In this week’s parashah the Torah commands the preparation of the Bigdei Kehunah that the Kohanim wore in the Mishkan and the Bais Hamikdash. These garments, which were for Aharon and his sons “lechavod ulesiferes”, sanctified the Kohanim and made them suited for the service in the Mikdash, as it says (Shemos 28:3): “V’asu es bigdei Aharon lekadsho lekahano Li.”
The Bidgei Kehunah contain deep and esoteric secrets, and the commentaries expound on the spiritual significance of each and every garment. At this time, I want to address the eifod, one of the eight garments of the Kohein Gadol, which, as Rav Shmelke of Nikolsburg pointed out, is numerically equivalent to amen (with the vav.)
On the upper edge of the eifod, it was woven together with a belt that was called the “cheishev ha’eifod” through which the Kohein would tie the eifod to his body. The חשב האפוד Rav Shmelke says, alludes to the thought that a person must have when he prepares to fulfill the mitzvah of answering amen (Divrei Shmuel Parashas Tetzaveh).
Indeed, planning and thought are basic conditions for answering amen according to halachah. When a person dedicates thought to the great virtue of answering amen, he pays attention to answering amen according to halachah for every brachah said around him. He even rises early to merit to answer amen after those who recite Birchos Hashachar in shul. A person who does this is sanctifying himself like the Kohein Gadol who dons the אפוד, and also wraps himself in a protective layer that envelopes his body like the eifod.
I thought to add that the חשב האפד alludes not only to the unique thought that precedes the answering of amen, but also the importance of answering amen, of which Chazal said (Devarim Rabbah 7a) that there is nothing greater than this to Hashem. Moreover, the fact that one of the begadim of the Kohein Gadol alludes to the obligation of answering amen according to halachah indicates its importance.
We can also learn from another one of the bigdei Kohein Gadol – the choshen that was connected to the eifod – about the importance of answering amen. The sixth of the twelve stones that were embedded in the choshen was the יהלום which is also numerically equivalent to amen. Indeed, the amen is like a diamond – just like a diamond is small in size but great in value, so, too, amen, a word of just three letters, has inestimable value.
All that we can do is internalize these concepts, and on a practical level, hold each amen very dear. We will rise to answer amen to those who recite Birchos Hashachar in shul, and by doing so we will be sanctified like the Kohein Gadol wearing the eifod, and we will even envelop ourselves with a protective layer that will wrap us like a protective vest.
Good Shabbos
Yaakov Dov Marmurstein
ת.ד 102 בני ברק | פקס : 03-5055919
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