Pekudei – For Whom The Bell Tolls

Parshat Pekudei

“For Whom the Bell Tolls”

By: Rabbi Jeffrey H. Miller

(In memory of the 49^th yahrzeit of my father, Avraham ben Yosef, A”H)

No man is an island,
Entire of itself.
Each is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.
If a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less.
As well as if a promontory were.

As well as if a manor of thine own
Or of thine friend’s were.
Each man’s death diminishes me,
For I am involved in mankind.
Therefore, send not to know
For whom the bell tolls,
It tolls for thee.

John Donne

 

The מעיל, the “coat” worn by the Kohen Gadol, was made of bright blue wool.  The other garments making up his ensemble were white, purple and crimson.  Some of the clothing were linen; others were wool.  When fully dressed, the Kohen Gadol was certainly “loud” on the eyes.

The Kohen Gadol was also loud on the ears since a series of small, golden bells were sewn on the hem of his outfit.  These bells made a persistent, clanging noise as Aaron walked about performing the religious service.  So important were the bells that the Torah declares:

It shall be on Aaron when he performs the service, and its sound shall be heard when he enters the Holy before the Lord and when he leaves, so that he will not die.   Shemot 28:35

וְהָיָ֥ה עַֽל-אַהֲרֹ֖ן לְשָׁרֵ֑ת וְנִשְׁמַ֣ע ק֠וֹלוֹ בְּבֹא֨וֹ אֶל-הַקֹּ֜דֶשׁ לִפְנֵ֧י ה וּבְצֵאת֖וֹ וְלֹ֥א יָמֽוּת

Quoting the Midrash Tanchuma, Rashi notes that Aaron (and any subsequent High Priest) would be subject to the Divine death penalty if he dared to enter the Holy of Holies with incomplete regalia.  But the context and placement of the verse seems to be referring to the bells only, rather than the entire outfit.  See, e.g., Orech Chayim.  It was absolutely essential that Aaron’s coat clanged as he moved about.

The Rabbis were profoundly concerned with getting the finished product to precisely match the pattern described in the Torah.  This proved difficult because the bells were not the only items sewn on the hem:

Ex. 39:22	And he made the robe of the ephod, the work of a weaver, completely of blue wool.	וַיַּ֛עַשׂ אֶת־מְעִ֥יל הָֽאֵפֹ֖ד מַֽעֲשֵׂ֣ה אֹרֵ֑ג כְּלִ֖יל תְּכֵֽלֶת:
Ex. 39:23	And the opening of the robe was turned inward like the opening of a coat of armor; its opening had a border around it so that it should not be torn.	וּפִֽי־הַמְּעִ֥יל בְּתוֹכ֖וֹ כְּפִ֣י תַחְרָ֑א שָׂפָ֥ה לְפִ֛יו סָבִ֖יב לֹ֥א יִקָּרֵֽעַ
Ex. 39:24	And they made on the bottom hem of the robe pomegranates of blue, purple, and crimson wool, twisted.	ויַּֽעֲשׂוּ֙ עַל־שׁוּלֵ֣י הַמְּעִ֔יל רִמּוֹנֵ֕י תְּכֵ֥לֶת וְאַרְגָּמָ֖ן וְתוֹלַ֣עַת שָׁנִ֑י מָשְׁזָֽר:
Ex. 39:25	And they made bells of pure gold, and they placed the bells in the midst of the pomegranates all around on the bottom hem of the robe, in the midst of the pomegranates.	וַיַּֽעֲשׂ֥וּ פַֽעֲמֹנֵ֖י זָהָ֣ב טָה֑וֹר וַיִּתְּנ֨וּ אֶת־הַפַּֽעֲמֹנִ֜ים בְּת֣וֹךְ הָֽרִמֹּנִ֗ים עַל־שׁוּלֵ֤י הַמְּעִיל֙ סָבִ֔יב בְּת֖וֹךְ הָֽרִמֹּנִֽים:
Ex. 39:26	A bell and a pomegranate, a bell and a pomegranate, all around on the bottom hem of the robe, to serve as the Lord had commanded Moses.	פַּֽעֲמֹ֤ן וְרִמֹּן֙ פַּֽעֲמֹ֣ן וְרִמֹּ֔ן עַל־שׁוּלֵ֥י הַמְּעִ֖יל סָבִ֑יב לְשָׁרֵ֕ת כַּֽאֲשֶׁ֛ר צִוָּ֥ה ה אֶת־משֶֽׁה:

Perhaps Bezalel, the master artist and craftsman, understood these instructions, but they do seem confusing and even contradictory to the reader.  It is a shame that the Torah does not contain pictures or diagrams since verse 25 implies that the bells were encapsulated by tiny, woven pomegranates of wool.  The very next verse, however, implies that the bells alternated with these pomegranates.  Was the sound of the bells muffled (if encapsulated) or merely dampened (if placed side by side) by pomegranates made of blue, purple, and crimson, twisted wool?

This dispute is carried through the age of the Rishonim.  Nachmonides insisted that the bells were surrounded by the small, pomegranates of wool.  With equal conviction, Rashi maintained that the pomegranates were strategically placed on either side, but not encased in, these colored, woven, fruit-shaped caps.

What is going on?

Given the severe punishment for going out without functioning bells, it is reasonable to conclude that the bells were more than a decorative finishing touch or fashion statement.  The Gemorah (Zevachim 88b) explains that each of the separate High Priest garments described in the Torah had a functional component beyond its visual splendor.  Each of the various pieces of the outfit ‘atoned’ for a different sin of the Jewish people:

• The tunic atoned for bloodshed (see the Joseph story, Genesis 37:31);
• The trousers atoned for forbidden sexual relations;
• The turban atoned for the arrogant;
• The belt atoned for thought of the heart;
• The breastplate atoned for improper judgments;
• The ephod (a sleeveless shirt) atoned for idol worship;
• The forehead strap atoned for brazenness.

As for the robe, the Talmud notes that it served to atone for לשון הרע, malicious, evil speech.  Rabbi Ḥanina pointed out the poetic symbolism of associating clanging bells with malicious speech:

It is proper that an item that produces sound, i.e., the robe, which has bells, shall come and atone for an evil sound

יבא דבר שבקול ויכפר על קול הרע

If the bells represented the sin of lashon hara, what function did the pomegranates serve?  Neither the Torah nor the Talmud (as far as I can tell) answer this question, but we know this about the pomegranate:

• Pomegranates are one of the seven species of Israel enumerated in the Torah along with wheat, barley, grapes, figs, olives, and dates;
• Pomegranates were among the food-stuff brought back by the 12 spies (BaMidbar 13:23)
• By tradition (though not scientifically accurate), pomegranates are said to contain 613 seeds, corresponding to the sum of Mitzvot; and
• For reasons unknown, I grew up calling them “Chinese apples”.

Pomegranates are the quintessential stand-in for Torah, Mitzvot and even the whole of the Jewish people.  Therefore, I suggest that the while the bells themselves were placed for God’s benefit, to seek His atonement for the sin of the malicious speech, the pomegranates represent our responsibility to cure this ailment.

The question that the Torah and Sages grapple with is this: how is evil speech best defeated?  Do we blot out the incessant noise of hurtful speech by completely surrounding it, muffling its sound so that only a faint remnant can be heard over the power and beauty of Am Yisrael, Torah and Mitzvot?

Or do we recognize that lashon hara is so great an evil that it stands side by side of Torah, and challenges even the faithful with every movement?  In this latter case, we cannot eradicate lashon hara but we can still render it harmless as it bounces off, and is counterbalanced by, our many Mitzvot.

The Torah commands that we hear a partially muted sound of bells.  Like Donne’s masterpiece, the bells toll for “thee”, the reader.  We, who do not get to hear this strange sound in our ears, must work even harder to hear it in our minds.  This sensation of dampened bells is the sound of the struggle between good and evil, between life and death, between kindness and intolerance, between words of Torah and painful words of hatred.

The pomegranates on the coat were a hodgepodge of colors; they were made of blue, purple, and crimson wool.  They were intentionally fashioned of twisted wool.  They were beautiful precisely because they were diverse and complicated.  But such beauty is fragile and easily compromised and corrupted by monolithic, shiny, loud hate.

How we accomplish the goal of silencing the noise of hatred is very much a matter of debate.  Maybe there is no single right way to combat evil speech, whether it is a stand-alone sin or a paradigm for all sins of the mouth and heart.  Perhaps some situations call for ignoring malicious speech and letting it simply bounce off of us, while other instances dictate a more proactive approach, like shielding ourselves from it.

What is not in dispute, though, is that we are duty-bound to turn the volume down on the deafeningly loud hate speech that surrounds us.  We do not stand alone, “an island entire of itself”.  We are members of a diverse, complicated, beautiful community.  We gain much from this greater family, and we have obligations to each other.

It is our sacred responsibility to God and community – the duty that accompanies the benefits of our citizenship – to confront hate with every movement we make, because unchecked, it can become so loud that drowns out the sounds of Torah.

Shabbat Shalom!