The parsha of Tetzaveh is one of the parshiot that is laden with detail. From which fabrics to use to how to layer the different garments, Tetzaveh is all about the clothing of the Kohanim and the Kohein Gadol (priests and high priests). Among the descriptions of the special uniform of the Kohain Gadol, the Torah mentions the tzitz, the showplate that was strapped around the turban-like hat of the High Priest.
“And you shall make a showplate of pure gold, and you shall engrave upon it like the engraving of a holy seal: Holy to the Lord.” And you shall place it upon a cord of blue wool and it shall go over the cap, and it shall be opposite the front side of the cap. It shall be upon Aarons’ forehead, and Aaron shall bear the iniquity of the holy things that the children of Israel sanctify, for all their holy gifts. It shall be upon his forehead constantly to make them favorable before the Lord” (28:36-28).
The idea of a gold plate sounds befitting for a high priest’s garb, particularly engraved with the words “Holy to Hashem.” Adornments to the head are important because of their visibility, and the Kohein Gadol should appear glorious and sanctified. But the third verse, pasuk 38, informs us that there was something far more significant about the tzitz, and it is easy to miss. After announcing that the tzitz rests upon Aaron’s forehead, the pasuk asserts that Aaron will bear the iniquity of the holy things that the children of Israel sanctify.
If you read that slowly, then you are probably slightly perplexed, or possibly assuming that something was typed incorrectly. (It was not.) The power of the tzitz when worn by the Kohein Gadol was to spiritually uplift that which Bnei Yisrael dedicated to Hashem – not to spiritually uplift Bnei Yisrael but the items that they brought!
Spiritual purity and impurity is a very complex concept, especially when applied to inanimate objects. A thing has no will and no intent. The person who owns the object does. Like certain forms of spiritual impurity, the intent of the possessor of an item can transfer to the item itself.
One might think that any object donated to the Mishkan or the Temple would have been given only with the best intentions; If not a heartfelt desire to connect to Hashem then at least an earnest will to fulfill a mitzvah. This is an ideal, but let's be honest about human nature. One can think of hundreds of situations when a good deed or a proper act has behind it a suppressed alternate emotion. This is not the person's primary motivator, although it can be, but rather those more subtle thoughts and emotions that a person usually refrains from speaking about.
For example, ideally everyone donated to the Mishkan with only the interest of building a dwelling place for Hashem. But, even voluntary offerings can come laced with alternative motives, such a desire to be seen making a donation or the urge to make certain that one gives more than one’s rival. Halevai (if it only could be) that we would not even consider that this would be an issue in the days of our Wandering in the Wilderness, and yet we know, from Parshas Naso, that having no competition in giving was one of the reasons the princes all brought the exact same gift to the Mishkan.
Rabbi Shimshon Refael Hirsch explains that “avon,” the Hebrew word for iniquity used in 28:38, infers something crooked. He goes on to explain that, “The positive proclamation Kodesh l’Hashem that radiates from the forehead of the High Priest over the whole of the Sanctuay gives every object in the Sanctuary the positive function of being Kodesh l’Hashem. It can remove a misconception by which, in certain conditions, sacred objects could be affected.…” The tzitz rests on the forehead, the place from which ideas could, metaphorically, be said to radiate, and the High Priest’s forehead is now adorned by a declaration of sanctification.
What relevance can this have for us today? We have no High Priest, and we have no Sanctuary. What we do have are continual mitzvos that are meant to draw us closer to Hashem, just as making donations to the Mishkan did. And intent can still be of wavering purity. For example, when a mishulach (tzedakah collector) comes to the door and one does not really want to deal with them right now, whether that means it is financially difficult to assist or they interrupted something important, most people swallow their annoyance and find the means to overcome the initial negative voice. A good deed done, but was it done because one wished to fulfill the mitzvah, one wished to help a fellow Jew, or was it done because one did not want to be thought of as stingy or rude?
We are all human. Most of us will always have to work to balance our desire to connect with Hashem against that more selfish voice, the voice of the yetzer harah, that wants to "get ahead" or preserve our image or a thousand other ulterior motives. From the Tzitz, however, we are reminded that our intentions are so significant that they do not affect only ourselves and the people with whom we interact, but even the possessions in our care.
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