Parshat Tetzaveh – February 23, 2024 / 15 Adar, 5784

The great 2-sport professional athlete, all-time great cornerback, and current head coach of the University of Colorado Football team Deion “Prime-Time” Sanders once said, “If you look good, you feel good. If you feel good, you play well. If you play well, they pay well.” There is no doubt that a team that is wearing crisp new uniforms while playing a game tends to feel better than a team who is donning uniforms that are ripped, numbers hanging off, and have clearly been worn for a long time. In psychological science, Korman’s Consistency Theory posits that workers will engage in, and find satisfying, behaviors that maximize their sense of cognitive balance and will be motivated to perform in a manner consistent with their self-image. Perhaps this is a different way of saying…Look good, feel good!

This week, in Parsha Tetzaveh, we are first introduced to the “sacred vestments” or the “priestly garments” that Aaron and his descendants are to wear while operating in the Sanctuary. This can be a difficult portion to wrap our heads around in a Jewish sense due to what seems at first glance to be Torah that is based on the aesthetic. In Judaism, we tend to put minimal focus on the aesthetic and focus on words. The final book of the Torah is literally called “Devarim,” or “words.” When the prophet Elijah is on the mountain, he experiences God as a “Kol Demamah Dakah,” a “Still small voice.” We cover our eyes and block out our senses much of the time when reciting the Shema. We listen to the words, and we shut out the visual. This makes it even more striking that this parsha is the first time the word “tiferet” or “beauty” appears in the Torah. We also hear the word “kavod” or “glory” being used to refer to human beings, when previously it was a word reserved for God. 

We as Jews do recognize that we might be made B’Tzelem Elohim, in God’s image, but we are not God. We do operate in the physical world of formation. We do not operate strictly on an intellectual level, but also on an emotional plane. We feel things when we see or sense stimuli. The concept of “hiddur Mitzvah” or “beautifying a mitzvah” is a great example. Using attractive ritual items in our practices is not looked down upon, but considered a sign of great respect and attention to the mitzvot. We need not look further than the creation of the Golden Calf to decipher that human beings often need something tangible to focus on, even if it represents something entirely intangible. We do tend to long for spiritual choreography and costume. 

The kohanim (priests) operating in the Mishkan were charged with some of the most holy duties that one can be trusted with. If we were to ask Deion Sanders about maximizing the holiness of the Kohanim, what might he say? If they do not look holy, they might not feel holy. If they don’t feel holy, they will not be holy. The “getting paid well” part might not truly apply here, but don’t we benefit in spiritual currency when we feel we have made a connection with Divinity, with God, with something higher or greater than ourselves? 

Let us not confuse these words as a statement about dress codes and their importance. I ask…what can you do to enhance your feelings of connection to the Divine through tiferet, or beauty. Beauty can be very subjective. Speaking of the subjective and maybe even the controversial, especially so close to New York City; Former New York Yankees manager Billy Martin said, “I may not have been the best Yankee to put on the pinstripes, but I am the proudest.” Great Yankee catcher Jorge Posada, who I used to watch all the time said, “I could never wear another uniform. I will forever be a Yankee.” Clearly there exists something about the mystique of the uniform that evokes strong emotional responses. Perhaps the Yankees Pinstripe uniforms are not necessarily the most elaborate or even attractive. It is about what they STAND FOR in the eyes of many…Tradition, continued excellence, being a part of something great. 

Ha-B’gadim…the vestments of the priests in the Mishkan…maybe they were meant to inspire those wearing them and those surrounding them to be emotionally-elevated to an enhanced state of spiritual holiness. If we can use the concept of beauty and aesthetic in order to raise our level of connection to Divinity, why shy away from this connection? 

Prime Time Neon Deion Sanders told us “look good, feel good.” The Yankee pinstripe-wearers also tend to feel a part of something greater than themselves. When speaking of the Kohanim in the Tabernacle, perhaps It is not the vestments themselves that are holy, but the sensation of the ineffable Divine presence that lives beyond the aesthetic that makes them useful. May we all be blessed to embrace the beauty in our world, and to find the holiness that exists not just within something beautiful to us, but the Godliness that permeates through the aesthetic, which leads us to a holy place; a place far beyond the physical world. The place is not innately holy and the vestments are not innately holy. They take on these characteristics because WE are holy.  

Shabbat Shalom

– Rabbi Josh Gray