Shabbat
Shalom!
I have always had an interest in fashion. You might have figured that out already from
the hot pink yarmulkes.
I have always felt that how a person dresses tells a
lot about who they are and that every article of clothing has a story to tell.
This afternoon’s Torah portion, Ki Tisa, describes a
veil that Moses used to wear because his face glowed after his encounters with God.
The Torah does not tell us whether the veil was hot pink. But I figure there is a fifty percent chance
it could have been, because it had to be a color that would distract people
from that glowing face.
As if that isn’t enough, this morning’s portion of
Tetzave goes into great detail about the clothing worn by Aaron and the priests. So between these two portions, this Shabbat
is basically like New York Fashion Week for Jews.
The priestly clothes were extremely exotic and
included a tunic, a turban, and a sash.
For me, that’s a pretty classy fashion statement. But it could use a little something.
If I were designing an outfit for our ancient leaders, I would
include platform shoes to give them height, a cool shiny gold vest, and of
course, I would never design an outfit without throwing in a hot pink
scarf.
Clothes can often tell us a story about who someone
is. For example, people who wear bright colors seem to be more cheerful. As a cheerleader. I know that most
cheerleading outfits tend to be bright and colorful, which matches our spirit.
For some people, a simple necklace can tell us a lot
about them. For example, two years ago
my grandmother gave me a necklace with a Jewish star, which I am wearing today
My tallis also tells a story, as well as making a
great fashion statement. It belonged to
my uncle Walter, who wore it as his Bar Mitzvah a few years ago.
And today, my dad, who was unable to celebrate a bar
mitzvah back when he was growing up in Kiev, is wearing my grandfather’s tallis.
So I can appreciate the fact that I have
the freedom to be able to wear this today, knowing what my family has been
through.
My tallis, as you can see, is white with blue and gold
trim. Blue and white are Israel’s colors
– and I have relatives in Israel. I also
have relatives in Ukraine, whose flag is blue and gold. So this tallis reminds me of my family
heritage and my Jewish roots.
Any discussion about fashion this week has to include
the holiday of Purim, a holiday when Jews dress up in costume. We wear masks on Purim. Masks hide your face but in some ways they
also allow your true personality to shine through. Clothing plays an important role in lots of
Jewish holidays, including Yom Kippur, where it’s customary not to wear
leather, and Shabbat, we put on our best clothes to welcome in a very special
day.
So as you can see, clothes are very important to
becoming a Jewish adult. So that is why
I feel it would be a mitzvah for my mom to take me shopping next week.
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