Tetzaveh 5784: Dressing Up for Ourselves

By Rabbi Alex Freedman.

We all know that we are supposed to dress up and wear nice clothes for Shabbat/holiday services at shul. Why is that?

I think many people would answer: because everyone else is dressing up! Indeed, when everybody is dressing up for an event – any event – we feel out of place if we don’t match the attire.

But I think we must consider a deeper answer to this question. Optimally, we dress up for ourselves. We don’t dress up for others because synagogue – while there are certainly social elements – is primarily a religious experience. We don’t dress up for God because God is not swayed by the clothing we wear. Instead, we dress up for ourselves. That is, we recognize that the clothing we wear affects how we feel, and so wearing certain clothes prepares us better to encounter God and Torah at shul. 

I think we all intuit this. Were we to go to synagogue in our pajamas, we would feel tired and ready to sleep, not ready to pray. (Related to this, I always feel strange on the night of Purim when I am praying in some silly costume. To me, it feels off.)

The clothes we wear on our outside significantly affect how we feel on the inside. This is a core message from this week’s Torah reading, Tetzaveh. The focus of this portion is describing in elaborate detail, the special garments to be worn by the High Priest and ordinary priests while serving in the Mishkan sanctuary. Aaron the High Priest was to wear eight special garments, including a breastplate with all the names of the tribes. The Torah notes that it should go over his heart: “ Aaron shall carry the names of the sons of Israel on the breastplate of decision over his heart when he enters the sanctuary, for a remembrance before the Lord at all times” (Exodus 28:29). Aaron was the spiritual leader of the Israelites, and yet he had to wear not just one special garment in the sanctuary, but eight! It was the Torah’s way of having him prepare for the ultimate spiritual leadership role.

I remember hosting a Zoom town hall with the congregation about the first High Holiday services during Covid, when almost everybody was to stay home and use the livestream because it was considered physically unsafe for a large crowd to be in the building. Somebody asked a question in jest, “can I watch services on my couch in my pajamas?” We all chuckled. But then, on a serious note, I responded with a teaching: Of course you can wear whatever you like; no one will know and nobody will stop you. But consider wearing your shul clothes even on the couch because you will feel more prepared for services and connected to the prayers, for that is our prayer uniform. This is similar to the Halacha that on Shabbat we are supposed to wear special clothing, even away from services. Not to dress up for each other, but to dress up to honor the day itself.”