Shemos: 29: 29. The holy garments that are Aaron's shall be for his sons after him, to be exalted through them and invested with full authority through them.
What do these garments represent and how can we make use of them even today? What is it we wear each day morning evening and noon? It is our thoughts. When we are careful to surround ourselves with thoughts of Hashem we reach a state of mind that is grounded in holy connection above. Then through that holy connection our prayers may come forth for good. The highest thought that we may have is our service to Hashem. In this sense it represent Aaron or the Kohain ha gadol- (the high priest)
Therefore every thought that contemplates Hashem is by definition holy. The more we bring this holiness into our lives through continuous attention the holier our experience will be. We will ‘see Hashem everywhere.’
Shemos: 29: 44. I will sanctify the Tent of Meeting and the altar, and I will sanctify Aaron and his sons to serve Me [as kohanim].
When your thoughts are sacred uplifting rising to meet Hashem in everything you do then everything become imbued with this sense of completion, of union of the all encompassing connected nature of the world. Your world becomes sanctified and continues to be so as you serve Hashem. In this instance the priests are serving Hashem and they in their holy garments and duties refer back to our Torah studies and sense of mitzvoth that we perform each day.
Shemos: 29: 45. I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel and I will be their God.
Hashem is ever present when our thoughts are turned towards him. Once you make up your mind to persist in your attention those thoughts of holiness produces others and so on and so forth. In this way the children of Israel (your thoughts) have at their center focus Hashem.
Shemos: 30: 7. Aaron shall make incense of spices go up in smoke upon it; every morning when he sets the lamps in order, he shall make it go up in smoke.
The incense that burns and goes up in smoke upon the altar represents our yearning for connection above. This yearning is coupled with our devotion symbolized by the lamps set in order each morning. This may also be compared to the opening blessings of the Morning Prayer filled with gratitude then followed by a series of prayers culminating with the Psalms, and finally the pinnacle of our devotion the SHMA.
Shemos: 30: 8. And when Aaron kindles the lights in the afternoon, he shall make it go up in smoke, continual incense before the Lord for your generations.
The thing happens during the Mincha prayer culminating this time with the Aleinu prayer. Our yearning is evident through the saying of the Shemoneh Esreh lifting our prayers heavenward and then giving thanks for Hashem’s greatness and the fact of his being in our lives continuously.
What takes place at both of these times of day is the transformation of the impure into the pure. In the morning we have the residue from the evening, which is why we say Modeh Ani to thank Hashem for giving us another day. Then we wash our hands removing the negativity from the night’s sleep.
The Mincha prayer then serves the same purpose for purifying us from the day’s activities. In this way even though we do not have the incense offering or the menorah’s lights we can still affect the same attitude of connection as these rituals did. The purpose of learning about these things is once again another way to connect with Hashem in those days when the Mishkan was in full operation.
B”H for Mashiach in this moment bringing holiness complete forever.
For LOCAL EVENTS and information on Judaism and Kabbalah click here.
Comments