The kohen gadol’s robe – the me’il – had a series of bells along the bottom, that rang as the kohen gadol walked. The Torah commands:ונשמע קולו בבואו אל הקודש ובצאתו ולא ימות – “His sound will be heard when he enters the sanctuary and when he departs, so he shall not die” (28:35).
The Ramban notes that it not customary for people of stature to have bells on their uniforms, that make noise as they walk about. The reason why the kohen gadol wore bells, the Ramban explains, is so that יכנס לפני אדוניו כאילו ברשות – he will come before the Almighty “with permission,” so-to-speak. The ringing of the bells symbolized the kohen gadol’s requesting permission before entering the Mikdash to serve Hashem. The Ramban cites in this context Esther’s message to Mordechai explaining her reluctance to approach Achashveirosh and plead on behalf of the Jews (Ester 4:11):
כל עבדי המלך ועם מדינות המלך יודעים אשר כל איש ואשה אשר יבוא המלך אשר לא יקרא אחת דתו להמית, לבד מאשר יושיט לו המלך את שרביט הזהב וחיה.
Nobody was permitted to come before the king without first receiving permission. Similarly, the kohen gadol needed to request permission to come before Hashem by ringing the bells on the bottom of his me’il.
The sefer U’l’sitcha Elyon develops this point further. He comments that unlike human beings, who need to be informed before somebody comes into their home or into their room, Hashem does not need to be informed. He obviously knows who is coming and when. Seemingly, then, there is no reason for the kohen gadol to request permission, as though notifying Hashem of his desire to enter the Mikdash. However, the kohen gadol needed to announce his entry not for Hashem, but for himself. A person cannot just step into a place of sanctity without pausing and reflecting. The kohen gadol “rang” so that he would stop for a moment and recognize that he was now entering the sacred site.
This applies to our shuls and batei midrashos, as well. We should not walk into a shul or beis hamedrash casually, on our phones, laughing with a friend, without pausing for a moment to reflect on what we are now doing, that we are about to speak to the Creator. We need to put our minds in the right place before running in and starting to daven.
The Torah says that the kohen gadol’s bells would ring not only בבואו אל הקודש, when he entered the Mikdash, but also בצאתו – when he exited the Mikdash. This might mean that before we leave shul or the beis hamedrash, too, we need to take a moment and think of how we will bring the experience with us wherever we go during the day. Our davening and learning must inform and inspire everything we do; therefore, we should not just run out, but first briefly pause and reflect.
Every one of our tefillos ends with עלינו לשבח. This tefillah serves as the mission statement of Jewish life, a statement that we reaffirm before we leave shul. That mission statement is לתקן עולם במלכות שד -י – to uplift the world in accordance with Hashem’s vision and plan. Before we leave shul to tend to our affairs, we take a moment to reflect upon the goal of everything we do – to elevate the world and bring glory to the Ribbono Shel Olam. (Parsha Perspectives)
