T'tzaveh - Priestly Vestments

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I was pleasantly surprised when I realized that this week's parasha is T'tzaveh, as it got me thinking about what a Hebrew priestess could wear to embody her sacred role. I envisioned something other than "dignity and adornment," but instead a garment that would constantly remind her of her purpose—to draw near to the divine presence not only in holy spaces but also in caring for the vulnerable, the grieving, and those in need.

The inspiration struck me while I was reading about Shinto and came across the shimenawa, a rope used to demarcate a sacred area. It occurred to me that a simple rope could be a fitting symbol for a priestess to wear. A loose belt, reminiscent of tzitzit, could serve as a tangible reminder of her aspiration to seek and connect with the divine.

Interestingly, ancient Egyptian goddesses were sometimes depicted wearing a belt that doubled as the hieroglyph for "rope." Symbolically, the rope could bind us to the sacred, acting as a tether between us and the divine.

On the Kohenet website, Jill Hammer wrote an enlightening article about a lost letter of the Hebrew alphabet—a letter that resembled a rope. She describes the ghayin as a symbol of what we have missed in our inherited spiritual traditions. Its twisted cord-like shape represents the umbilicus, the concealed truths of our maternal lineage, and the vital connection to the sacred that we must rediscover in every time and place.

In my quest to understand the symbolism of serpents as a representation of the goddess, I eventually made a fascinating connection: the serpent's resemblance to an umbilical cord. Looking at an image of a fetus connected by an umbilical cord, we can visualize ourselves floating in the vast expanse of space, oblivious to our origin. The cord would serve as a gentle prompt to remember our source. It's worth noting that the conflation of two words ('crafty' and 'naked') occurred because we lost the letter ghayin.

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Unlike the ornate vestments of ancient priests described in the text, our cord would not need to be elaborate. The parasha mentions pomegranates and bells adorning the hem of the priest's robe, but our role as contemporary kohanot differs from that of ancient kohanim. Today, priestesses can hail from any of the twelve tribes, or in the case of converts, from the Tribe of Sarah.

While the idea of incorporating a bell is intriguing—drawing inspiration from the ringing of bells or clapping at a Shinto shrine to capture the attention of the shrine's kami, or even the High Priest wearing a bell upon entering the Holy of Holies—I believe that the priestess's belt should not attract the gaze of others. Instead, it should serve as a personal reminder of her sacred duty and connection to the divine.

Women Weaving in the Temple Complex (templeinstitute.org)