Parsha Acharei: April 12, 2014

Parsha Acharei

12 Nissan /April 12

By: Ilana Zerbib

Norcal NCSY Dvar Torah of the Week!

If you look at the latest bestsellers, some of the plots are centered around utopian or dystopian societies in which the population is divided according to aptitude or personality tests. In almost every case, the protagonist discovers major flaws, cover-ups, or corruption in the society, overthrows the government, (finds her true love along the way), many people die, and she lives happily ever after. And once in a while there's an epilogue.

In Parshat Acharei Mot, you can find a similar theme. The parsha describes the Kohen Gadol's traditional attire. Now if you think about it, the Kohen Gadol was the representative of the entire Jewish nation. The fact that the outfit is described in so much detail must mean that there is symbolism in every single piece of clothing.

The Chassidic Rabbis have enlightened us: the four types of garments symbolize four different kinds of people. The headgear symbolizes the creative, innovative types. The sash alludes to the intellectual, rational types. The tunic symbolized the emotional types, and the trousers are the industrial types who revel in tangible accomplishments and rewards.

Each one of these people is not only important to a society, but crucial. The Kohen Gadol had to wear all of these garments to do his service in the Beit Hamikdash. So to, our nation needs every single one of us to step us and contribute the traits we were born with to the greater good. Maybe some of us identify with more than one type of these personalities, but we must use all of our talents, or aptitudes to serve Hashem and make the world a better place. We must give all of ourselves.

At the end of the novel, the protagonist always realizes: we must not divide ourselves in accordance to personality, rather we should unify- and then, and only then, will our society thrive. All these New York Times bestsellers have just been recently touching on this important concept, but us Jews?

We've known this forever. Shabbat Shalom.