Welcome to fashion week, Torah style! Many readers who have not read the full Torah before will be surprised to learn that this week’s Torah portion – Tetzaveh – largely deals with costuming. After receiving instructions for the building of the holy vessels, we must now clothe the priests that serve in the mishkan (and later in the Temple). Therefore, there are detailed descriptions of the garments worn by the high priest Aharon and his sons. Notably, one of the materials used is the mysterious Techelet.
Techelet has been a controversial issue of study for some time now, with scholars debating over what exactly it is. Most agree it is a form of blue or indigo, likely made by dying fabrics with material extracted from some kind of marine animal. There have been various people over the years who have claimed to know the source of techelet, and some who claim to be making true techelet even today. For an interesting history of those claims, but also a discussion on why the color blue is so special to Jews in particular, I recommend reading Gadi Sagiv’s Jewish Blues. In addition to the wonderful biblical tie-in surrounding techelet, it covers a history of Jewish use of blue (both forced and voluntary) in clothes and ornaments through various time periods.
Why an entire Parsha dealing with fashion? In Judaism, even the material and the mundane can be elevated to serve God. A priest with improper garments, no matter how holy his thoughts and pure his actions, is not fit to serve. We must pay attention and take care of our bodies and the world God gave us. For fashionista’s like myself, imaging what the choshen stones loeekd like provides an outlet for this part of ourselves. Just as God intended.