One day, the great Torah commentator, Rashi (Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki, who lived a thousand years ago in France), noticed a noblewoman riding by on horseback. She was elegantly dressed, and Rashi was struck by something about her. He watched as she rode by. Later, he wondered why he had paid so much attention to the lady. He couldn’t figure it out!
When Rashi came home that day, he was busy writing his commentary on Parshat Tetzaveh. He got to the part about the special clothes of the Kohein Gadol. When he tried to explain about the Eifod – the apron – he got stuck. He wrote: “I have not heard any explanation of its form...”
Suddenly, he remembered the noblewoman riding the horse. Aha! Now he knew. He had a feeling, deep down in his heart, that the Eifod of the Kohein Gadol looked something like the riding apron worn by ladies on horseback!
He wrote: “My heart tells me that it was something tied behind him... like a sort of apron... which the ladies of the nobility ties on when riding horses.” (See the Rashi for chapter 28, verse 4 of this week’s parsha.)
So that’s why he had noticed the noblewoman –- so that he could explain to the world exactly how the Kohein Gadol’s clothes were supposed to look. There’s a reason for everything!
