Taamei Hamitzvos - The Garments of the Kohen Gadol
Mitzvos #99, #100, and #101 in Sefer HaChinuch
The Kohanim are commanded to wear eight majestic garments of the type worn by royalty at the time of the Giving of the Torah (Ramban). The garments accord honor to the service and also remind the Kohanim of its great importance. Glancing upward, a Kohen would see his turban; he would constantly feel his thick sash with his arms. This would help keep his mind focused on serving Hashem, in the same way tefillin help a person focus on Hashem (Sefer HaChinuch). Some garments, such as the tunic, were made of pure white linen, suggesting purity (Rav Hirsch). Lightly dressed and walking without shoes on cold marble stones, the Kohanim would serve Hashem with humility, sanctity, and alacrity. Each garment atoned for a different sin: The tunic atoned for bloodshed, the sash atoned for sinful thoughts, the pants atoned for immoral acts, the turban atoned for haughtiness, the ephod-apron atoned for idolatry, the breastplate atoned for perversion of justice, the me’il- cloak atoned for lashon hara, and the headplate atoned for brazenness (Zevachim 88b). In this article, we will focus on the latter four garments, which were worn only by the Kohen Gadol.
APRON (EPHOD)
The Ephod was suspended by shoulder straps, upon which were affixed a pair of black gems called shoham stones, and inscribed on each gem were six names of the twelve sons of Yaakov. When Yaakov was on his deathbed, his sons affirmed their belief in Hashem’s unity by proclaiming the first verse of Shema, and Yaakov blessed Hashem with the words: Baruch shem k’vod malchuso l’olam va’ed. In commemoration of this event, there are twenty-five letters on each shoham stone, representing the twenty-five letters in the first verse of Shema and the twenty-five letters in the accompanying phrase “Baruch shem k’vod…” (Malbim). As the Sages teach that the Ephod atones for idol worship because idolaters commonly wore such an apron. Wearing an apron to serve Hashem atones for wearing an apron to serve idols. Based on what we have explained above, we may add that the Ephod atones for idolatry also because the shoham stones represent the unity of Hashem and our subjugation to Him.
There was a third shoham stone on the breastplate itself that represented Yosef. Accordingly, the two shoham stones on the apron straps represent Yosef’s two sons, Menasheh and Ephraim, who were raised amongst Egyptians but did not learn from their sinful ways (Pesikta D’Rabbi Kahana). The shoham stones allude to Egypt either because they can be excavated from the Nile River that runs through Egypt (Radal, citing Bereishis 2:12) or because the Egyptians were black-skinned (Rabbi Meir Shapiro), or because the Egyptians were “black” with sin and impurity.
We may explain the significance of this allusion based on Rabbi Avigdor Miller’s observation that the Jewish people never invented an idol but rather copied the practices of neighboring nations. Thus, whenever Hashem sees the shoham stones, He is reminded of the Jewish people’s origin in idolatrous Egypt, where they were exposed to the idolatry of the Egyptians. He recalls that this sin does not represent the true essence of the Jewish people, and He atones for them. Moreover, Hashem recalls those in every generation who, like Menasheh and Ephraim, retain their holiness despite anti-religious social surroundings.
BREASTPLATE (CHOSHEN)
The Kohen Gadol would wear an ornamental breastplate studded with twelve different precious stones, upon which are inscribed the names of the twelve tribes, the names of the Patriarchs, and the words “Shivtei Yeshurun - tribes of Yeshurun, i.e., the Jewish People. The breastplate is set upon a folded piece of fabric that contains Hashem’s seventy-two-letter Name.
The Torah commands us to attach the breastplate to the Ephod and never to separate them. We may suggest that the idea behind this mitzvah is that the glory of the twelve tribes symbolized by the breastplate must never be seen as a value in its own right. Our glory is nothing more than an extension of Hashem’s glory, by virtue of our being His servants. The breastplate must therefore always remain attached to the Ephod, which symbolizes our service to Hashem, as explained above.
CLOAK (ME’IL)
The cloak atones for lashon hara (evil speech/malicious gossip). There are seventy-two types of skin impurities, tzaraas, that a person might contract as a punishment for speaking lashon hara.Correspondingly, seventy-two articles hang from the hem of the cloak: thirty-six bells, in between which are thirty-six balls of fabric resembling pomegranates. Pomegranates allude to the Torah, because a pomegranate is filled with numerous seeds in the same way the Torah is filled with 613 Mitzvos; the noise produced by the bells clanging against the pomegranates suggests that a person should use his mouth to speak meritorious words and not malicious ones.
We may suggest that the clanging of a bell against the two adjacent pomegranates reminds us of this idea because the numerical value of rimon (רימוןpomegranate) is 306, so two pomegranates have the value of 612, which is 613 including the bell (based on Lechem Rav to Perek Shirah, Rimon).
The cloak is made of wool dyed pure blue, the color of the sky, which signifies that one’s speech should be as pure as the heavens. It is forbidden to tear the “lip” (neckline) of the cloak, signifying that one should not “tear” the holiness of the lips with improper speech (Malbim).
HEADPLATE (TZITZ)
Upon the headplate is inscribed the phrase Kodesh La’Shem - sacred to Hashem. Wearing the headplate atones for brazenness because brazenness is associated with the brow, as in the term azus metzach (a brazen brow). The Kohen Gadol must constantly keep in mind the fact that he displays Hashem’s Name on his brow (Yoma 8a); this instills within him a deep reverence for his service. The Sages (ibid.) infer from this that one who is wearing tefillin, which has not one but many Divine Names written within it, should certainly bear in mind that he carries Hashem’s Name upon him.
