The Beauty of Holiness

Height and clothing can be misleading.

In R. Jonathan Sacks’ 2012 Devar Tora for Parashat Tetzaveh, “The Aesthetic in Judaism”, he initially wonders why the Tora pays so much attention to the clothing that the Kohen Gadol, in particular, wears while serving in the Mishkan/Mikdash:

Shemot 28:4

These are the vestments that they shall make: a breastplate, an Ephod, a robe, a knitted tunic, a turban, and a sash. Make them as sacred vestments for Aharon and his sons so that they will be able to be priests to Me.

R. Sacks draws upon God’s Comment to Shmuel regarding which of Yishai’s sons will be the next king of the Jewish people, succeeding Shaul, to conclude that God is more interested in “quality” rather than “quantity”:

I Shmuel 16:7

Do not consider his (Eliav’s) appearance or his height, for I have Rejected him. The Lord does not Look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord Looks at the heart.

In order to demonstrate that outward appearances, aside from height, have the capacity to deceive, and for this reason, the Hebrew term for clothing is “Beged”/”Bagad” (to betray), R. Sacks notes that in Beraishit alone, there are six instances where clothing is used to give others a false impression regarding one’s true identity.

(R. Sacks mentions explicitly only two of the six examples: 

1)  Beraishit 27:15, 27

15 And Rivka took the choicest garments of Eisav, her elder son, which were with her in the house, and put them upon Yaakov, her younger son…

27 And he (Yaakov) came near, and kissed him. And he (Yitzchak) smelled the smell of his raiment, and blessed him, and said: See, the smell of my son is as the smell of a field which the LORD hath Blessed.

2) Ibid. 37:31-3

31 And they took Yoseph’s coat, and killed a he-goat, and dipped the coat in the blood; 32 And they sent the coat of many colors, and they brought it to their father; and said: This have we found. Know now whether it is thy son’s coat or not. 33 And he knew it and said: It is my son’s coat; an evil beast hath devoured him; Yoseph is without doubt torn in pieces. 

We are left to speculate about the identity of the remaining four:

3) Ibid. 29:23, 25

23 And it came to pass in the evening, that he (Lavan) took Leah his daughter, and brought her to him (Yaakov); and he went in unto her…

25 And it came to pass in the morning that, behold, it was Leah; and he said to Lavan: What is this thou hast done unto me? Did not I serve with thee for Rachel? Wherefore then hast thou beguiled me?

→ It is a reasonable assumption that Lavan dressed Leah in Rachel’s clothes in order to trick Yaakov.

4) Ibid. 38:14

And she (Tamar) put off from her the garments of her widowhood, and covered herself with her veil, and wrapped herself, and sat in the entrance of Einayim, which is by the way to Timna; for she saw that Sheilah was grown up, and she was not given unto him to wife (by Yehuda.)

5) Ibid. 41:14, 42; 42:7

14 Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they brought him hastily out of the dungeon. And he shaved himself, and changed his raiment, and came in unto Pharaoh…

42 And Pharaoh took off his signet ring from his hand, and put it upon Yoseph’s hand, and arrayed him in vestures of fine linen, and put a gold chain about his neck.

7 And Yoseph saw his brethren, and he knew them, but made himself strange unto them, and spoke roughly with them; and he said unto them: Whence come ye? And they said: From the land of Canaan to buy food. 

6) Ibid. 46:29

And Yoseph made ready his chariot, and went up to meet Yisrael his father, to Goshen; and he presented himself unto him, and fell on his neck, and wept on his neck a good while.

→ Yoseph’s dress and older appearance must have contributed to Yaakov’s confusion. The same is true regarding the grandfather’s failure to initially recognize Efrayim and Menashe—see Ibid. 48:8.)

In light of such an observation, how might the clothing assigned to be worn by the Kohanim similarly give a more positive impression of them than might actually be the case? 

Regarding the Bigdei Kehuna, R. Sacks feels that they must be understood in light of a phrase that is found twice in the Parashat HaShavua:

Shemot 28:2, 40

2 And thou shalt make holy garments for Aharon thy brother, “LeChevod U’LeTiforet” (for splendor and for beauty) …

40 And for Aharon’s sons thou shalt make tunics, and thou shalt make for them girdles, and head-tires shalt thou make for them, “LeChevod U’LeTiforet.”

Since “Kavod” is used in the Tora a total of 19 times, with all but Shemot 28:2, 40, connoting God Himself—

(Shemot 16:7;10 “7 And in the morning, then ye shall see the 1) Splendor of the LORD; for that He hath Heard your murmurings against the LORD; and what are we, that ye murmur against us?”… 10 And it came to pass, as Aharon spoke unto the whole congregation of the children of Israel, that they looked toward the wilderness, and, behold, the 2) Splendor of the LORD Appeared in the cloud.”

Ibid. 24:16-7 “16 And the 3) Splendor of the LORD Abode upon mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days; and the seventh day He Called unto Moshe out of the midst of the cloud. 17 And the Appearance of the 4) Splendor of the LORD was like devouring fire on the top of the mount in the eyes of the children of Israel.”

Ibid. 29:43 “And there I will Meet with the children of Israel; and (the Tent) shall be Sanctified by 5) My Splendor.”

Ibid. 33:18, 22 “18 And he said: ‘Show me, I pray Thee, 6) Thy Glory. …   22 And it shall come to pass, while 7) My Splendor Passeth by, that I will Put thee in a cleft of the rock, and will Cover thee with My Hand until I have Passed by.”

Ibid. 40:34-5 “34 Then the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and the 8) Splendor of the LORD Filled the tabernacle. 35 And Moshe was not able to enter into the Tent of Meeting, because the cloud abode thereon, and the 9) Splendor of the LORD filled the Tabernacle.”

VaYikra 9:6, 23 “6 And Moshe said: This is the thing which the LORD Commanded that ye should do; that the 10) Splendor of the LORD may Appear unto you. … 23 And Moshe and Aharon went into the Tent of Meeting, and came out, and blessed the people; and the 11) Splendor of the LORDAppeared unto all the people.”

BeMidbar 14: 10, 21-2 “10 But all the congregation bade stone them with stones, when the 12) Splendor of the LORD Appeared in the Tent of Meeting unto all the children of Israel… 21 But in very deed, as I live–and all the earth shall be Filled with the 13) Splendor of the LORD— 22 Surely all those men that have seen 14) My Splendor, and My Signs, which I Wrought in Egypt and in the wilderness, yet have put Me to proof these ten times, and have not hearkened to My Voice.”

Ibid. 16:19 “And Korach assembled all the congregation against them unto the door of the Tent of Meeting; and the 15) Splendor of the LORD Appeared unto all the congregation.”

Ibid. 17:7 “And it came to pass, when the congregation was assembled against Moshe and against Aharon, that they looked toward the Tent of Meeting; and, behold, the cloud covered it, and the 16) Splendor of the LORD Appeared.”

Ibid. 20:6 “And Moshe and Aharon went from the presence of the assembly unto the door of the Tent of Meeting, and fell upon their faces; and the 17) Splendor of the LORD Appeared unto them.”

Devarim 5:21 “And ye said: Behold, the LORD our God hath Shown us 18) His Splendor and His Greatness, and we have heard His Voice out of the midst of the fire; we have seen this day that God doth Speak with man, and he liveth.”

Ibid. 28:58 “If thou wilt not observe to do all the words of this Law that are written in this book, that thou mayest fear this 19) Splendid and Awful Name, the LORD thy God.”)

consequently, the clothing of the Kohanim are to bring these men closer to God, thereby sharing the quality of “Glory” however that may be defined.

R. Sacks goes on to cite RaMBaM as to why in Jewish tradition that appears to de-emphasize external appearances in favor of that which is “heard,” concerns itself with the clothing of the Kohanim in the Mishkan /Mikdash:

Guide for the Perplexed, III:45

In order to exalt the Temple, those who ministered there received great honor, and the priests and Levites were therefore distinguished from the rest. It was commanded that the priest should be clothed properly with the most splendid and fine clothes, “holy garments for splendor and for beauty” … for the multitude does not estimate man by his true form but by … the beauty of his garments, and the Temple was to be held in great reverence by all.

R. Sacks writes regarding RaMBaM’s point-of-view:

…The explanation is clear, but there is also a hint of disdain. Maimonides seems to be saying that to those who really understand the nature of the religious life, appearances should not matter at all, but “the multitude,” the masses, the majority, are not like that. They are impressed by spectacle, visible grandeur, the glitter of gold, the jewels of the breastplate, the rich pageantry of scarlet and purple and the pristine purity of white linen robes…

R. Sacks thinks that the claim that emotion and spectacle make on the average Jew, despite the tradition’s overall aversion to visual emphases, is expressed in a well-known liturgical poem, recited by the congregation during the Mussaf repetition of the Amida on Yom HaKippurim:

As the brightness of the vaulted canopy of heaven,

As lightning flashing from the splendor of angels,

As the celestial blue in the fringes’ thread,

As the iridescence of the rainbow in the midst of clouds,

As the majesty with which the Rock has Clothed His Creatures,

As a rose planted in a garden of delight,

As a diadem set on the brow of the King,

As the mirror of love in the face of a bridegroom,

As a halo of purity from a mitre of purity,

As one who abides in secret, beseeching the King,

As the morning star shining in the borders of the East –

Was the appearance of the (High) Priest (after completing the Avoda on Yom HaKippur.)

Conclusion.

R. Sacks ends his essay with the following observation:

…Judaism does not believe in art for art’s sake, but in art in the service of God, giving back as a votive offering to God a little of the beauty He has Made in this created world. At the risk of oversimplification, one could state the difference between ancient Israel and ancient Greece thus: that where the Greeks believed in the holiness of beauty, Jews believed in Hadrat Kodesh, the beauty of holiness. There is a place for the aesthetic in Avoda (service to God.) In the words of the Song at the Sea: (Shemot 15:2) “…Zeh Keili VeAnveihu (This is my God and I will Beautify Him.)” For beauty inspires love, and from love flows the service of the heart.

Discussion.

In my view, R. Sacks’ essay regarding the esthetic aspects of the Temple and its rituals, highlights the dilemma that the human being, an amalgam of body and spirit, finds himself in. On the one hand, his spiritual side wishes nothing to do with the visual and, therefore, plastic aspects of reality. Since these things can easily be deified, man would be better-served focusing on matters of the heart and sounds rather than visual images. But then again, the “majority” of people “need” the visual in order to be moved spiritually, which makes them susceptible to all sorts of idolatry. Clearly, if aesthetics could exclusively be harnessed to serve HaShem, it would go a long way in sanctifying something that potentially could be so detrimental to proper worship; but the means often become ends in themselves, as RaMBaM points out with respect to the heavenly bodies:

Mishneh Tora, Hilchot Avodat Kochavim U’Mazalot 1:1

During the times of Enosh (see Beraishit 4:26 and commentaries,) mankind made a great mistake, and the wise men of that generation gave thoughtless counsel. Enosh himself was one of those who erred. Their mistake was as follows: They said God Created stars and spheres with which to control the world. He Placed them on high and treated them with honor, Making them servants who minister before Him. Accordingly, it is fitting to praise and glorify them and to treat them with honor. (They perceived) this to be the Will of God, Blessed Be He, that they magnify and honor those whom He Magnified and Honored, just as a king desires that the servants who stand before him be honored. Indeed, doing so is an expression of honor to the king.

After conceiving of this notion, they began to construct temples to the stars and offer sacrifices to them. They would praise and glorify them with words, and prostrate themselves before them, because by doing so, they would – according to their false conception – be fulfilling the Will of God. This was the essence of the worship of false gods, and this was the rationale of those who worshiped them. They would not say that there is no other god except for this star. This message was conveyed by Yirmiyahu, who declared (10:7-8): “Who will not fear You, King of the nations, for to You it is fitting. Among all the wise men of the nations and in all their kingdoms, there is none like You. They have one foolish and senseless (notion. They conceive of their) empty teachings as wood;” i.e., all know that You alone Are God. Their foolish error consists of conceiving of this emptiness as Your Will.

It would appear that God Attempted to Limit man’s involvement with beauty, and for that matter sacrifices, to the Tabernacle/Temple, and in that way assure that all such expressions would exclusively be directed to HaShem. Unfortunately, down through the ages, man has applied his preferences to outside endeavors, even under the guise of religious devotion. Another challenge for maintaining balance is directed at man with regard to appealing not only to his spiritual side, but also the esthetic one.