Two Forms of Communication

Some people are great at receiving and absorbing inspiration from others. If you lack that talent, realize that G-d gave you the ability to discover your own inner jewel. TETZAVEH TETZAVEH

What was Etched in the Breastplate?

Among the eight garments the Kohain Gadol (the High Priest) wore when he performed the service in the Temple—described in this week’s parsha—was the Choshen Mishpat, the Breastplate of Judgment. This Breastplate comprised twelve jewels on which were engraved the names of the twelve tribes.

In addition to the names of the twelve tribes, there were other words that were etched into these twelve stones. There are two opinions cited in the Midrash as to what the other words were.

One opinion states that it also had the names of the Patriarchs. This opinion bases itself on a play on words: The Hebrew word for stones, Avanim is a composite of the two TETZAVEH words: “Av and Banim,” meaning father and children.

The other view states that in addition to the names of the twelve tribes, the Breastplate of the High Priest also contained the names of the jewels themselves.

This opinion is based on an alternate translation of the verse that prescribes the obligation to engrave the names of the Children of Israel: Instead of rendering the verse, “The names of the children of Israel should be on the stones…,” the verse is now rendered: “The [names of the] stones shall be together with the names of the children of Israel.”

Whenever there is a legitimate difference of opinion about the interpretation of a certain aspect of Torah, the Talmud invokes the principle: “Both opinions are the words of the living G-d.” This means that, while in actuality only one opinion may be historically accurate, both opinions are conceptually valid, each contributing a different moral and spiritual nuance.

TETZAVEH

Communicating through the Names of the Tribes

The Breastplate worn by the High Priest, served as an oracle. Whenever there was a major dilemma in the Land of Israel, the answer would be Divinely communicated via the Breastplate. Suppose the query was whether they would be successful in their battles against an enemy, the answer would show up by having the letters—that formed the answer—of the Breastplate illuminate.

The question we can ask is why would G-d communicate through the names of the Tribes? Weren’t there other ways for G-d to answer our questions?

To understand the dynamics of the Breastplate and its connection to the names of the Jewish people, we have to view G-d’s communication through these stones as His way of showing us that He has a healthy relationship with His people.

Frequently problems that arise in a relationship are caused by the lack of communication. When G-d responded to their questions, and was effectively TETZAVEH communicating with them, He was affirming that the relationship He has with Israel was solid.

To underscore that he was communicating with—not talking down to—us, G-d’s answer was channeled through the names of the Jewish people as they were etched in the precious gems. G-d was commenting on the condition of the Jewish people—that they were gems, worthy of His love and closeness.

Counting Diamonds

The Lubavitcher Rebbe had a custom to personally distribute dollars to thousands of people from all walks of life who would line up for hours every Sunday. When a relatively young woman reached the Rebbe and realized that the Rebbe—who was then in his late eighties or early nineties—was alert and spry, she remarked to the Rebbe in amazement: “I’m so much younger and I’ve been standing on line for a few hours and I’m so tired, how do you stand on line for so much longer and not tire?

The Rebbe answered with a fatherly smile:

TETZAVEH

“When one counts diamonds, you don’t get tired.”

What Makes us so Precious?

The question can be asked. What is it that makes us so precious?

And to this we have two answers. One answer is that the link that has been forged by fathers (and mothers), who passed down the teachings of Torah to the next generation have made us into precious jewels. The true definition of (precious) stones (Avanim) is father and children—together. We can then become the vehicles though which G-d communicates through us and to us.

But not every Jew was born into a family that kept up the chain of tradition. Circumstances of exile that are beyond our control have severed or strained the spiritual bonds with our past. In these circumstances one may think that the Jew is no longer capable of being a conduit for G-d’s communication.

The second opinion therefore teaches us that there are times that the breastplate has all TETZAVEH the names of the tribes without the names of the fathers and nevertheless it remains intact and G-d communicates through it no less. Instead the name of the tribes stand together with the names of the gems, as if to say that every Jew—even one who is so far removed from the past— retains his jewel status. And while we acquire some of our holiness from our forebears, we possess a reservoir of G-dly energy within our own souls that is no less potent, provided we write the names of the gems next to our names, i.e., we appreciate that we are gems.

Polishing the Diamond

A diamond must be polished for it to display its exquisite beauty.

The Jewish people have gone through the most unbearable persecution and we steadfastly remained loyal to our identity as Jews. That certainly qualified as polish.

As we stand now at the end of the painful exile, all of our individual faults notwithstanding, we are a most precious people because the diamond in the rough has TETZAVEH been polished and set into the most beautiful gold setting. And while we may not see the jewel aspect of every Jew it is because we are not connoisseurs.

The message for our times is clear. Some of us can point to our connection to the past as the source of our strength. Others, who do not have this overt connection to the past, are no less worthy. Indeed, they are all diamonds.

All of us are thus capable of achieving the same goal—getting G-d to respond to our needs, including the most pressing need, to bring an end to exile and all of the negative energy it brings, and to usher in the Age of Moshiach.

TETZAVEH

TETZAVEH

From the book Light from the Future: Parshas Tetzaveh by Rabbi Heschel Greenberg, published by the Jewish Discovery Center.