“Make sacred garments for Aaron your brother, for honor and splendor” (Exodus, 28:2). In these verses, the Torah describes in detail the special, magnificent, and sacred garments that the kohanim wore while serving in the Beit HaMikdash.
Yet all Jews are called kohanim, as it says: “And you shall be to Me a kingdom of kohanim and a holy nation.” Every son of Israel constantly serves the Almighty through his prayers, Torah study, and the commandments that fill our lives. Therefore, just as the kohanim did while serving in the Beit HaMikdash, every Jew should dress in a distinctive way so that it is apparent that he is one of the Creator's servants.
A Jew's clothing should be distinctive in three respects:
first, he should dress modestly, rather than as dictated by contemporary fashion, whose sole aim is to arouse passions and improper thoughts and desecrate all that is holy. Second, one must take care to avoid the Torah's prohibition concerning fabrics—that is, not wear a mixture of wool and linen, shatnez. The prohibition of shatnez is just as stringent as the prohibition of eating pork. And third, there should be a garment associated with the commandments, namely tzitzit, which is considered equivalent to all the commandments combined.
We think of clothing as something external and not all that important. But its significance is actually much deeper, which is why clothing plays an important role in serving the Almighty.
The natural purpose of clothing is to protect the outer part of a person—his body—from things that can harm him: cold, heat, and so on.
But in fact, clothing also serves to protect a person's inner self, and this is plainly obvious:
we see with our own eyes that someone whose clothing shows that he observes the Torah and the commandments finds it difficult to grow close to those who reject the Torah. This also protects him from various harmful influences, for how could he enter a restaurant that is not sufficiently kosher, or some other questionable place? All the more so someone who wears a rabbi's frock coat. This is no accident! Clothing possesses a holiness that protects a person from sin.
The first people to wear clothing were Adam and Eve, as it says in the portion of Bereishit: “And the Almighty made tunics of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them.” The Sages comment that the word עור(skin) also alludes to the word אור (light), and indeed, someone whose clothing meets the requirements of modesty and holiness is always dressed in “tunics of light.”
Adam and Eve's clothing was made by the Almighty Himself, and it consisted of “tunics of light.”
So anyone who takes care to make his clothing like that of Adam and his wife—modest garments and appropriate footwear—is enveloped from head to toe in the precious radiance of holiness.
All the more so a garment associated with a mitzvah, namely tzitzit. It is a true “tunic of light,” protecting against various dangers, just like the mezuzot that protect the doorways of the homes of Israel, and like the head covering that is our magnificent crown.
Prepared by Mrs. Leah Shukhman