In the opening verses of this week’s Torah portion, Parashat Tetzaveh, God says to Moses, “Make sacral vestments for your brother Aaron, for dignity and adornment. Next you shall instruct all who are skillful, whom I have endowed with the gift of skill, to make Aaron's vestments, for consecrating him to serve Me as priest” (Exodus 28:2-3). While studying these verses with two TIOH fifth graders in preparation for their D’var Torah, I asked them the question, “What are vestments?”
One student quickly answered, “A disguise!”
I responded, “Ok, good. And what’s another word for disguise?”
“A costume!” they replied emphatically.
The words “disguise” and “costume” were not the first words that come to my mind when considering priestly vestments. But, these associative definitions have stuck in my mind the past few weeks and have been insistently whispering an important link between this Torah portion and the holiday of Purim, which begins Saturday night.
There is a clear link in the Torah between the decorations made for mishkan or the Tabernacle (meant to be the dwelling place for God), which were described in last week’s parashah, and the vestments made for the priests in this week’s portion. Indeed, our Torah scrolls of today are dressed in much the same way as the ancient priests were, thereby connecting text to people to God.
And what if all of these vestments are simply disguises? Costumes masking something underneath? What, we might wonder, is being hidden?
Jewish mystics teach that the stories of the Torah are a disguise for the Torah’s deeper meanings, the Torah’s essential truths. The stories, say the kabbalists, make Torah more accessible and comprehensible. Might the same be true for the decorations we use to cover sacred space, holy people, and sacred text? Might the costumes we drape upon them allow us to better access and understand their true power and connection to the divine?
We think now of ourselves. Purim is upon us. We are busy dusting off costumes and planning our own disguises. The Purim masks we wear do not only draw attention to silly outer costumes, but also to what we are hiding underneath. Might these costumes, in all their silliness, point to something much truer underneath?
The disguises we wear on Purim might be a far cry from the vestments of priests and Torah, not to mention the craftsmanship of the mishkan, but they make accessible the same inner truth: Dwelling right beneath the surface of each one of us is a divine spark that animates our life. Burning within each one of us is a soul that has the capacity for deep wells of compassion and kindness. The costumes we wear on Purim can barely conceal our inner resources of healing and power, of grief and joy, of resilience and flexibility.
One student quickly answered, “A disguise!”
I responded, “Ok, good. And what’s another word for disguise?”
“A costume!” they replied emphatically.
The words “disguise” and “costume” were not the first words that come to my mind when considering priestly vestments. But, these associative definitions have stuck in my mind the past few weeks and have been insistently whispering an important link between this Torah portion and the holiday of Purim, which begins Saturday night.
There is a clear link in the Torah between the decorations made for mishkan or the Tabernacle (meant to be the dwelling place for God), which were described in last week’s parashah, and the vestments made for the priests in this week’s portion. Indeed, our Torah scrolls of today are dressed in much the same way as the ancient priests were, thereby connecting text to people to God.
And what if all of these vestments are simply disguises? Costumes masking something underneath? What, we might wonder, is being hidden?
Jewish mystics teach that the stories of the Torah are a disguise for the Torah’s deeper meanings, the Torah’s essential truths. The stories, say the kabbalists, make Torah more accessible and comprehensible. Might the same be true for the decorations we use to cover sacred space, holy people, and sacred text? Might the costumes we drape upon them allow us to better access and understand their true power and connection to the divine?
We think now of ourselves. Purim is upon us. We are busy dusting off costumes and planning our own disguises. The Purim masks we wear do not only draw attention to silly outer costumes, but also to what we are hiding underneath. Might these costumes, in all their silliness, point to something much truer underneath?
The disguises we wear on Purim might be a far cry from the vestments of priests and Torah, not to mention the craftsmanship of the mishkan, but they make accessible the same inner truth: Dwelling right beneath the surface of each one of us is a divine spark that animates our life. Burning within each one of us is a soul that has the capacity for deep wells of compassion and kindness. The costumes we wear on Purim can barely conceal our inner resources of healing and power, of grief and joy, of resilience and flexibility.
Sometimes when we dress up something seemingly ordinary in something seemingly extraordinary, we are invited to see that thing differently. To see it anew. This is the fun and power for Purim. Disguise yourself well. And enjoy the costume.
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1 comment:
Thanks for helping me figure out the costumes that Mark and I may wear for Adult Purim. There is nothing like fifth graders to set us straight.
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