Parshat Tetzaveh 5784
Rabbi Jablinowitz
We read in this week’s parsha about the Bigdei Kehunah, the special garments worn by the Kohanim in the Mishkan. But this section is preceded by the first two pasukim of our parsha which mention the oil used for the Menorah and the mitzvah of its lighting. Why does this section precede the parsha which discusses the בגדי כהונה?
The pasuk in Koheles states (Chapter 9, Pasuk 8), בכל עת יהיו בגדיך לבנים ושמן על ראשך אל יחסר; your clothes should always be white and never lack oil on your head. The Gemara in Shabbos 153A explains this pasuk to mean one should always be ready for judgment, as the Mishnah in Avos teaches (Chapter 2, Mishnah 10), שוב יום אחד לפני מיתתך; do teshuva the day before you die. The Gemara brings the Avos D’Rabbi Nosson which compares this to a king who invited his subjects for a feast, but doesn’t inform them when exactly it would take place. The wise person understands this invitation could be at a moment’s notice and prepares himself with the right clothing. The fool, however, assumes he has time until the feast will be prepared and doesn’t ready himself. When they are suddenly invited, the wise person is ready and participates in the feast, while the fool angers the king for his shoddy appearance and isn’t allowed to partake.
The Sfas Emes teaches that the בגדים, the garments, of a person doesn’t refer to his clothes, but rather to his body. The real essence of a person is his soul and the body is the מלבוש, the outer garment. When the pasuk says בכל עת יהיו בגדיך לבנים, it means that you should keep your body pure and clean by keeping the mitzvos. And when you keep your body pristine and holy, it impacts upon the soul, which is referenced in the continuation of the pasuk, ושמן על ראשך אל יחסר. The head represents the soul and the oil is its purity. The result of the first half of the pasuk, using the limbs of the body to do the will of Hashem, is the second half; your soul will be purified.
This pasuk, therefore, explains the connection between the special garments of the Kohanim, and the purity of the oil of the Menorah. The Medrash Rabbah on our parsha (38,8) teaches that Aharon went into the Kodesh Hakadashim onYom Kippurin the merit of the twelve tribes as represented by the twelve stones on the Choshen. The Sfas Emes asks, how can the Medrash say that Aharon went inside the Kodesh Hakadashim in the merit of the stones on the Choshen? The Choshen was part of the Bigdei Zahav worn by the Kohen Gadol throughout the year, but not on Yom Kippur when going Lifnai V’Lifnim. When he went into the Kodesh Hakadashim he wore just the four white garments! How could the merit of the stones on the Choshen impact on his ability to go Lifnai V’Lifnim?
When the Torah teaches the placement of the Choshen, it says (Chapter 28, Pasuk 30), והיו על לב אהרן; they should be on the heart of Aharon. The Sfas Emes teaches that this doesn’t merely mean to be physically on his heart, but rather they should be inscribed on his heart, as the pasuk says in Shir HaShirim (Chapter 8, Pasuk 6) שמני כחותם על לבך; make me a stamp upon your heart. The Bigdei Kehunah impacted on the actual body of the Kohen and made him a holier individual. As the pasuk says in sefer Malachi about the Kohen (Chapter 2, Pasuk 7) כי מלאך ד' צבאות הוא; the Kohen was like an angel.
Now we understand the p’shat in the Medrash. Aharon HaKohen went into the Kodesh Hakadashim in the merit of the twelve stones on the Choshen representing the twelve tribes. And he didn’t need to be wearing them at the time. Since he wore them during the year, the merit of the tribes was inscribed on the heart of Aharon and was with him at all times; even when he wasn’t wearing them on Yom Kippur during the Avodas P’nim.
The Bigdei Kehunah were for Aharon HaKohen like the mitzvos for Clal Yisrael. The mitzvos impact upon our bodies and make us purer. Just as the pasuk says by the Choshen והיו על לב אהרן, so too we say in Keriyas Shema (Devarim, Chapter 6, Pasuk 6), והיו הדברים האלה אשר אנכי מצוך היום על לבבך; love for Hashem needs to be inscribed in your hearts. And the Medrash Rabbah on Shir HaShirim teaches that the pasuk quoted above, שימני כחותם על לבך, is referencing Tefillin. Tefillin needs to be inscribed in your heart as well.
This explains the connection between the two parshiyos in our parsha. The Bigdei Kehunah impact upon the Kohen and Kohen Gadol making him purer, just as the mitzvos do for all of Clal Yisrael, as the pasuk says בכל עת יהיו בגדיך לבנים. And this ultimately impacts upon the soul, as represented by the light of the Menorah. And this is why our parsha begins with the pure oil used to light the Menorah, ושמן על ראשך אל יחסר.
Good Shabbos
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