Netvort Parshas Tetzaveh 5770: Wide Shoulders

By Rabbi Joshua (Widely known as the Hoffer) Hoffman

Among the special garments that the kohein gadol wears is the ephod, an apron-like piece of clothing as Rashi explains it, which has two shoham stones (avnei shoham) one each on its two shoulder straps. The Talmud tells us that the names of the twelve tribes were written on these stones, six names on each one. The Talmud in Yoma (72 a-b) tells us that each one of the kohein gadol's garments is meant to bring atonement for different transgressions. The ephod, says the Gemara, atones for avodah zarah, or idolatry. What, then, is the connection between idolatry and the message of the names of the tribes written on the stones of the ephod?

Rabbi Meir Leibush Malbim, in his commentary to parshas Tetzaveh, writes that the names of the tribes divided between the stones on the two shoulders of the kohein gadol point to the importance of unity among the Jewish people. The names are written on two stones, and those names must unite in order to indicate the unity of all of the tribes, despite the separate roles that each of them plays within the nation.  This unity is reflective of the  unity of God, which the Jewish people represent in this world. Perhaps, then according to  the Malbim, the unity of the Jewish people as reflected in the names of the tribes on the avnei shoham is a means of combating idolatry, which denies the unity of God. Why, however, within the context of this symbolism, are the stones placed on the shoulders of the kohein gadol, rather than on another location on his body?

Rabbi Yosef Salant, in his Be'er Yosef, says that the shoulders of the kohein gadol represent the responsibility that he has to carry the burden of the Jewish people, both in terms of their physical needs and in terms of their spiritual needs. Perhaps, then, in the context of the unity of the Jewish people, we can add that the kohein gadol, as the successor of Aharon, who was the first kohein gadol, is the great unifier of the Jewish people. Whenever there was a dispute between people, Aharon would find a way to bring them back together. It was, therefore, on Aharon's shoulders to bring about the unity among the Jewish people that the avnei shoham were meant to reflect. Alternatively, we can suggest  that it is on the shoulders of the Jewish people themselves to strive for this kind of unity among themselves. The Ramban writes that all of the special clothes of the kohein gadol are similar to the clothing which kings wear, and are meant to enhance the honor of the kohein gadol. However, the kohein gadol is really the representative of the nation as a whole, and the display of royalty in his clothing can be seen as being reflective of the royal status of the Jewish people, who God charged, at Mt. Sinai, to be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. There is a need for unity in order to be carrying out this charge, and it is up to the tribes to affect this unity. The burden is therefore really on their shoulders, and the kohein gadol, by wearing the stones on his shoulders, is conveying this message to the people, whom he represents.

Rabbi Amnon Bazak, in his Nekudas Pesicha, demonstrates that all of the special garments of the kohein gadol are meant to honor the Jewish people. The Talmud (Megillah, 12a) tells us that King Achashveirosh wore these garments at the feast he made. Perhaps his purpose in doing this was to undermine the special status of the Jewish people, as part of his plan to cause them to assimilate by joining in his feast. The unity of the nation that is reflected in the stones of the ephod would also be undermined in this way, and perhaps this is why Achashveirosh was receptive to Haman's description of the nation as one that is dispersed among the nations. When Esther told Mordechai to gather all of the Jews to fast in order to counter Achashveirosh's decree to wipe out the Jewish people, she was, in effect, combating his attempt to break their unity. The Talmud tells us that on Purim, there was a kind of reenactment of the acceptance of the Torah at Mt. Sinai, but, this time, without any element of coercion such as there was at Sinai, when God lifted the mountain above them and told them that if they don't accept the Torah they will be buried on that spot. In any case, part of the experience at Mt. Sinai, as Rashi tells us in parshas Yisro, was the unity of the Jewish people in accepting the Torah. The vane shah, worn by the kohein gadol on his ephod, symbolized the need for this unity in order for the nation to fulfill its charge, given at Mt. Sinai, of being a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. On Purim, when the nation reenacted, and in a sense completed, the experience at Mt. Sinai, they did so with the necessary sense of unity that characterized the original acceptance of the Torah, and that the ephod of the kohein gadol served to remind them.

The entire Netvort staff wishes a joyous and safe Purim to all the denizens of Netvortland.

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