If you will turn with me, please, in your Chumashim to page 339. I am reading from Shemot, Chapter 28, v. 1: V'Atah h'krev ah'leycha...Bring yourself near unto him...this now is God speaking to Moshe, Aht Aharon a'cheycha, unto Aaron your brother, V'aht banav a'toh and his sons with him...and then the text lists Aaron's sons, Nadav, Ahvihoo, Eliezer, and E'tamer, and then God continues in v. 2, V'aseat begadey-kedesh l'Aharon a'cheycha l'chavod ool'teefarret, You, Moshe, shall make vestments of sanctity, for Aaron your brother, for glory and splendor.

There are so many wonderful extrapolations here. I begin with the first word of Chapter 28 V'ahtah. Last week we read Parshat Trumah, which gave instructions for the building of the Mishkon, the portable ark that the Israelites carried throughout their desert journey. Moses had been instructed to delegate the building of the Mishkon to the contractors, but he himself had no personal involvement in the building. This is different. Here, God is telling Moshe that he himself must be involved personally in the manufacturing process of the priestly vestments. There is a partnership between Moshe and Aaron, not simply a partnership between brothers, because as many of us know, oftentimes a family partnership is one that can be unhealthy and unproductive, or worse, but a partnership between co-workers, co-religionists. Aaron cannot lead the people alone anymore than Moshe can lead the people alone. The message from God is one of overlap, the idea that there is strength when leaders work together for a common goal, a common idea.

I have to say that when I read this beautiful section in the text, I thought of a very personal example of leaders working together: Rabbi Gotlieb and myself. We know, as did Moshe and Aaron before us, that the good that we both desire for this wonderful congregation is one that can only be achieved as partners. It isn't a question of I'm in charge, you're in charge, but rather how can we display leadership together that will strengthen our community. Moshe is often referred to as Moshe rabinu, Moses our Rabbi, and Aharon, Aaron, was the first Priest, from the tribe of Levi. The Levites were in charge of the musical portions of the service in the Holy Temple. How wonderful an example of partnership, the first Rabbi, Moshe, and the first Hazzan, Aharon, and we learn of this marvelous doogmah, this marvelous example, right here in Parshat Tetzaveh.

Back to the first section of verse one: V'Atah h'krev ah'leycha, Bring near to yourself Aaron your brother. Rashi, the 11th century French Torah commentator, explains here: L'acher sheh'teegmar mahlachat ha'mishkon, Bring near to yourself Aaron your brother, and here begins Rashi's notation: after you will complete the work of the Mishkon. God wants to make sure that the physical structure, the Mishkon, is finished prior to the pressing of the oil for the Ner Tamid and the priestly garments.

It was much easier, I believe, for the nation to get excited about building the tabernacle, the physical structure, because everyone would be able to see its marvel due to its tremendous size, beauty, and proximity to the tribes of Israel, so that was completed first. Only then could the more spiritual building, the creation of the garments of the priests, begin. Just as it is sometimes easier to raise $ for the construction of a new synagogue building or Sanctuary than, say, to pay the ongoing expenses of the synagogue, such as payroll and utilities, so too the Children of Israel immersed themselves physically and emotionally in the construction of the Mishkon, but perhaps they were not as involved emotionally in the construction of the priestly garments, simply because the rites of the Kohanim and the priestly garments, would not be as visible to most of the people a majority of the time.

Beginning with verse 4, God explains what the priestly garments will be. It is important to mention here, that, according to the Talmud, tractate Yoma 35b, the vestments had to be made of materials that were the property of the nation, and had been contributed by the people for Temple service. The Kohanim were not independent agents, but rather representatives of the entire nation.

The Kohan Ha'gadol, the High Priest, usually wore eight vestments, which were called Sh'monah begadim, Eight Vestments. Catchy name. They were also called begadei zahav, Gold Vestments, since some of them contained gold.

Again verse 4 -- V'elah ha'begadim asher ya'asoh -- These are the vestments that they shall make: Chashan v'ephod v'ma'il, a breastplate, an Ephod, a Robe v'cotanat tee'shavetz mi'tznaphat v'avanat -- A Tunic of a box-like knit, a Turban, and a Sash. That's 6 of the 8 garments. Those that are omitted are mi'ch'nahsey vahd, linen breeches, because, according to Rashbam, they were worn for modesty, rather than as a visible garment of honor, and the tzeetz zahav tahor, a pure gold Head-plate, because it was not a garment, but a symbol of holiness.

Do you remember who Rashbam was? Rashbam is the acronym for Rav Shlomo ben Meir, who lived from around 1085-1174. He was the grandson of Rashi, and the brother of Rabbeinu Tam, a leading Tosafist and Talmud commentator, and the author of a literalist commentary on the Pentateuch.

When I was researching this source, and noticed that Rashbam was the brother of Rabbeinu Tam, it brought to memory a Bar Mitzvah student I had many years ago at Sinai Temple. Immediately after reciting the morning Amidah, on the Thursday morning prior to his Bar Mitzvah, the boy was wearing one set of tefillin. After the Amidah, the boy put on a second set of tefillin, and was wearing the second set when he had his aliyah l'Torah. I had never seen this before, and afterwards spoke with my student. He then introduced me to his grandfather, who was a sofer, a scribe, and he explained to me the two traditions regarding tefillin. Apparently there was a difference of opinion as to the order of the four Parshiyot, the four sections of parchment inside the tefillin.

According to Rashi, we should follow the sequence in which they appear in the Torah, but according to his grandson, Rabbeinu Tam, Shemah should come last. The general practice follows Rashi's ruling, however the scrupulously pious, wishing to satisfy both rulings, take off their regular Rashi tefillin after the Amidah, and then, without reciting a blessing, put on the Rabbeinu Tam tefillin. I suppose you have to be a real tefillin groupie to do this -- I can assure you that I don't follow this practice.

You have in front of you an actual photograph of Aaron the High Priest taken moments after a sacrifice in the year 1,402 BCE. He was a very dapper fellow, don't you agree? I am certain that he would have appeared in a Biblical fashion magazine had they existed in the past. Seriously, you can clearly see some of the garments that the text mentions here, including the meh'il, the robe, the metzah'nefet, the turban, and the aphod, the special apron, woven of turquoise, purple, and scarlet wool, linen, and gold.

The most fascinating and controversial part of this holy outfit was the chashan, the breastplate, and specifically the Urim V'Tumim. Turn forward, if you will please, to vs. 30, found on page 342. The verse begins: v'natat el chashan ha'mishpat, and you (Moshe) shall place, into the Breastplate of Judgment, et ha'urim v'et ha'tumim, the Urim and the Tumim, v'hayu al-lev Aharon, and they shall be on Aaron's heart, be'va'ooh leaf'ney Adonai, when he comes before God.

This begs the question: What are the Urim V'tumim? Rashi believed that the Urim V'Tumim was writing contained in the folds of the breastplate, engraved with God's Ineffable name. The parchments were written by Moshe, because only he had the spiritual wherewithal to write God's full name. The parchment was called Urim, from the word or, light, because it would cause individual letters of the tribal names on the chashan, the breastplate, to light up, and it was called Tumim, from the word tamim, completeness, because, if read in the proper order, these letters presented complete and true answers to the questions of national import that the Cohen ha'gadol, would ask of God.

Ramban, Nahmanides, the great Spanish commentator, who, if you remember your medieval Jewish history, successfully defended Judaism at the dramatic debate in Barcelona in 1263, believed that the Urim V'Tumim were actually made by God Himself. Ramban states: Nowhere are they mentioned among the works of the skilled craftsmen. There is no command regarding them, and no allusion to their being completed.

Ramban continues: Nowhere beside the Urim V'Tumim do we find the use of the definite article. Regarding the Ark we find, "Make an Ark" and regarding the shoolchan, the Table, "Make a Table" etc. Only regarding the Urim V'Tumim do we find, "the Urim and the Tumim". Thus, fashioning the Urim V'Tumim involved a secret Moshe received from God.

Oooooh, very mystical stuff. I love it! When there is a mystery in the text, and in my mind this would qualify as a mystery, the Rabbis use the opportunity to form a Midrash, a Rabbinic legend to help explain that which is unexplained.

I want to share with you a wonderful Midrash about the Shamir. The Shamir was created at twilight on the sixth day of creation. It was the time that God created all of the Miracles: the pit that swallowed Korach, the mouth of Miriam's well, Balaam's talking ass, the rainbow, the heavenly manna, Moshe's rod, the magically suspended letters of the 10 commandments, and the Shamir. The Shamir was a marvelous creature, no bigger than a single grain of barley, but so strong that it could cut through any substance on earth, even the hardest diamonds. Only lead alone could contain it.

For safekeeping, God gave the Shamir to the Hoopoe-bird, who promised to guard it with her life. For eons the Hoopoe kept the Shamir safe in Paradise, departing with it only to seed the mountaintops, until one day God borrowed it back for a special task. It was then that the Israelites were wandering on the 40 year journey in the wilderness. Aaron, the High Priest, was ready to take on God's holy work in the Tabernacle, but for this sacred work, he needed a special breastplate made of twelve precious stones, one for each tribe. How could the Israelite artisans engrave the tribes' names on these stones without splintering them? For to etch the words required great strength but also the greatest accuracy and craft. Only the miraculous Shamir was capable of such a task.

So Bezalel and his artisans inscribed the names in ink on each of the stones: ruby, topaz, smaragd, garnet, sapphire, emerald, zircon, agate, amethyst, beryl, jasper, onyx. And then God sent the Shamir to perform its work, etching the names into the shimmering surface of the stones, working with such astonishing skill that not one atom of stone was lost.

Then God returned the Shamir to the Hoopoe's charge. Where did the Hoopoe keep such a powerful creature? What ordinary vessel could possibly hold it? Since lead alone could resist the Shamir's bite, the bird sealed up her precious charge inside a box of lead, wrapped in a woolen cloth nestled among a handful of barley grains. And there she might have kept it forever had not Solomon needed it to build the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. But that is another story.

Keith Miller
Hazzan
Director of Education