Torah This Week
Welcome to Torah This Week, where you will find thoughts and reflections by CLAL faculty and associates on the Torah portion of the week.
PARASHAT TETZAVE
(Exodus 27:20 - 30:10)
This parsha is filled with the sort of details most people find excessive: a precise enumeration of the types of garments worn by the priests and the jewels that were to be set in the high priest's breastplate. Why does the Torah include such obscure details?
Rabbi Saul Berman has suggested that the specificity of the Torah's commands acted as a safeguard against corruption. Had the details of the priests' garments and jewels not been written down in a public text, priests in later generations could have insisted that the Jewish people garb and bejewel them even more lavishly. By putting the details in an accessible document, the people knew precisely what their responsibilities to the priests were.
(Joseph Telushkin)
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