February 24th, 2018 — Shabbat Tetzaveh
Rabbi David Kasher
Do Jews care about beauty? Jewish tradition is obsessed with ethical and spiritual virtues, but seems to place little emphasis on aesthetics. There is one place in the Torah, however, where beauty takes center stage: in the description of the garments of the High Priest. There is even a legend in the Talmud about how the splendor of those clothes once saved the Jewish people. Hidden between the lines of this tale are deep insights about how we regard other cultures, and how we wish to be seen.