Royalty on the Inside

This week’s Torah portion is Tetzaveh, which means, “You shall command. God tells Moses to obtain pure olive oil for the Ner Tamid, the continual light, that burned in the seven branched Menorah, from evening until morning, in the Tabernacle. Most of the rest of this portion is about the design of the special vestments made for Aaron, the Kohen Gadol, in his role as High Priest. There were eight vestments: a tunic, a robe, an apron, short pants, a sash, a breastplate, a turban, and a head plate. The richness of their materials and construction created a grand impression. The tunic was a long shirt made of fine linen, in a box-like knit. The robe was made from turquoise wool, open on the sides like a long poncho; on its hem were tiny golden bells that made a noise, alternating with embroidered red pomegranates. Over the robe was worn the Ephod: an apron like affair with shoulder straps, made of costly yarns twisted together: fine linen, turquoise, purple, scarlet, and real gold thread. On each shoulder strap was an onyx stone with the names of six of the tribes engraved on it, so that Aaron bore the weight of the tribes at all times. There was also an embroidered sash. The turban, a sign of royalty, was made of fine linen. A gold plate went across the front of it that said, “Holy to God.” The High Priest also wore an embroidered breastplate bearing 12 precious stones, each stone engraved with the name of one tribe, and set in gold. The breastplate was folded, up in back, creating a pouch, for the mysterious urim and tumim the divining tools for asking questions of God that mean light and completeness. They are a mystery to this day.
It was a grand costume, as the Torah says, “for glory and for splendor.” It is interesting that the Priests had vestments but Moses didn’t. There is no costume or symbol of kingship for Moses at all. Perhaps there is a key to understanding this in the commandment for wearing tzitzit, a tallit, which tells us that the fringes and the thread of blue are to remind us not to sin. Perhaps the priest’s costumes were to remind them not to sin. Moses, it seems, needed no reminders. It is also interesting that the Priests vestments were made of mixed fibers: wool and linen, that are specifically prohibited to us in the portion of the Book of Leviticus we call Kedoshim, the Holiness code. The commandment is colloquially known as Shatnes, mixtures. Why is Aaron commanded to wear mixed fibers while we are prohibited from doing so? This question leads into interesting territory. Aaron was commanded to look grand and we, as individuals are asked not to try to look like a priest, to look royal. Moses was humble, we are told, the most humble person on earth. His royalty was inner, not outer. We are asked to emulate Moses, not the priests in this matter. We are urged to cultivate humility as a value in Judaism, and not to appear to be too wealthy, royal, or grand. When I hear about someone who has a huge multi-million dollar weekend home in the Hamptons, or a very fancy car, wears only designer clothes, or makes a show of their watch or jewelry; when I hear about athletes or actors, or rock musicians who buy a lavish lifestyle for themselves, I often feel sorry for them. That’s royalty on the outside. Anyone who needs royalty on the outside needs it to compensate for a lack of royalty on the inside. True outer royalty is always collective, not personal. Royalty comes from conferring authority upon someone to represent the nation or the tribe. When not serving the people, the priests were to take off their vestments. Aaron was a regular guy when he was not at work. No one can be outwardly royal alone. Royalty is always about the group. But inwardly royal, oh yes. We can and should be royal on the inside, individually. Inner value is true and lasting value. Outer royalty is fleeting at best, and usually elusive. It is comparative and subjective and has no objective reality. It is a costume we put on and take off, because none of us is really royal on the outside. Remember the adage, no one is a hero to his valet? The trappings of wealth and power are even seen, by the rabbis of the Talmud, as a hindrance to spiritual progress. Rather than admiring the outer, the Torah teaches us to focus on the inner: that which provides lasting satisfaction, happiness, harmony, and love. We are all royal on the inside, if only we could see that our divine truth comes from the Divine truth of God. The full beauty of a human soul is too dazzling for us ever to comprehend. We are already royalty, descendants from the Eternal Holy Presence. We truly need no outer emblems of self worth. Our task is to convince ourselves of the greatness within, by cultivating that nobility in Godly attributes: of taking care of others and honing our best qualities; letting the less good attributes in our personalities fall away. The less we need to prove our worth and status to the world, the happier we can become, letting our inner royalty shine forth. Inner royalty, inner radiance is magnetic. We respond to true inner nobility in another person because we admire and feel a kinship with God’s attributes of mercy, graciousness, kindness, integrity, and generosity. Inner goodness shines forth of its own accord. It needs no trappings. May we find the royalty we seek inside, needing less and less of the outer symbols our society seems to value. May inner holiness be the royalty we seek, and may we find it, with God’s great blessing.