28 Feb TETZAVEH: A TALE OF TWO POTS

DEALING
WITH THE
TENSION OF
THE HUMAN
PERSONALITY
Linking the apron and the
breastplate
There is an intriguing mitzvah
(commandment) recorded in this week’s
Torah portion: “And they shall bind the
choshen (breastplate) by its rings to the
rings of the ephod (apron) … so that the
choshen shall not budge from the
ephod.”
The meaning of these words is this:
The choshen (breastplate) and the ephod
(apron) were two of the eight special
garments worn by the High Priest
(Kohen Gadol) while performing the
services in the Tabernacle. The choshen
was a breastplate set with twelve
precious stones, each inscribed with the
name of one of the twelve tribes of

Israel. It was worn on the breast, over
the heart. The ephod was an apron-like
garment, covering the lower back of the
body, from the waist to the ankles, with
a belt that tied in the front.
Two gold rings sewn on the ephod’s
belt lined up with two gold rings sewn
to the bottom corners of the choshen;
these were bound together with ribbons
of blue wool. It is of vital importance,
the Torah stresses, that the two should
remain securely fastened at all times
that the priestly garments are worn.
“The choshen shall not budge from the
ephod.”
But why? Why the insistence that the
breastplate and apron must be tightly
linked at all times? Why bother if they
are disconnected or only loosely
connected?
A tale of two garments
One answer, presented in the mystical
tradition, is deeply moving.

The two garments – the
breastplate seated atop the heart
and the apron hanging on the
lower back – represent the
“upper” and “lower” dimensions
of life, or the “forward” and
“backward” aspects of human
existence. The breast-plate
represented those individuals
whose hearts were aflame with
spiritual passion and ecstasy,
while the apron symbolized the people
who struggled with backward
temptations, the crass and lowly
impulses and dispositions.
This is not merely a distinction
between two types of people; it is rather
a distinction between two aspects
existing in each of our lives.
Few are the people who can be defined
as “breastplates” or “aprons”
exclusively. Most of us vacillate
between backward and frontward
tendencies, between lower and higher
aspirations. We celebrate moments of
light but we must also quarrel with
darkness, trauma, addiction, and
emotional prisons. At times life is a
cruise through a tranquil seabed, yet
at other times it consists of navigation
through turbulent waves, battle fields
and war zones. There are moments
we sense our calling, yet at other
times we yearn to discover our true
selves, we struggle to find our place
in the world. Crudeness, superficiality
and lowliness may at any moment
consume our multi-dimensional
personalities.
Hence, the Torah instructs us to
tightly link the breastplate to the
apron, “so that the choshen shall not
budge from the ephod.” We must
somehow learn to integrate the two
parts of the self, without escaping
into either element. Do not retreat,
the Torah is saying, into your “higher”
self and forget about your “lower”

self, for when the lower self re-
surfaces you might fall hard. On the

other hand, do not allow yourself to
be swept away by your lower self and
ignore your transcendental
aspirations, for such a life is likely to
leave you deeply thirsty and anxious.
You must learn the art of integration.
You must come to terms with the

truth that the “breastplate” and the
“apron” together constitute the very
objective of existence, to confront
darkness and transform it into light, to
create harmony out of the building
blocks of diversity.
Do you have holes in your life?
A story is told about an elderly Chinese
woman who owned two large pots.
Each hung on the ends of a pole, which
she carried every day on her shoulders
to fill with water from the stream located
at the end of the village. One of the pots
was complete and always delivered a
full portion of water; the other pot was
cracked and arrived home each day only
half full.
Of course, the complete pot was proud
of its accomplishments. It felt really
good about itself. The poor cracked pot,
on the other hand, was ashamed of its
own imperfections; it was miserable
that it could only do half of what it had
been made to do.
After six years of what it perceived to
be bitter failure, the humbled broken pot
finally opened its heart to the woman at
the stream. “I hate myself,” the cracked
pot cried, “I am so useless and valueless.
What purpose does my existence have
when each day I leak out half of my
water? I am such a loser!”
The old woman smiled and said,”Did
you notice that there are flowers on your
side of the path, but not on the other
pot’s side? I have always known about
your flaw, so I planted flower seeds on
your side of the path. Every day while
we walk back from the stream, you have
the opportunity to water them.
“For six years I have been able to pick
these beautiful flowers to decorate our
home. Without you being just the way
you are, we would have never created
this beauty together.”).