Power to the People!
Last week's Torah portion focused on the blueprints for the construction of the Mishkan, the Israelites' sacred space. This week, Parashat Tetzaveh takes us inside, focusing our attention particularly on the garments of the high priest. On top of the special linen undergarments, robe and ephod, breastplate and shoulder pieces, pomegranates and bells, the entire outfit was capped with a turban that would sit on Aaron's head, and on that turban -- front and center -- was a head-piece called the tzitz. Here's the Torah's description (from Exodus 28:36-38):
וְעָשִׂיתָ צִּיץ זָהָב טָהוֹר וּפִתַּחְתָּ עָלָיו פִּתּוּחֵי חֹתָם קֹדֶשׁ לַה'. וְשַׂמְתָּ אֹתוֹ עַל פְּתִיל תְּכֵלֶת וְהָיָה עַל הַמִּצְנָפֶת אֶל מוּל פְּנֵי הַמִּצְנֶפֶת יִהְיֶה. וְהָיָה עַל מֵצַח אַהֲרֹן וְנָשָׂא אַהֲרֹן אֶת עֲוֺן הַקֳּדָשִׁים אֲשֶׁר יַקְדִּישׁוּ בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל לְכׇל מַתְּנֹת קׇדְשֵׁיהֶם וְהָיָה עַל מִצְחוֹ תָּמִיד לְרָצוֹן לָהֶם לִפְנֵי ה׳
You shall make a tzitz of pure gold and engrave on it a seal (hotam) with the inscription: “Holy to the Eternal (kodesh ladonai).” Hang it on a cord of blue (petil techeilet), so that it may remain on the turban; it shall remain on the front of the turban. It shall be on Aaron’s forehead, and Aaron will carry the sin of the holy things that the Israelites make holy, from any of their holy donations. It shall be on his forehead at all times, to find favor for them before the Eternal.
The tzitz itself must have been quite something! I invite you to imagine for a moment what it would mean to be the high priest and literally walk around with the words "Holy to the Eternal" emblazoned on a gold plate on your forehead. This head-band carries a huge weight, both literally and figuratively. And, what must it have felt like to have been an Israelite in the presence of the high priest, looking at him and being constantly reminded of his special role, his power, and his status as a holy person with a holy purpose?!
If you like geeking out on Jewish texts and rituals like I do and you read the verses above carefully, particularly noting the words I bolded, you may have already realized that, embedded in this short passage, there are many ways in which the tzitz echoes the ritual objects of both tallit and tefillin. In terms of the connection to tallit -- a four-cornered cloth with specially-knotted fringes on each corner (tzitzit) -- I can spot multiple echoes: 1) the tzitz is held in place by a "petil techeilet," a "cord of blue," and the same distinctive phrase appears in the commandment about the tzitzit (see Numbers 15:38), 2) tzitz and tzitzit may not be linguistically connected (say the scholars of ancient Hebrew), but they certainly share an aural similarity, and 3) in both cases, holiness/kedusha is explicitly named as part of their core purpose (see Numbers 15:40 with regard to tzitzit: "Thus you shall be reminded to observe all My commandments and be holy unto your God."). With regard to tefillin, the link to the tzitz feels obvious both in form and in content: both are articles of adornment to be worn on the forehead, both are attached by straps, and both incorporate writing or text of significance.
There is one very key difference, though, between the tzitz and both tallit and tefillin: who can wear it. The tzitzis explicitly part of the priestly garb, and even among the kohanim, an article of dress that is only for the singular high priest to don. There's even a famous Talmudic story about Hillel and Shammai where both are approached by a would-be convert to Judaism who says: "Convert me so that they will install me as High Priest" (see Shabbat 31a). The whole story rides on the idea that it's obvious to the reader that this is a ridiculous notion, since the priesthood is obviously only open to the descendants of Aaron, and not everyone who might want to do it. (For whatever it's worth, Shammai rejects the candidate and Hillel accepts him, anticipating correctly that as he learns more about Judaism, he will come to see for himself that he is not eligible for the position!)
One could imagine that the ritual mitzvot of tallit and tefillin might similarly be reserved only for a particular class of individuals, but that is explicitly not the case. The Torah's command about tzitzit begins with the phrase "daber el b'nai yisrael" as God tells Moses to "speak to the Israelites" (as a whole). With regard to tefillin, the Talmud explicitly states (in Arakhin 3b), "Everyone (ha-kol) is required to wear tefillin: Priests, Levites, and Israelites." [I am well aware that for many centuries, the "everyone" of tallit and tefillin was understood to apply only to men. Lots was written in the late decades of the 20th century about these mitzvot by second-wave Jewish feminists, and one of the major shifts that we can see in egalitarian prayer spaces today is the application of these mitzvot across the gender continuum. I am a proud wearer of both tallit and tefillin.]
It's key to note that this was not a chronological historic development -- such that once-upon-a-time, all power or holiness resided with the high priest and then slowly over time that circle widened. On the contrary, both notions-- of specific leadership roles carrying unique holy authority, and also of the more democratic idea that holiness belongs to all of us collectively and can be accessed by every single human being -- have always co-existed within our tradition and are baked into the most ancient of our texts. For example, I am thinking of God's famous speech to the Israelites in Exodus 19:4-6 which contains the line: "you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation." This is a radical theology, and a radical notion of the role that every single one of us has the potential to play in the world.
This week, we are approaching the holiday of Purim, which considers what happens when society is turned upside down as a result of leaders who don’t understand what it means to pursue holiness. As I have shared before, I am always moved by the core mitzvot of this holiday, which rest not only with leaders, but with each and every member of the Jewish community. All of us are obligated to read/hear the story of Megillat Esther and to blot out evil, to feast and rejoice, to give gifts of food to one another, and to provide monetary support to the most vulnerable members of our society. This year, the Purim holiday underscores this aspect of our Jewish tradition, that we have always had symbols and texts pointing us to the idea that holiness has the capacity to reside both with our leaders and with all people. This feels like an important safeguard... because in this case, if any individual leader fails to lead society in proper and holy directions - oriented towards "kodesh ladonai" - the rest of us still know what to do and how to carry on the mantle of our holy mission in the world. This coming week, as I put on my own tallit and tefillin, this will be my intention: that especially when the world is topsy-turvy (as in the Purim story and now), I am grateful for our tradition which democratizes the priesthood and grants power to the people.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Rachel Nussbaum
