Sources from essay by Rabbi Leah Lewis, MAJS in The Mussar Torah Commentary
When William Shakespeare wrote Hamlet at the turn of the seventeenth century, much of the worldly yet pithy advice that Polonius gave to his son Laertes–"The apparel oft proclaims the man"–had already been proved to be true. In many ways, the idea that "clothes make the man" takes its root in Parashat T'tzaveh.
-Rabbi Leah Lewis
(2) Make sacral vestments for your brother Aaron, for dignity and adornment. (3) Next you shall instruct all who are skillful, whom I have endowed with the gift of skill,to make Aaron’s vestments, for consecrating him to serve Me as priest. (4) These are the vestments they are to make: a breastpiece, an ephod, a robe, a fringed tunic, a headdress, and a sash. They shall make those sacral vestments for your brother Aaron and his sons, for priestly service to Me;
(15) You shall make a breastpiece of decision, worked into a design; make it in the style of the ephod: make it of gold, of blue, purple, and crimson yarns, and of fine twisted linen. (16) It shall be square and doubled, a span in length and a span in width. (17) Set in it mounted stones, in four rows of stones. The first row shall be a row of carnelian, chrysolite, and emerald; (18) the second row: a turquoise, a sapphire, and an amethyst; (19) the third row: a jacinth, an agate, and a crystal; (20) and the fourth row: a beryl, a lapis lazuli, and a jasper. They shall be framed with gold in their mountings. (21) The stones shall correspond [in number] to the names of the sons of Israel: twelve, corresponding to their names. They shall be engraved like seals, each with its name, for the twelve tribes.
Every stone had its place. Only when every stone was in its place would the priest be able to don the breastplate and thus be fully ready to fulfill his service to the Divine. The instructions for the choshen ensured that there was a place for every tribe and that none's space dominated any other. By divine design, all of Israel was given their rightful space. As a result, this elaborate accessory was, from the outset, a lesson in the middah of anavah–humility for the tribes, lest one try either to dominate the space of the others or to wither into the background.
-Rabbi Leah Lewis
According to the nineteenth-century Netziv (Rabbi Naftali Tzvi Ychudah Berlin in Haamek Davar), the choshen lay over the High Priest's heart to remind him that it was his duty to pray and offer sacrifices on behalf of the whole community. Power and prestige were given to the Kohein Gadol–High Priest with the express purpose of serving God and others—and not to bolster the self.
To act with anavah does not simply mean to refrain from standing out. Instead, to act with anavah means to limit "oneself to an appropriate space while leaving room for others." Identifying our "appropriate space" in different contexts is the first step of this Mussar challenge. What follows is the task of filling that space—no more and no less.
-Rabbi Leah Lewis
Elected officials campaign by bolstering themselves and cutting down their opponents. Celebrity culture enhances the image of celebrity life. We find affirmation in how many "likes" or "followers" we can attract on social media. "Selfies" ensure that we are always front and center in the world as we perceive it.
There is some truth to the adage: clothes do "make the man." But as Parashat T'tzaveh suggests and Mussar confirms, it is not the size of our closets or the labels sewn on our garments that define us. Rather, the things we wear on the outside have the potential to function as instigators of internal, spiritual exercises. Like the stones or the breastplate and its placement, each of us bears a sacred duty. We must consider where we fit into the broader world, and occupy ou rightful space—no more and no less.
-Rabbi Leah Lewis
Questions to Ask
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Do the clothes you wear on any given day impact your behavior?
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How is this behavior similar to or different from your behavior when you are wearing something else?