Mussar D'var Torah on Parshat Tetzaveh

Parshat Tetzaveh describes the vestments worn by the priests in the Mishkan, the Tabernacle or Tent of Meeting, including the vestments worn by the High Priest. The High Priest was entrusted with the most sacred task in the Mishkan – to enter the Holy of Holies once a year, on Yom Kippur, and tradition tells us that only on this day was the Tetragrammaton, the sacred name of God, Y-H-V-H, ever pronounced aloud, in the Holy of Holies, uttered by the High Priest.

One of the garments, the ephod, had two shoulder-pieces with two precious stones, one on each shoulder, with the names of six of the twelve tribes on one and of the other six on the other. From a Mussar perspective, the two stones with the names of the twelve tribes – the Other – being worn on the shoulder points to our obligation to bear the burden of the other on our shoulders. The late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century Chasidic Rabbi Chaim Tirar of Tchernovitz expressed this beautifully in his commentary on the Torah B’er Mayim Chaim by stating that Aaron the High Priest was to carry the stones with the twelve tribes’ names “like a father carrying a young child on his shoulders to the keep the child safe” (Etz Chaim Torah and Commentary, p. 506).

The High Priest also wore a breastpiece that had twelve precious stones set on it, each one with the name of one of the twelve tribes on it. From a Mussar perspective, this teaches that we are not only to bear the burden of the Other on our shoulders, but we are also to have the Other close to our heart. The inscription of multiple names on the two stones on the shoulders and individual names on the stones on the breastpiece point to another important truth – we are called to bear the burden both of the collective Other, in our citizenship in religious, national, world, and other communities – and also to bear the burden of individual Others with whom we relate.

In hearing this, one might be tempted to say “Well, that is all fine and good for the High Priest – after all, he was holy and was set apart to offer the holiest sacrifices of the year. What does that have to do with me?” Another of the high priest’s vestments is the turban which he wore on his head while performing his high priestly duties. On the front of the turban was a headplate of gold, on which was written “Holy to YHVH”. This headplate was called a tzitz. Israel Knohl, a biblical scholar, based on a medieval Jewish commentary, suggests that the word tzitzit, the fringes on the tallit that adult Jews wear, is derived from the word tzitz (a “little tzitz”) – and in the third paragraph of the Shema, which describes this mitzvah, Israel is commanded to be “holy before your God”, similar to what is written on the tzitz. Thus the wearing of the tzitzit can be seen as taking on the role of High Priest in one’s daily life (Siddur Lev Shalem for Shabbat and Festivals, p. 156). Since all adult Jews of bar or bat mitzvah are entitled to wear the tallit, all adult Jews are to take on this High Priestly role. I would even argue that all adult humans, regardless of religion, have the same obligation to take on these burdens and love of the Other as we are taught by Mussar teachings.