Rabbi's Message

This week’s Torah portion, Tetzaveh focuses on the role of the Kohanim (priests) and the detailed, sacred clothing that they wore.  Judging a person by the clothing that they wear is superficial, and leadership is certainly not about garb or glitz. However, as our parashah teaches us, there is much to be learned from a uniform, most of all, what it represents. 

The High Priest wore the Hoshen HaMishpat, the breastplate of judgment, with twelve stones, each representing one of the twelve tribes of Israel. In Exodus 28:21, we read: "Aaron shall carry the names of the children of Israel on his heart before God, always.” ALWAYS.  Rabbi Menachem Creditor wrote in a d’var Torah this week: “The power of the High Priest was not in their status - it was in their carrying. In holding the people, in remembering their names.”

This is a powerful teaching about the true essence of leadership.  Leadership is not about standing above or wielding power to push others down.  Rather, leadership is about lifting people up, carrying from below, and using power responsibly. The High Priest did not stand alone.  Rather, he entered the Holy of Holies with each member of b’nai Yisrael held close to his heart.

And this lesson particularly feels important today.  As we look around the world, we find too many people more interested in self-glorification, flaunting of power, and being in the spotlight than they are about holding people, knowing people, and serving people. But it does not have to be our story.  When we advocate for the hostages, when we support our brothers and sisters in Israel, when we stand with the most vulnerable members of society, and when we defend each other’s dignity, we live into God’s charge for us to be a mam’lekhet Kohanim, a kingdom of priests.

This is how we carry the breastplate in our own time. This is how we can help to bring light to an all-too-dark world.  This is who we are.

Shabbat Shalom.