Parsha Tetzaveh - February 8, 2014

8 Adar I / February 8

By: Jen Blumenfeld 

Parashat Tetzaveh 

 Eighteen years ago I stood in front of my family, friends and community, and declared: “My Torah portion is about clothes.” Then I proceeded to talk about myself. On the Chai anniversary of my Bat Mitzvah I’d like to offer a bit more depth to Parsha Tetzaveh.

 In a careful reading of the elements of the Bigdei Kahuna, the priestly robes, you see that Hashem commands that the holy garments for Aaron and his sons be made from gold, turquoise wool, purple wool, scarlet wool and linen (Shemot 28:4-5.)

Sha’atnez is cloth containing both wool and linen, and we are directly prohibited from wearing sha’atnez in Devarim 22:11 and Vayikra 19:19. So why are the Kohanim not only allowed but commanded to wear sha’atnez while performing their priestly rituals?

There are many ideas offered about why this is. For example Tzitzit are also allowed to be made of sha’atnez. Since the mitzvah of tzitzit directly follows the mitzvah of sha’atnez some say that this shows that a
positive commandment can override a negative commandment.

Additionally, the Gemora prohibits wearing sha’atnez if one derives physical pleasure or benefit from it. The Rashba states that we don’t consider any benefit that one receives during the fulfillment of a mitzvah. Thus the Kohanim and tzitzis wearers everywhere are not deriving pleasure or benefit, and sha’atnez doesn’t apply.

Others claim that since sha’atnez is allowed in the Bigdei Kahuna and Tzitzit, that it is only prohibited in regular garments, but allowed in these holy garments because they are inherently kosher.

The Midrash suggests that the reason stems from the story of Kayin and Hevel in Bereshit 4:3-4. Kayin brought Hashem an offering of flax (the source of linen) and Havel brought a sheep (wool). The incident resulted in Kayin killing Hevel, and it was decreed that the two substances never mix again.

The mitzvah of sha’atnez is a chok, a law whose logic is not evident. It is clear that as a human we cannot fully understand the ways of Hashem. Good things happen to bad people just as bad things happen to good people and we wonder why. As science progresses and we learn more about the past and predict our future we find reassurance in the known. In this parsha full of minutia about the priestly garments, I am reminded that we don’t understand why everything is, maybe we never will, and that that is ok.

Shabbat Shalom.