Clothing has long served as an indicator of status. As the familiar adage declares, “clothes make the man.” The Torah itself appears to affirm this idea when it commands Moshe to provide his brother Aharon with the garments designated for the kohen gadol — the High Priest:

And you shall make sacred garments for your brother Aharon, for dignity and splendor (l’khavod ul’tiferet). (Exodus 28:2)

The Torah then proceeds to list and describe each of the distinctive garments prescribed for the kohen gadol:

And these are the garments that they shall make: a breastplate, an ephod, a robe, a checkered tunic, a headdress, and a sash. (ibid., v. 4)

Rabbi Avraham Ibn Ezra emphasizes the unique status conveyed by these garments:

For they shall exhibit splendor through them, for no one else shall wear anything like them. (Long Commentary to v. 2)

Similarly, Rabbi Moshe ben Nahman (Ramban) writes:

They (the high priests) shall be dignified and splendid, wearing dignified and splendid clothing, ‘like a bridegroom adorned’ (Isaiah 61:10), for these garments are royal attire…

While these commentators focus on the honor and status conferred by the priestly vestments, a rabbinic midrash offers an entirely different perspective:

Rabbi Inini ben Sason said: Why are the sections concerning sacrifices and the priestly vestments placed adjacent to one another? To teach that just as sacrifices bring atonement, so too the priestly vestments bring atonement…

The tunic atones for bloodshed, for it is said: ‘And they (Yosef’s brothers) killed a he-goat, and dipped the tunic in the blood.’ (Genesis 37:31) The pants atoned for lewdness, as it is said: ‘And you shall make them linen pants to cover the flesh of their nakedness.’ (Exodus 28:42) The headdress made atonement for arrogance. How do we know it? Said Rabbi Hanina: Let an article placed high up (on one’s head) come and atone for an offence of haughtiness. The sash atoned for [impure] meditations of the heart, where it was placed. The breastplate atoned for [neglect of] civil laws, as it is said: ‘And you shall make a breastplate of judgment.’ (Exodus 28:15) The ephod atoned for idolatry, as it is said: ‘Without ephod there are teraphim.’ (Hosea 3:4) The robe atoned for slander. How do we know it? Said Rabbi Hanina: Let an article of sound (from the bells on the fringe of the garment) come and atone for an offence of sound. The headdress atoned for brazenness: of the headdress, it is written: ‘And it shall be upon Aaron’s forehead’ (Exodus 28:38), while of brazenness it is written: ‘Yet you had a harlot’s forehead.’ (Jeremiah3:3) (Zevachim 88b)

Functionally, this midrash rests upon two interpretive moves. First, it argues that the juxtaposition of the passages describing the sacrificial service of the Mishkan and the garments of the kohen gadol indicates that both serve an atoning function. Second, building upon this premise, it interprets each individual garment as effecting atonement for sins associated with different aspects of human behavior and personality.

In this midrash, the significance of the priestly garments lies not in their physical splendor but in their instrumental role as agents of atonement for the people whom the High Priest served. For all of us, our status as Jews and as human beings is not measured by outward symbols of rank, but by what we do and how we act. The kohen gadol may have appeared magnificent in his elaborate vestments, yet his true stature derived not from what he wore but from what he accomplished. Ultimately, it was his devotion, expressed through faithful service to God and to the community, that defined his greatness. The same goes for us as well.

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)