Dress for success: Parshat Tetzaveh

Abstract

According to one view in the Talmud, the High Priest’s clothing represented more than mere ceremonial fitness for office: “R. Simon said, just as sacrifices atone, so the garments of the High Priest atone: shirt, trousers, turban, and vest” (JT Yoma 7:3). The High Priest was the intermediary between the human and the Divine. Followers, therefore, needed to see in their spiritual leaders, the possibility of getting closer to God. The priest’s clothing conferred dignity and authority to the role and inspired repentance in those who observed the High Priest’s activities. That was the dream behind the design.