Tetzavé 5777 - English

By Rabbi Guido Cohen

Asociación Israelita Montefiore Bogotá, Colombia

There is an old popular saying that says: don’t judge a book by its cover. According to this expression, appearances are not important, what’s important is what we each have inside. The Jewish version of this saying would be the famous dictum from Pirkei Avot, “look not at the vessel, but at what it contains.” Despite that, this week’s Parashah emphasizes appearances. A large portion of the text is dedicated to the clothing the Kohen wore during services in the Mishkan. 

These clothes were so important that the Talmud (Zebachim 17b) says the kohanim did not have the “kehunah” (priesthood) on them when not wearing these outfits. This means they could not fulfill their priestly services when out of costume. In other words, if the Kohen is a Kohen but does not look like a Kohen, then he cannot serve as a Kohen. Just like a doctor needs to wear a uniform when entering the operating room, or a firefighter must wear his when going to put out a fire, our priests had to be dressed as such if they wanted to serve in the sacred space. 

The Kohen’s appearance was so important that the midrash (Tanchuma, Emor 4) says that the Kohen Gadol was more gadol (bigger) than his brothers in five things: in appearance, strength, riches, wisdom, and years. This explanation, inspired in the height difference between tall King Shaul (although morally quite short) and tiny David, tells how when someone is placed in a position of greatness, he or she physically grows to match the appearance the position requires. 

Being aware that the Kohen Gadol was not necessarily the tallest, the sages created this fantastic notion: when the Kohen was elected Kohen Gadol, he automatically grew so that no other Kohen would be taller than him.  

And as if Rabbinic creativity had no limits, a German Jewish sage called Jonathan Eyebschutz wondered the following (Tifetern Yehonatan, Tetzave): The Torah says that the clothing should fit the Kohen perfectly. If the Kohen Gadol had to take office with the clothing on, that meant the clothes were measured beforehand. And if they were measured beforehand, how did the calculate how much he would grow once he was anointed as Kohen Gadol? Eyebschutz’s answer is that miraculously, once the Kohen was anointed, he would grow and his clothes with him.

Beyond this amusing commentary, I think there is a wonderful sense in this metaphor of person growing to assume a certain challenge and the person’s clothes growing with them. The Torah does not deny the importance of the external. The Kohen must have on the splendid robes that make his post.  The Kohen not only has to be it, he must also look like it. But even so, if the clothes were too big for the Kohen Gadol and he looked ridiculous, he would not be apt to serve in them. The clothes must be grand and beautiful, but they must not be grander than the person who is supposed to ‘fill’ them. One must first grow and, then, the image one projects will grow. What must not happen is to wear clothes larger than one is, because then one would be projecting an external image that does contradicts what is within. The Kohen with larger clothes that do not fit, is actually in costume. 

And, speaking of costumes, when this Shabbat ends, Purim begins, when we are used to dressing up as something that we are not. We wear costumes, among other reasons, because Haman imagined himself in grandiose clothing, thinking he would be honored by King Achashverosh as the highest of his ministers. But what Haman imagined was only a costume. He could picture himself dressed in royalty clothing, on a white horse worthy of the most powerful monarchs, but on the inside, he was still small, mean, morally short. By imagining himself in noble clothing, Haman was putting on a costume. He was pretending to grow first in clothing, and that with larger clothes, he would grow too. 

The teaching here is precisely that the process works the other way around. We must build ourselves up, grow from our limitations. We are challenged to work to be more elevated, ‘taller’ not in a literal sense, but on the inside. And if we manage it, then the others will see from the outside our greatness. Dressing up as great, only shows our own smallness. Yet, if we grow on the inside, someday others will look up to us with the admiration that the people had for their leaders and priests. 

Shabbat Shalom and freilajn purim!

Rabbi Guido Cohen