalf.
A third way to understand the importance of the bells is to consider the potential impact of their sound on Aaron. After years of executing the same series of rituals, according to an exacting set of specifications, how easy it might have been for Aaron to perform his duties on auto-pilot. However, by wearing a garment hemmed with bells, Aaron was undoubtedly mindful of his every move, roused to a higher level of consciousness with every loud rustle of his robe, and the jingle jangle of tiny golden globes.
Like Aaron, we face the danger of going through life on auto-pilot, of approaching our activities, both religious and profane, with a sense of complacency. What will it take - besides a garment hemmed with bells - to rouse our slumbering souls?
Another Voice - Taste of Limmud Team
Among the most obscure subjects connected with the High Priesthood are the Urim and Thummim (literally translated as the Lights and the Perfections) which were used for ascertaining God's judgment on difficult communal questions, and which are alternatively interpreted as being the High Priest's breastplate with its twelve brilliant stones or sacred lots carried in the breastplate.
Jewish visitors to the famous Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, are amazed to see everywhere the Yale seal at the centre of which are the Hebrew words "Urim veThummim" in equal prominence with the Latin "Lux et Veritas". The motto was adopted by Yale's fifth President, Rev Ezra Stiles who became a great friend of a Rabbi Carigal. They first met on Purim in March 1773 at Newport Synagogue in Rhode Island where they both lived. The friendship lasted until Carigal's death in 1777, by which time he had taught Stiles sufficient Hebrew for them to be exchanging lengthy Hebrew letters. Stiles was appointed President of Yale in that same year and Hebrew became an important part of the Yale curriculum.