Tetzaveh

 B’khor Shor comments on the verse, “Make sacral vestments,” to be used in the holy place; not to come dressed in everyday clothing because this is not ‛way of honor.’ They should wear clothing “of dignity and of adornment.” “Next you will instruct all who are skillful,”that is to say, just as I commanded those who are skillful to make the Tabernacle, so do I command them to make the clothing. People should not say: Aaron will reward those who make his clothing and so too, “they will receive the gold,”just as I wanted them to take offerings for the Tabernacle, so too should they take gold and offerings for the clothing.  B’khor Shor remarks that “sacral vestments” mean the priests are not to attend to their duties in “everyday clothing.” Second, he spells out the parallelism between the Tabernacle and the clothes. Third, the clothing will not be fashioned by one talented tailor but rather by the whole community.


Truly, clothing makes the individual. Just as we have uniforms for work, so should there be standards of dress for synagogues.   Just as the Tabernacle is crafted to “hold” the Presence of God, so too does clothing “hold” the image of God.  Also vital to understand int he parasha is that the entire community contributes to fashioning the garments of the priests. We all take a part in robing our klei kodesh (the holy accruements of the Synagogue), and in so doing, we all assume an active role in nurturing the sacred relationship between God and humans.


Tetzaveh describes a golden plate (Tzitz) that Aaron wore, which bore the words "holy unto G-d"(28:37). A Question: Was this a brazen thing to place on forehead?
The appearance of such an ornament would seem anything BUT holy. 

Baal Shem Tov taught that if a person has an undesirable trait, he/she should direct that trait toward constructive channels. Traits such as stubbornness, brazenness (Chutzpah), anger and even violence can be channeled correctly. How do we know this? Because the Tzitz was worn on the part of the face associated with brazenness, yet served a holy purpose nonetheless. We must heed the same calling, recognize all those personal traits that need "channeling", and convert all those seemingly negative qualities, into positive triumphs.


Jews joining together for the purpose of prayer redeems us and, as it were, the Shekhinah from exile (Berakhot 8a). 



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