The Tzitz and Divine Truth
Student Summaries of Sichot of the Roshei Yeshiva
Yeshivat
Har Etzion
Parashat
TETZAVEH
GUEST SICHA BY
RAV MOSHEH LICHTENSTEIN SHLIT"A
The Tzitz
and Divine Truth
Summarized by
Translated by
In our
parasha God commands Moshe concerning the priestly garments: "And these
are the garments that you shall make: a choshen and an efod and a
robe and a quilted undercoat, a miter and a girdle" (Shemot 28:4). We
immediately ask what about the tzitz (headplate)? The omission becomes
even more puzzling when we discover that the tzitz does, in fact, appear
later on: "And you shall fashion the tzitz of pure gold" (28:36). In
other words, if this is one of the garments that needs to be made, why is it not
listed in the original command?
The omission
can be understood by comparing the tzitz with a different garment the
choshen (breastplate). The choshen is fitted into the efod,
between its folds, such that it is not seen from the outside. The tzitz,
on the other hand, is worn on the forehead of the Kohen Gadol, and as such is
clearly visible to all. The choshen bears God's Name between the folds of
the efod, in a concealed manner, while the tzitz bears His Name
openly, in the very center of the tzitz on the kohen's head. The
tzitz is made of pure gold, while the choshen is attached by means
of plaited chains of gold i.e., a thin gold fiber that is spun together with
threads of blue, purple, and scarlet.
These
discrepancies tell us that there is a fundamental difference between that which
is symbolized by the choshen and that which is symbolized by the
tzitz. The tzitz represents absolute truth clear,
uncompromising, made of pure gold and openly bearing the Name of God. The
choshen, in contrast, represents the Divine truth as expressed in our
world: it is concealed, bearing the Name of God hidden within the folds of
history. The Torah omits the tzitz from the original command in order to
teach us that our world has no place for a command of absolute Divine truth.
Although there must be a tzitz, and it must be worn on the forehead of
the Kohen Gadol, the Torah cannot obligate us to give expression in this mortal,
human world to a truth that characterizes the World to Come. For this reason,
the choshen is included within the initial command to prepare the
priestly garments, but the tzitz is absent.
(This sicha was
delivered on Shabbat parashat Tetzaveh 5762 [2002].)
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