BS"D
PURPOSEFUL POMEGRANATES: PARSHAT TETZAVEH
Shira Smiles shiur - 5783/2023
Adapted by Channie Koplowitz Stein
Having given the instructions
for building the Mishkan and most of its utensils, Hashem now describes the
vestments Aharon, the High Priest must wear to perform the service in the
Mishkan. One of the garments was the full length techeilet/turquoise
Robe over which the Breastplate would be suspended. All around its hem were to
be turquoise, purple and scarlet wool pomegranates with golden bells bitocham/within/between
them, a total of seventy-two of each. When Aharon would enter the Sanctuary to
perform the service, and again when he would leave, the bells would be heard.
Just as bringing certain offerings
atoned for one's sins, so were the various vestments meant to help in the
atonement of sins. The robe was meant to help atone for the sin of loshon
horo/evil, negative speech, and the seventy bells and pomegranates served
as a reminder to the people of the seventy two shades of white through which tzora'as/"leprosy"
manifested itself. Since tzora'as is the punishment for using one's
voice in sin, the "voice" of the bells served as an appropriate
reminder and atonement for the sin of loshon horo.
The Maharal poses the
overriding question: We can understand how a sacrificial offering atones for
one's sin. One imagines himself in place of the animal on the altar and being
consumed, motivating him to repent. But how do the garments the Kohein Gadol
wears generate atonement?
The Maharal continues. These
garments are meant to confer honor and dignity on the Kohain Gadol. But when a
layman sees these garments, he envisions himself as also deserving of dignity.
In order to preserve his own dignity, he will refrain from sullying this image
through sinning. He will divest himself of his soiled "clothing" and
negative self image. He will want to appear dignified before the Kohain Gadol.
By seeing the dignity of the Kohain Gadol in his priestly garments, he has an image
of the dignity he can try to emulate and regain his self respect. He too will
dress the part of an honorable, dignified person and elevate himself. As Rabbi
Chaim Shmulevits points out, when you feel dignified, you will refrain from
sinning because it conflicts with the dignified image you now have of yourself,
and you will keep away from company that debases you to a sinning mentality.
The Robe itself was completely
the blue of techeilet. Our Sages classic commentary on techeilet
is that its color reminds us of the sea, which then reminds us of the sky, and
ultimately leads us to remember God's Throne of Glory. How can these
associations lead to atonement for loshon horo? In Vayomer Yehudah,
Rabbi Kasbeh explains the psychological connections. People have a tendency to
look at themselves and obsess over one or two flaws. This negativity is the
source of their speaking loshon horo. They fail to look at the big
picture of who they are, to acknowledge all their positive attributes. The sea,
by its very expansiveness, forces one to take a larger view of what he sees. It
helps us look at the larger picture of ourselves. Then we can see that,
although I have some flaws, I am still created in God's image. I can work on
myself and correct the negative. [Interestingly, the sound of gentle waves in
the sea, not the scene, is often used to calm an overactive, usually troubled
mind. CKS]
Noise is the result of
resistance, writes Rabbi Tauber in his adaptation of the discussions of the
Lubavatcher Rebbe. The greater the resistance between the objects, the louder
the crash; the more receptive, the more silent is the encounter. Aharon himself
was so attuned to God's presence; Hashem's voice would have been a silent,
gentle whisper. But Aharon was the representative of the people who struggled
to transcend their physicality and connect with God and fall into sin.
This leads us to understand
the essence of the debate between Rashi and Ramban as to the placement of the
bells and pomegranates. Rashi maintains that the bells were set alternating
between the pomegranates. Ramban disagrees, and maintains that the bells were
actually set within each hollow pomegranate. Ramban reasons that if they were
indeed separate, the pomegranates should not have been hollow, but should have
been solid as apples, the decorative choice for the Menorah.
Why bring apples into this
debate? As later commentators enter the discussion, they remind us that Bnei
Yisroel is compared both to an apple and to a pomegranate. The apple refers to
Bnei Yisroel in its virtuous state, full and connected. The pomegranate, on the
other hand, refers to the "empty among them" who may still be full of
good deeds, but the deeds are all compartmentalized and do not affect his total
person. He still remains spiritually hollow. The noisy bells represent this
imperfect individual who is constantly struggling to transcend his emptiness.
Thus, the bell represents the preliminary stage, the noisy inner struggle to
transcend. You may never become the apple, but if you continue to struggle, the
struggle itself is beloved to Hashem and is music to God's ears.
Clothes make an impression.
When the Jews saw Mordechai leave the palace of Ahashuerosh dressed in royal
attire with a crown on his head, the Jews of Shushan rejoiced, with gladness
and joy, a feast and a holiday.
Do the garments themselves
bring atonement? Rabbi Rivlin suggests that forgiveness is not automatic. The
sinner must bring the sacrifices. But the kohein, wearing these garments, must
be part of the process. They create a mystical aura that inspires the sinner
bringing the sacrifice to work on himself and create change internally.
Rabbi Rivlin continues and
suggests ways the priestly garments can influence us. He quotes the Klei Yakar
that the Robe is made of techeilet to remind us of the sea reminds us
that the waters of the sea [generally] break against the shore, and do not
overflow it. Similarly, our words should not flow unimpeded out of our mouths,
but should be stopped by our teeth and our lips. The sea also reminds us to be
silent like the silent fish.
As the blue sea reminds us of
Heaven we should be inspired to reassess our words, writes Rabbi Beyfus. Just
as the Robe had borders, we need to create boundaries and borders to our
speech.
The Alshich Hakadosh makes an
interesting observation. The pattern at the hem was to put a bell between each
of two pomegranates. While the bell is about making noise, the pomegranates are
about silence, teaching us that both speech and silence have their appropriate
places and times. But our silence should be twice as much as our speech.
When Aharon enters the
Sanctuary to give voice to Hashem in prayer, when the bells give voice, that
voice must not be tainted with loshon horo or other debased speech if it
is to be accepted.
Hashem does not want us to
live a life of silence, writes Rabbi Reiss is Meirosh Tzurim. But our
voices must be entering in kedushah. As Purim approaches, we can look to
Mordechai as a guide for appropriate silence and appropriate speech. Mordechai
was a descendant of both Yehudah, the model of expressing thanks. and of
Binyamin, the model of silence. As the Shvilei Pinchas notes, the stone
representing Binyamin on the choshen/breastplate was called yesh-peh,
literally translated as "has a mouth." According to tradition,
Binyamin was aware that Yosef was alive, but he understood that he was meant to
remain silent. He was the son of Rachel, who remained silent when her sister
was substituted for her under the marriage canopy. Able to discern when each
was necessary, Mordechai told Esther when to be silent and when she must speak
up. The bells and pomegranates teach us that we must learn the proper balance
between silence and speech. Interestingly, Rabbi Reiss quoting the Zohar
Hakadosh notes that one could be afflicted with tzora'as not only for
the sin of loshon horo, but also for the sin of remaining silent when
speech was necessary, when you refrained from offering words of encouragement,
for example.
The entire focus of Purim lies
in the power of prayer, and our mouths must be purified. And when we leave the
place of sanctity, whether the Mishkan or today's shul, we should take the
experience with us. This is the month to refine and purify our speech in
preparation for eating the matzah, the only food we actually are commanded to
eat as a mitzvah in itself. [While we make a brachah if we eat other food, we
have no obligation to eat anything else. CKS]
Listening to the reading of
Megillah on Purim should be a transformative experience, writes Rabbi
Biederman. We are commanded about mikra Megillah, not just the reading
of the Megillah, but also the call of the Megillah. That hour calls out to us,
be prepared for the heaven's opening to receive our prayers. Fully sense the
Purim experience, the closeness of Hakodosh Boruch Hu listening to our voices.
The bells and pomegranates
teach us the power of silence as well as the power of speech. [After all, as
Onkelos translates, Hashem "blew into Adam's nostrils the soul of life,
and Adam became a speaking, living being." CKS] The bells and
pomegranates on the hem of Aharon's Robe inspire us to strive to achieve our
potential, knowing that the very struggle to improve ourselves is beloved by
Hashem. May Hashem give us the wisdom to know when and how to speak and when to
remain silent.