T’Tzaveh - Exodus 27:20−30:10 - 3/7/25

“The clothes make the man (sic)” – so the saying goes. Often attributed to Mark Twain, it actually dates back to antiquity. In this week’s Torah portion, we see how the beauty, intricacy, and symbolism of the priestly garments come together to create an aura of holiness and power around the person of the High Priest.

The High Priest’s garments are impressive, and weighty, both symbolically and literally. In addition to the impression they must have made on the congregation, these garments and accoutrements must have made an impression on the wearer, as well.  Depending on the mindset of the person holding that office at any given time, they may have served as a visceral reminder of the weighty responsibility they bore both to God and to the community, or as an outward show of the power and authority they wielded over the community.

The priestly garments are an outward demonstration of the importance of the role of the High Priest in leading the spiritual life of the community and preserving the holy character of the community. The challenge, both for the person in that role and for the community, is not to confuse the role with the person.

The High Priest is supposed to be a person of highest character and integrity, to use their authority and their position to protect the community from transgression and maintain ritual purity. They are not supposed to use their power for their own personal gain or self-aggrandizement. By the same token, the community is to respect the role of the High Priest but not endow the person holding that position with any magical or supernatural powers or cede to them authority beyond their mandate.

Rabbi Sarah Bassin, in her D’var Torah, High Moral Standards for Our Leaders, and Ourselves, talks about the dangers of conflating the position with the person:

“If the dissonance between vestment and wearer is palpable, the trappings become hollow. If the person fails to live up to the expectation of the office, the office is in danger of losing its power…when we bear witness to acts of scoundrelism in the public eye, we cannot shrug it off. We cannot adjust to a new normal. We must hold fast to our expectations — of our priests, our politicians, our entertainers, our athletes, and our rabbis. Because at the end of the day — those expectations are not actually about the people who hold the office. They’re about us. When we hold our leaders to a high standard, we are more likely to do the same for ourselves.”

Let us remember to hold our leaders, and ourselves, up to the highest standards of morality, integrity, and honor.

-Rabbi Bonnie Margulis