The Essence of Jewish Royalty

The special vestments made for Aaron, the Kohen Gadol, in his role as High Priest, comprise a grand costume, as the Torah says, “You shall make vestments of sanctity for Aaron your brother, for glory and splendor.” (Ex. 28:2) They were made of precious and semi-precious stones, gold chains, fine linen, turquoise, purple, and scarlet wool, and real gold thread. It is interesting that the priests had vestments befitting royalty but Moses had no costume or symbol of kingship. It is also interesting that the High Priest’s vestments were made of mixed fibers: wool and linen, which are specifically prohibited to us in Leviticus 19:19 and Deuteronomy 22:11, the prohibition known as shatnez, combined fibers.

Moses was humble, we are told, the most humble person on earth (Num.12:3). His royalty was inner, not outer. We are asked to emulate Moses, not the High Priest in this matter. Why is Aaron commanded to wear mixed fibers while we are prohibited from doing so? Aaron was commanded to look grand and we, as individuals are asked not to try to look like priests, to look royal. We are urged to cultivate humility as an important value in Judaism, and not to appear to be too wealthy, royal, or grand. When I hear about people who buy ostentatiously lavish lifestyles for themselves, I often feel sorry for them. That’s royalty on the outside. Those who need royalty on the outside may be compensating 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, the group, or the tribe. Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch pointed out that the priests’ vestments were supplied by, made by, and owned by the people (Note to Lev. 28:42-43). When not serving the nation, the Talmud tells us that the priests were not to wear their vestments to go about the town (Yoma 69a). By tradition, Aaron was a regular sort of person when he was not at work. No one can be outwardly royal alone: royalty is always about the group. But inward royalty is another matter. 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 Mishnah, as a hindrance to spiritual progress (Avot, 2:10, 4:21, 6:4.

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 divinity comes from the Radiance 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 nobility in Godly attributes: taking care of others, acts of kindness, and compassion. The less we need to prove our worth and status to the world, the happier we become, letting our inner royalty shine forth. Inner royalty 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. It needs no trappings. May we find within the royalty we seek, 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.

(Note: This piece was published in The Jewish Week, February, 2014)

The Royalty of Oneness

This week’s Torah portion is Tetzavah, which means, “you will command.” It gives the commandment for the Ner Tamid, the continual light, shining forth from the golden Menorah that the priests were to light within the Tabernacle. This commandment is the reason every synagogue has a light above the ark. Most of the rest of this portion describes the clothing the priests were to wear. Briefly: a robe and a sash, a breastplate, and a turban that looked like a crown, with a golden plate at the forehead, very similar to the way our Torahs are dressed today. The breastplate of the High Priest had twelve jewels arranged in four rows, to symbolize each of the twelve tribes of Israel, and it was attached by golden chains to a kind of apron. The breastplate and apron were made out of a special woven material containing red, blue, and purple wool, white linen, and real gold thread. An outfit of royalty – fit for a king! In the Torah (Levit. 19) there is a prohibition against wearing mixed fibers, such as wool and linen, yet the Priest was commanded to do so: to be elevated above all others. But it was not to aggrandize the Priest himself, the man who served as Kohen Gadol or High Priest. For the High Priest represented the people. He expressed the royalty and elevation of the people, joined together in holiness, who came before him to elevate themselves: to worship God, express their gratitude, and become finer human beings by atoning for their sins. Tonight, Jewish people across the United States and Canada – Orthodox, Conservative, Reconstructionist, Reform, and others – have come together to celebrate Shabbat for the same purpose: to pray; to thank God, and to ascend in goodness. By joining together we are greater than the sum of our parts, our individual selves. Abraham Joshua Heschel’s book, The Sabbath, speaks of Shabbat as holiness in time. Tonight, Tetzaveh also shows us that this Shabbat is royalty in time: an expansion of who we are, through our solidarity and participation. Both the gold in the High Priest’s vestments and also the eternal light reflect our holy souls, given to us by God, which shine forth on Shabbat like the brightness of the ancient Menorah. When we transcend our differences and join together for a holy purpose we express a royal unity, where the Oneness of God’s Presence can dwell. The Psalmist said, “Hineh matov umanayim shevet achim gam yachad: How good and pleasant if is when brothers and sisters dwell together.” May our souls shine forth on this Shabbat, allowing us to experience how good and pleasant Oneness is; and may this feeling allow us to elevate ourselves and express our royalty, our innate goodness, and our beaming inner light.