Purposeful Pomegranates
Having given the instructions for building the Mishkan and most of its utensils, Hashem now describes the vestments Aharon, the High Priest must wear to perform the service in the Mishkan. One of the garments was the full length techeilet/turquoise Robe over which the Breastplate would be suspended. All around its hem were to be turquoise, purple and scarlet wool pomegranates with golden bells bitocham/within/between them, a total of seventy-two of each. When Aharon would enter the Sanctuary to perform the service, and again when he would leave, the bells would be heard.
Just as bringing certain offerings atoned for one's sins, so were the various vestments meant to help in the atonement of sins. The robe was meant to help atone for the sin of loshon horo/evil, negative speech, and the seventy bells and pomegranates served as a reminder to the people of the seventy two shades of white through which tzora'as/"leprosy" manifested itself. Since tzora'as is the punishment for using one's voice in sin, the "voice" of the bells served as an appropriate reminder and atonement for the sin of loshon horo.
The Maharal poses the overriding question: We can understand how a sacrificial offering atones for one's sin. One imagines himself in place of the animal on the altar and being consumed, motivating him to repent. But how do the garments the Kohein Gadol wears generate atonement?
The Maharal continues. These garments are meant to confer honor and dignity on the Kohain Gadol. But when a layman sees these garments, he envisions himself as also deserving of dignity. In order to preserve his own dignity, he will refrain from sullying this image through sinning. He will divest himself of his soiled "clothing" and negative self image. He will want to appear dignified before the Kohain Gadol. By seeing the dignity of the Kohain Gadol in his priestly garments, he has an image of the dignity he can try to emulate and regain his self respect. He too will dress the part of an honorable, dignified person and elevate himself. As Rabbi Chaim Shmulevits points out, when you feel dignified, you will refrain from sinning because it conflicts with the dignified image you now have of yourself, and you will keep away from company that debases you to a sinning mentality.
The Robe itself was completely the blue of techeilet. Our Sages classic commentary on techeilet is that its color reminds us of the sea, which then reminds us of the sky, and ultimately leads us to remember God's Throne of Glory. How can these associations lead to atonement for loshon horo? In Vayomer Yehudah, Rabbi Kasbeh explains the psychological connections. People have a tendency to look at themselves and obsess over one or two flaws. This negativity is the source of their speaking loshon horo. They fail to look at the big picture of who they are, to acknowledge all their positive attributes. The sea, by its very expansiveness, forces one to take a larger view of what he sees. It helps us look at the larger picture of ourselves. Then we can see that, although I have some flaws, I am still created in God's image. I can work on myself and correct the negative. [Interestingly, the sound of gentle waves in the sea, not the scene, is often used to calm an overactive, usually troubled mind. CKS]
Noise is the result of resistance, writes Rabbi Tauber in his adaptation of the discussions of the Lubavatcher Rebbe. The greater the resistance between the objects, the louder the crash; the more receptive, the more silent is the encounter. Aharon himself was so attuned to God's presence; Hashem's voice would have been a silent, gentle whisper. But Aharon was the representative of the people who struggled to transcend their physicality and connect with God and fall into sin.
This leads us to understand the essence of the debate between Rashi and Ramban as to the placement of the bells and pomegranates. Rashi maintains that the bells were set alternating between the pomegranates. Ramban disagrees, and maintains that the bells were actually set within each hollow pomegranate. Ramban reasons that if they were indeed separate, the pomegranates should not have been hollow, but should have been solid as apples, the decorative choice for the Menorah.
Why bring apples into this debate? As later commentators enter the discussion, they remind us that Bnei Yisroel is compared both to an apple and to a pomegranate. The apple refers to Bnei Yisroel in its virtuous state, full and connected. The pomegranate, on the other hand, refers to the "empty among them" who may still be full of good deeds, but the deeds are all compartmentalized and do not affect his total person. He still remains spiritually hollow. The noisy bells represent this imperfect individual who is constantly struggling to transcend his emptiness. Thus, the bell represents the preliminary stage, the noisy inner struggle to transcend. You may never become the apple, but if you continue to struggle, the struggle itself is beloved to Hashem and is music to God's ears.
Clothes make an impression. When the Jews saw Mordechai leave the palace of Ahashuerosh dressed in royal attire with a crown on his head, the Jews of Shushan rejoiced, with gladness and joy, a feast and a holiday.
Do the garments themselves bring atonement? Rabbi Rivlin suggests that forgiveness is not automatic. The sinner must bring the sacrifices. But the kohein, wearing these garments, must be part of the process. They create a mystical aura that inspires the sinner bringing the sacrifice to work on himself and create change internally.
Rabbi Rivlin continues and suggests ways the priestly garments can influence us. He quotes the Klei Yakar that the Robe is made of techeilet to remind us of the sea reminds us that the waters of the sea [generally] break against the shore, and do not overflow it. Similarly, our words should not flow unimpeded out of our mouths, but should be stopped by our teeth and our lips. The sea also reminds us to be silent like the silent fish.
As the blue sea reminds us of Heaven we should be inspired to reassess our words, writes Rabbi Beyfus. Just as the Robe had borders, we need to create boundaries and borders to our speech.
The Alshich Hakadosh makes an interesting observation. The pattern at the hem was to put a bell between each of two pomegranates. While the bell is about making noise, the pomegranates are about silence, teaching us that both speech and silence have their appropriate places and times. But our silence should be twice as much as our speech.
When Aharon enters the Sanctuary to give voice to Hashem in prayer, when the bells give voice, that voice must not be tainted with loshon horo or other debased speech if it is to be accepted.
Hashem does not want us to live a life of silence, writes Rabbi Reiss is Meirosh Tzurim. But our voices must be entering in kedushah. As Purim approaches, we can look to Mordechai as a guide for appropriate silence and appropriate speech. Mordechai was a descendant of both Yehudah, the model of expressing thanks. and of Binyamin, the model of silence. As the Shvilei Pinchas notes, the stone representing Binyamin on the choshen/breastplate was called yesh-peh, literally translated as "has a mouth." According to tradition, Binyamin was aware that Yosef was alive, but he understood that he was meant to remain silent. He was the son of Rachel, who remained silent when her sister was substituted for her under the marriage canopy. Able to discern when each was necessary, Mordechai told Esther when to be silent and when she must speak up. The bells and pomegranates teach us that we must learn the proper balance between silence and speech. Interestingly, Rabbi Reiss quoting the Zohar Hakadosh notes that one could be afflicted with tzora'as not only for the sin of loshon horo, but also for the sin of remaining silent when speech was necessary, when you refrained from offering words of encouragement, for example.
The entire focus of Purim lies in the power of prayer, and our mouths must be purified. And when we leave the place of sanctity, whether the Mishkan or today's shul, we should take the experience with us. This is the month to refine and purify our speech in preparation for eating the matzah, the only food we actually are commanded to eat as a mitzvah in itself. [While we make a brachah if we eat other food, we have no obligation to eat anything else. CKS]
Listening to the reading of Megillah on Purim should be a transformative experience, writes Rabbi Biederman. We are commanded about mikra Megillah, not just the reading of the Megillah, but also the call of the Megillah. That hour calls out to us, be prepared for the heaven's opening to receive our prayers. Fully sense the Purim experience, the closeness of Hakodosh Boruch Hu listening to our voices.
The bells and pomegranates teach us the power of silence as well as the power of speech. [After all, as Onkelos translates, Hashem "blew into Adam's nostrils the soul of life, and Adam became a speaking, living being." CKS] The bells and pomegranates on the hem of Aharon's Robe inspire us to strive to achieve our potential, knowing that the very struggle to improve ourselves is beloved by Hashem. May Hashem give us the wisdom to know when and how to speak and when to remain silent.