Reply To: Short & Sweet

Tezaveh: Public Servant

The בגדי כהונה were fashioned out of a surprising material: Shatnez. That’s right, they had threads of wool and linen woven together. Why do the Kohanim wear Shatnez while doing the Avodah?

R’ Shamshon Raphael Hirsch explains that Shatnez is only forbidden when it is worn for personal pleasure. For instance, one is really allowed to wear Shatnez if they are only checking the size of merchandise. Similarly, the Kohanim are not doing the Avodah for themselves; they are representatives of the entire nation.

But the temptation certainly exists for the Kohanim to let their special status get to their heads, and to let their own Kavod motivate their actions. So the very clothes that the Kohanim wear warn them: if you are only in this for yourself, not only is what you’re doing not a mitzva, but instead it actually becomes an aveirah.

לע״נ דוד חיים בן ישראל דוב הכהן
לע״נ ר׳ חיים דוב בן ר׳ בןציון שלום