When Hardware Tells you that you are a Gem

 Everything in the Holy Temple was glorious. The building itself, each piece of furniture was a beautiful piece of art made of precious materials, and even the utensils were made of silver and gold.  The Kohanim (priests wore magnificent clothes, especially the Kohen Gadol, (High Priest) who wore eight beautiful garments.  As the Torah states (Shemot 28:2):  You shall make holy garments for Aharon and his sons for honor and glory.”

The central garment that the Kohen Gadol wore was the Choshen, which for some reason is commonly translated as Breastplate.  A more accurate translation would be heart covering, as the Torah states:  It shall be on Aaron’s heart.”  The Choshen was made of intricate weaving of four fabrics, blue, purple and red wools plus linen, each interwoven with fine gold thread.

The reason for all this magnificence in the Temple, as explained by a great medieval sage in the book “Sefer Hachinuch,” is that human nature is such that we are affected by what we see.  People coming to the Temple were seeking spiritual inspiration.  The awe inspiring scene of the magnificent building and furnishings, as well as the garments of the Kohanim, especially the Kohen Gadol, helped uplift the visitor and have them recognize the unique greatness of this place.  This would, in turn, inspire the person to “tune in” to the holiness and lift themselves to a lasting, higher spiritual level.

In addition, each of the garments had a spiritual function, to atone for transgressions or to evoke Hashem’s mercy.  The Choshen (“breastplate”) had a unique, miraculous function.  It was a rectangular piece of material, and when folded, which is how it was worn, it was square.  On the outer part of the Choshen, there were twelve gold settings, and each setting contained a different precious stone.  Each of the stones was engraved with the name of one of the tribes.  The stones therefore contained all of the Hebrew letters.  

The Choshen was folded upwards, with the fold at the bottom, and inside the fold there was a parchment with the explicit name of Hashem.  This parchment gave the Choshen its miraculous power.  When there was a major decision that had to be made for the community, for example when a Jewish king needed to decide whether to go to war, the Kohen Gadol would ask Hashem the question.  The words of the answer would light up and, the Rambam says, protrude from the Choshen, and the prophetic Kohen Gadol would reveal the answer.

So this brings us to the first metaphor.  After the first Temple was destroyed and the second Temple was built, the parchment with Hashem’s name was not available, so the letters on the gemstones did not light up. Nevertheless, the Kohen had to wear the Choshen, because it is a requirement for him to wear all eight garments in order to perform the service.  In other words, they had the hardware but not the software.  

Continuing on this theme, the garments a person wears can be compared to the accessories on a computer.  (Thanks to Rabbi Rice for this metaphor.)  Garments are what allow a person to interface with the world.  Just as a computer processor does all the work, but cannot interface with us.  It is the screen, the keyboard, the mouse and other accessories that get the message to us.  The central garment of the Kohen Gadol, the one he wore over his heart, conveyed a message to the world.  Every single one of us is a gem, a precious stone.  The Kohen Gadol, through his garment interface with the world, is telling each of us, you and me, that we are gems in Hashem’s eyes.  So be happy, believe in yourself and your ability to shine with the light of goodness and holiness.

  

There was a teacher of young students who would always say a string of strange words when the kids would misbehave.  They thought he was cursing them or something in a strange language.  One day a now grown up student asked him what he had been saying, and he told him that  he had been saying the names of the gemstones on the Choshen in Aramaic.  This helped him look past the current behavior and see the true, precious identity of each student in the class.

Soon, with the coming of Moshiach, we will see the third Temple in all its glory, including the Kohen Gadol with his magnificent garments, once again physically revealing how precious each and every person is in the eyes of Hashem.