Clothing of Kohen Gadol--A Life Changing Lesson (11 Minutes)

1:41First and foremost, we understand right from the beginning to answer one person's question is that in chapter 28, verse 5, Hashem Yitbarach says they shall take gold, and turquoise, and purple, and scarlet wool, and linen. These are the different things that make the clothing of the Kohen Gadol. So here we see something peculiar. There is shatnez. While leaning, there is a rule in the Torah that if you wear wool and linen together, it's like you have fire on you. If you know one of your friends has, chas v'shalom, wool and linen at the same time, for example, if he has a jacket and you know for sure it has shatnez in it, you are obligated to take the jacket off of his back. Why? It's like fire. Every single second that he wears wool and linen is a sin from the Torah, not a rabbinical sin. It's a sin from Hashem. Wait, hold on a second. The Kohen Gadol, the biggest tzaddik in town, is wearing shaatnez. How could it be? Already here we see that he's special. He's different. It's like an island.

3:03The Beit HaMikdash was not an island, but in a sense, different rules apply in the Beit HaMikdash. You were allowed to light a fire on Shabbat in the Beit HaMikdash. Why? Because of the korbanot. It's like a different island; it's a different place. It's unique. It's not really of this world. When someone is a Kohen Gadol, he's partly in this world and partly in Olam HaBa. Different rules apply. Already we see that whereas an average guy like us is making a sin from the Torah by wearing shaatnez, he is making a mitzvah. They can make it sanctioned by Halacha. This is one aspect of the situation. Why different worlds have different rules. Why it’s going to go that way. So already we see something extraordinary. Next, we see that it says in verse 11 and... Jeweler's craft when it's talking about the ephod, yes, for the thing that he had over here, it talks about how it had the stones on the shoulders. And also later on, it talks about the breastplate. It says something we talked about last week in the Mishna, Avot, which says a jeweler's craft like an engraving.

4:25Assign it rings. Shall you engrave the two stones with the names of the sons of Israel? So, the two stones that the Kohen had on his shoulders had the names of the twelve tribes, but it says it's gonna be like an engraving. What do you mean "like"? Is it an engraving or is it not? I tell you, listen. Write me a letter with what? Something like a pen. Okay, is it a pen or is it a pencil? It's like a pencil. So it's a pencil then? No, no, it's not a pencil. It's like a pencil. It's like a pen, but it's like a pencil. No, no, you have to decide; you're driving me crazy now. Pick one: pencil or pen. Okay, it's a marker. No, no, no, it's like a marker. You have to pick one. Are you crazy? Are you in this world or in the other world? Which way do you have your hand? No, it's like. What's like? If you read the Hebrew and you understand it, you'll see the translation is the best they can do. Why? It doesn't say "like." What does it say? The two rocks will be opened. What does it mean "opened"? Like I spoke to you guys last week about the Shamir worm.

5:37Shamir worm made a mark. It made the mark that inscribed the names of the twelve shevatim, the twelve tribes. It looked like it was an engraving, but it wasn't an engraving. Why? Because an engraving takes away a piece of the material, a piece of the rock. When you engrave the wall, a small part of the wall will be lost and... The Shamir worm didn't engrave it; it looked like it engraved it, but in reality, it just opened it. If that means it opened it, it's like a laser. Like a laser. So here, you see what we learned in last week's Mishnah. It's like Hashem had it all planned out. So then you continue... It says Aaron, the Kohen Gadol, shall carry their names on these two rocks, which are on the shoulders. He should carry the names, meaning the 12 tribes, before Hashem on his shoulders as a remembrance. Wait a minute—did Hashem forget the 12 tribes?

6:52It says you should have the names of the Twelve Tribes. So when he comes in front of Hashem in the Kodesh HaKodashim, Hashem can see it and He remembers. What do you mean, He remembers? Did He forget them? So Chazal say that when God sees the names, He recalls their righteousness. He recalls the Twelve Shevatim, the Twelve Tribes, and He remembers all their righteous acts, all the good things that they did. All the amazing things they did in their entire lives. But then you can say, wait a minute, does Hashem really need to see the names in order to remember? Hashem remembers. He doesn't need to see anything to remember. So here the Mussar that we're learning is really not for Hashem. It's for us. Rabbi Yisrael Salanter one time brought a big fish to his Beit Midrash. Everyone is learning, but a lot of their learning they did from watching Rabbi Yisrael.

8:06They saw today Kevod HaRav, with the Ruach HaKodesh, has a giant fish with him too. Maybe he's going to bring the fish back to life. I don't know. So everyone's waiting to see what he's going to do with the fish. He puts the fish on the stand over there on top of the table, takes a ninja knife, and chops its head off. Everyone's looking. Okay, maybe he's going to put them back together now. And now, another piece off. Okay, he's making it even more difficult to put them together. He cuts them into little pieces. Okay, now everybody's very curious. Can he really put it back together? Quiet, not saying anything. So all the students hear and see this noise. They gather around the corner. I said, "You know, what are we gonna learn? Here's the magic. Well, what's happening?" And then Rav Achar Acharim looks at all of his students and says, "You see this fish? See what it used to be? Yeah. That's what's gonna happen to you if you don't learn Torah every day." Well, we said, "We didn't know. It's what we hear already. We're learning Torah." But, no, no, no...

9:21Seeing is believing, yet this phrase holds significant meaning. I have told you many things, but sometimes you need to see it to truly understand. Sometimes, a person needs to see someone pass away to believe in Gehinnom. They have near-death experiences and all types of hallucinations and so on. Sometimes Hashem has to kill you in order to make you do teshuva. Sometimes He has to make you sick in order for you to do teshuva. Sometimes He has to take all your money in order for you to realize that all the money came from Him in the first place. Sometimes He has to get you to go through all types of problems in order for you to realize He is the only solution. Seeing is believing. He says, "The names are going to be on his shoulders in front of Hashem as a remembrance. Why? Because of their acts. Every one of us is obligated to say, 'When are my acts going to be like their acts?' Why were their acts so good that Hashem engraved their names on the shoulders of the Kohen Gadol? The entire nation was saved because of the things they used to do."

10:38Did you ever do anything that was worthwhile? Did you ever do anything where anyone is going to be saved? If you haven't, it's time to do it. We need to get started. How long are you thinking, 500 years? It's time to begin. What are you, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70? It's time to start now.