Wearing our Judaism well

The 14th century Rabbi, Yaakov ben Asher, codified Jewish law in a compendium called the Tur (short for Arba Turim, the ‘four columns’) which became the basis for the subsequent authoritative code of Jewish law known as the Shulchan Aruch. This was a momentous event in the history of Judaism’s rich legal tradition. I find it fascinating that the name of this voluminous work is derived from this week’s Torah portion “And you shall put a mounting of stones in it; four columns of stone…”(Ex. 28:17). The context is a description of the priestly vestments and the features of the breastplate to be worn by the high priest. Why derive the name for a legal collection that prescribes behaviors that span the totality of Jewish life from this seemingly arcane aesthetic detail? Perhaps to imply that how we live as Jews has everything to do with how we wear our Judaism. Purim costumes this weekend represents our annual deviation from our normative garments that both reflect and inform our values. Naming an entire code of Jewish law in honor of the central feature of priestly fashion suggests that all of Jewish behavior orbits around the dignity with which one is robed.
The recent parade of public apologies from professional athletes to political leaders has produced a new genre of media ritual. Contrition is good for the soul; but when tightly manipulated by p.r. handlers it doesn’t even make for good ratings. Integrity requires an alignment between the soul and the surface. What we wear may or may not say something about a sense of fashion, but the clothing lessons of this week’s Torah portion and Purim holiday suggest that garments stand for more than manikins and window dressing. How we wear our values – from the holidays we celebrate to the ways we eat, speak, sleep, and spend our money – the author of the ‘four columns’ reminds us, is, was, and always can be Divinely fashionable.