The hem of the Kohen Gadol’s robe was adorned with golden bells that chimed as he moved about the Mishkan. The sound of these bells was of such significance that the Kohen Gadol’s very life depended on it: “Its sound shall be heard when he enters the Holy... so that he shall not die.”
What did the bells signify?
A person who senses his utter nothingness before G-d and serves Him with perfect humility can be aptly described as serving G-d with “silence”—a virtue and ideal to aspire to in the service of G-d.
But what about the person who feels distant from G-d, whose passions are unholy, or whose very sense of himself as an independent being separated from the G-dly energy that animates him creates distance between himself and G-d? Like a drowning man facing the horror of imminent death, the “distant” Jew kicks and screams, trying to escape his current state of detachment from G-d—the Source of all life. This Jew’s search for G-d is noisy and tumultuous.
The ringing of the bells reminded the Kohen Gadol that he was to represent all elements of Bnei Yisrael in his service, including those whose relationship with G-d is not yet at the level of perfect “silence.” By wearing the chiming bells on the lowermost hem of his robe, the Kohen Gadol symbolically “carries with him” even the furthest members of the Jewish community—those who relate to G-d not in silence, but with the thunderous rush of their scramble to return.
—Likkutei Sichos, vol. 16, pp. 338–339
