Tetzaveh 5730 “The Clothing of the Kohanim”
Alef.
1. RaMBaN—clothing of royalty.
Akeidat Yitzchak—outer clothing reflects inner character traits.
Benno Jakob—Human dignity.
2. RaMBaN wishes to demonstrate that these articles of clothing were truly worn by royalty. What a king wears might be somewhat arbitrary, a function of style and fashion. Therefore, a biblical context has to be provided that justifies referring to the garments of the Kohanim as royal garments.
3. אבל הוא כן לפי שהם מתייחסים מאד—the textual interchangeability of clothing and character traits is due to the fact that they are very interrelated.
שלא ייוודע אלא מצד פעולותיו—God is Unknowable in terms of His Inner Essence; He can only be understood and described via His external Actions.
הנה שלא ראה אותה דולקת על האופן ההוא רק אחר שנטהר ויחלף שמלותיו—In Zecharia’s vision, the High Priest only sees the Menora alight, indicating a higher level of spirituality, once he removes his soiled clothing, an indication of having himself moved to a higher level of holiness and spirituality.
הנאמר רק בקדוש ברוך הוא "ה' מלך גאות לבש"—Just as God is Described as Being clothed in Exaltedness, when a human being dresses, particularly the High Priest on Yom HaKippurim, it is also a sign of holy exaltedness.
Bet.
I would think that the Gemora’s view most closely parallels the statement of Jakob, in the sense that in order to achieve the level of human exaltedness necessary for engaging in the Divine Service, the specific clothing designed for this purpose must be worn.
Gimel.
The last two words at the end of the verse indicate that what is required is more than just manufacturing external clothing:
שמות פרק כח
(ב) וְעָשִׂיתָ בִגְדֵי־קֹדֶשׁ לְאַהֲרֹן אָחִיךָ לְכָבוֹד וּלְתִפְאָרֶת:
If it is expected that honor and glory will accrue to the Kohanim, a program that addresses their inner essences is as if not more important than assuring that they have the right clothing.
Daled.
1. RaShI wants to identify who is the antecedent of the third person plural pronoun “הם” in v. 5.
שמות פרק כח
(ג) וְאַתָּה תְּדַבֵּר אֶל־כָּל־חַכְמֵי־לֵב אֲשֶׁר מִלֵּאתִיו רוּחַ חָכְמָה וְעָשׂוּ אֶת־בִּגְדֵי אַהֲרֹן לְקַדְּשׁוֹ לְכַהֲנוֹ־לִי:
(ד) וְאֵלֶּה הַבְּגָדִים אֲשֶׁר יַעֲשׂוּ חֹשֶׁן וְאֵפוֹד וּמְעִיל וּכְתֹנֶת תַּשְׁבֵּץ מִצְנֶפֶת וְאַבְנֵט וְעָשׂוּ בִגְדֵי־קֹדֶשׁ לְאַהֲרֹן אָחִיךָ וּלְבָנָיו לְכַהֲנוֹ־לִי:
(ה) וְהֵם יִקְחוּ אֶת־הַזָּהָב וְאֶת־הַתְּכֵלֶת וְאֶת־הָאַרְגָּמָן וְאֶת־תּוֹלַעַת הַשָּׁנִי וְאֶת־הַשֵּׁשׁ: פ
Ibn Ezra thinks that you might have assumed that someone else should be in charge of the materials; therefore he says that apparently the artisans are sufficiently trustworthy to collect the materials themselves.
RaLBaG emphasizes the plural of “הם” in terms of not collecting funds unless there are two individuals present in order to create a check-and-balance on the collectors.
HaEmek Davar suggests that the artisans not only collected the materials, but also chose the best substances for putting together the Mishkan and the Bigdei Kehuna.
2. Since at the outset of Teruma, the Tora states,
שמות פרק כה
(ב) דַּבֵּר אֶל־בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וְיִקְחוּ־לִי תְּרוּמָה מֵאֵת כָּל־אִישׁ אֲשֶׁר יִדְּבֶנּוּ לִבּוֹ תִּקְחוּ אֶת־תְּרוּמָתִי:
the Tora’s directive is to receive the materials from whomever wished to donate it, rather than taking the required substances by fiat, against the current possessor’s will.
3. The RaLBaG seems to imply that were a single person to collect the materials, as soon as he felt in charge of what he collected, he might rationalize that a certain percentage actually belongs to him personally. This is clearly not the case when there are multiple collectors present at the time of collection. (Two or more collectors could be colluding to keep part of the money, but this would not be the result of rationalization, but rather out-and-out criminality.)
4. Avraham to King of Sodom:
בראשית פרק יד
(כב) וַיֹּאמֶר אַבְרָם אֶל־מֶלֶךְ סְדֹם הֲרִמֹתִי יָדִי אֶל־יְקֹוָק קל עֶלְיוֹן קֹנֵה שָׁמַיִם וָאָרֶץ:
(כג) אִם־מִחוּט וְעַד שְׂרוֹךְ־נַעַל וְאִם־אֶקַּח מִכָּל־אֲשֶׁר־לָךְ וְלֹא תֹאמַר אֲנִי הֶעֱשַׁרְתִּי אֶת־אַבְרָם:
(כד) בִּלְעָדַי רַק אֲשֶׁר אָכְלוּ הַנְּעָרִים וְחֵלֶק הָאֲנָשִׁים אֲשֶׁר הָלְכוּ אִתִּי עָנֵר אֶשְׁכֹּל וּמַמְרֵא הֵם יִקְחוּ חֶלְקָם: ס
Yaakov to Lavan:
בראשית פרק לא
(לח) זֶה עֶשְׂרִים שָׁנָה אָנֹכִי עִמָּךְ רְחֵלֶיךָ וְעִזֶּיךָ לֹא שִׁכֵּלוּ וְאֵילֵי צֹאנְךָ לֹא אָכָלְתִּי:
(לט) טְרֵפָה לֹא־הֵבֵאתִי אֵלֶיךָ אָנֹכִי אֲחַטֶּנָּה מִיָּדִי תְּבַקְשֶׁנָּה גְּנֻבְתִי יוֹם וּגְנֻבְתִי לָיְלָה:
(מ) הָיִיתִי בַיּוֹם אֲכָלַנִי חֹרֶב וְקֶרַח בַּלָּיְלָה וַתִּדַּד שְׁנָתִי מֵעֵינָי:
Yosef to Mrs. Potiphear:
בראשית פרק לט
(ח) וַיְמָאֵן וַיֹּאמֶר אֶל־אֵשֶׁת אֲדֹנָיו הֵן אֲדֹנִי לֹא־יָדַע אִתִּי מַה־בַּבָּיִת וְכֹל אֲשֶׁר־יֶשׁ־לוֹ נָתַן בְּיָדִי:
(ט) אֵינֶנּוּ גָדוֹל בַּבַּיִת הַזֶּה מִמֶּנִּי וְלֹא־חָשַׂךְ מִמֶּנִּי מְאוּמָה כִּי אִם־אוֹתָךְ בַּאֲשֶׁר אַתְּ־אִשְׁתּוֹ וְאֵיךְ אֶעֱשֶׂה הָרָעָה הַגְּדֹלָה הַזֹּאת וְחָטָאתִי לֵאלֹקים:
Heh.
1.
בראשית פרק לז
(כג) וַיְהִי כַּאֲשֶׁר־בָּא יוֹסֵף אֶל־אֶחָיו וַיַּפְשִׁיטוּ אֶת־יוֹסֵף אֶת־כֻּתָּנְתּוֹ אֶת־כְּתֹנֶת הַפַּסִּים אֲשֶׁר עָלָיו:
The implication is that they stripped him, and therefore the כתנת was what he wore against his skin.
2א.
שמות פרק כח
(מא) וְהִלְבַּשְׁתָּ אֹתָם אֶת־אַהֲרֹן אָחִיךָ וְאֶת־בָּנָיו אִתּוֹ וּמָשַׁחְתָּ אֹתָם וּמִלֵּאתָ אֶת־יָדָם וְקִדַּשְׁתָּ אֹתָם וְכִהֲנוּ לִי:
Since the clothing for the Kohen Gadol was distinct from the other Kohanim, one would have to understand that that antecedents for “אותם” depended upon whom we were talking about, either Aharon on the one hand, or his sons (Kohanim Hedyotot) on the other.
ב. The immediately preceding verses are talking about the regular Bigdei Kehuna as opposed to those that the Kohen Gadol would wear.
שמות פרק כח
(מ) וְלִבְנֵי אַהֲרֹן תַּעֲשֶׂה כֻתֳּנֹת וְעָשִׂיתָ לָהֶם אַבְנֵטִים וּמִגְבָּעוֹת תַּעֲשֶׂה לָהֶם לְכָבוֹד וּלְתִפְאָרֶת:
(מא) וְהִלְבַּשְׁתָּ אֹתָם אֶת־אַהֲרֹן אָחִיךָ וְאֶת־בָּנָיו אִתּוֹ וּמָשַׁחְתָּ אֹתָם וּמִלֵּאתָ אֶת־יָדָם וְקִדַּשְׁתָּ אֹתָם וְכִהֲנוּ לִי:
3.
שפתי חכמים על רש"י
(ח) לאפוקי דלא קאי אבגדים כמו אותם דלעיל מיניה דקאי אבגדים. ואמר בשמן המשחה ולא בשמן זית או בזולתו שכן כתיב בפרשה שאחריה ולקחת את הבגדים וגו' ולקחת את שמן המשחה וגו':
Vav.
1. Berachot 55a
R. Yochanan said: The Holy One, blessed be He, Gives wisdom only to one who already has wisdom, as it says, (Daniel 2:21) “He Giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding.” R. Tachlifa from the West heard and repeated it before R. Abbahu. He said to him: You learn it from there, but we learn it from this text, namely, (Shemot 31:6) “In the hearts of all that are wise-hearted I have put wisdom.”
2. If a person is completely unfamiliar with what wisdom entails, then adding wisdom to such an individual will not amount to much. However, someone who already appreciates wisdom and has used it, when he is suddenly given additional wisdom, it only enhances his experience and he will be that much more effective. 
Posts
