Rabbi Yoshiyahu Pinto’s talks are known throughout the Jewish world. They combine chassidic teachings and philosophy, along with tips for a better life. We have collected pearls from his teachings that are relevant to our daily lives. This week he comments on the Torah section in Shemot discussing the High Priest’s gold and white clothes.
Our holy Torah relates that the High Priest entered on Yom Kippur to serve in the Holy of Holies in his white clothes instead of his gold clothes. Our Sages teach us in the tractate of Rosh Hashanah (26a) that the reason for this is because gold recalls the sin of the Golden Calf and one may not use an accuser to be a defender. We do not use the High Priest’s gold clothes in the Holy of Holies which would recall the Golden Calf on Yom Kippur, but only his white clothes that symbolize our humility and submission to our Creator.
Another reason for the white clothes on Yom Kippur is because in a war, a person raises a white flag to show that he is surrendering. Moreover, when dressed in white, we resemble the dead who are buried in white shrouds. We express our submission by wearing white clothes and avoiding the use of gold that evokes an accusation and recalls the sin of the Golden Calf.
Our holy sages tell us in the tractate of Baba Batra (14b) that in both the Tabernacle and the Temple, the ark in the Holy of Holies contained the Two Tablets of the Covenant and the fragments of the first Two Tablets. The latter were broken by Moses on his way down from the mountain after he saw the people sinning with the Golden Calf. Our sages tell us that when the Israelites would go to war, they would take with them an ark containing the fragments of the first Two Tablets, so it would serve as a kind of amulet for protection.
But this seems to contradict what we said before. If the high priest wears white clothes on Yom Kippur and not gold clothes so as not to provoke an accusation over the sin of the Golden Calf, how could the Israelites possibly take the fragments of the Tablets to war?! Weren't the first Tablets broken because of the sin of the Golden Calf? After all, war is a time of judgment, a time of danger. They may lose the war and be slain. Disasters can happen. So why did they take the broken Tablets to war? Shouldn’t they have instead concealed them because the fragments also recalled the sin of the Golden Calf! If on Yom Kippur we avoid wearing garments with gold so as not to provoke an accusation against us because of the sin of the Golden Calf, all the more so we should conceal the broken Tablets of the Covenant - the very symbol of the great sin of the Golden Calf - at a time of war when we need a tremendous outpouring of mercy. How is it possible that precisely the broken Tablets aroused mercy for the Israelites in times of trouble?
There is a great principle here: a person should hold onto and remember the difficult times, the lowest and most ignominious moments of his life. He should elevate and strengthen them so they will be the edifice to help his soul rise, ascend and uplift itself.
The fragments of the Tablets are evidence that we did not behave correctly. We fell and lapsed, the Tablets were broken and we suffered great, deep and profound spiritual damage. During a war, we need to reflect on repentance and be close to God. This is the time to take the fragments of the Tablets that will remind us of our glory when we received the Torah. It was a time when "my soul departed at His word" (Song of Songs 5:6). We had achieved the greatest levels and then lost them because some Israelites foolishly followed the wickedness of the Egyptian admixture who enticed them to go after the Golden Calf. We take the fragments of the Tablets to remind us in the critical moments of the war, how devoted, holy and exalted a Jew should be with God.
A person has to take his difficult moments, his low moments, his moments of hard and bitter memories, and build them into a ladder on which he will climb and ascend. To rise from the difficult moments to great and sublime accomplishments.
That's why we take to war the fragments of the Tablets that came from the sin of the Golden Calf. We remember the terrible moments of failure and backsliding. The difficult moments when the Tablets of the Covenant were broken and God was outraged with His people Israel. The broken Tablets teach us to take this lesson with us everywhere. At difficult times, we will remember our low moments, from which we will learn to become stronger and rise to better things.
King David said (Psalms 56:9), "Put my tears in your flask." He is asking the Holy One, blessed be He: Take my tears, the difficult moments that have passed over me, and watch over them.
It is of great importance that a person’s difficult moments should always remain in his heart and go with him everywhere. They help him to remember to draw close to the Creator of the world, to become strong and to learn from them to do the opposite - to learn from one’s failings to change course, to do good, and to rise and ascend to holy, exalted levels.
May God help us achieve this.
This article was written in cooperation with Shuva Israel