FEBRUARY 22 • 2024 | 37
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Why? Maimonides gives
this explanation: “In order
to exalt the Temple, those
who ministered there
received great honor, and
the priests and Levites were
therefore distinguished from
the rest. It was commanded
that the priest should be
clothed properly with the
most splendid and fine
clothes, ‘holy garments for
glory and for beauty’ …
for the multitude does not
estimate man by his true
form but by … the beauty
of his garments, and the
Temple was to be held in
great reverence by all.” Guide
for the Perplexed, III:45
The explanation is clear,
but there is also a hint of
disdain. Maimonides seems
to be saying that to those
who really understand
the nature of the religious
life, appearances should
not matter at all, but “the
multitude,” the masses, the
majority, are not like that.
They are impressed by
spectacle, visible grandeur,
the glitter of gold, the jewels
of the breastplate, the rich
pageantry of scarlet and
purple and the pristine
purity of white linen robes.
In his book The Body
of Faith (1983), Michael
Wyschogrod makes a
stronger case for the
aesthetic dimension of
Judaism. Throughout
history, he argues, art and
cult have been intimately
connected and Judaism
is no exception. “The
architecture of the Temple
and its contents demand
a spatial thinking that
stimulates the visual arts
as nothing else does. It
must be remembered that
among the many artifacts
past civilizations have left
behind, those intended
for ritual use almost are
always the most elaborate
and aesthetically the most
significant.”
Wyschogrod says that
postbiblical Judaism did
not, for the most part, make
outstanding contributions to
art and music. Even today,
the world of religious Jewry
is remote from that of the
great writers, painters, poets
and dramatists. To be sure,
there is a wealth of popular
religious music.
But by and large, he says,
“our artists tend to leave the
Jewish community.” This
he believes represents a
spiritual crisis.
“The imagination of the
poet is a reflection of his
spiritual life. Myth and
metaphor are the currency
both of religion and poetry.
Poetry is one of the most
powerful domains in which
religious expression takes
place. And the same is true
of music, drama, painting
and dance.”
Rav Abraham Kook hoped
the return to Zion would
stimulate a renaissance
of Jewish art, and there
is a significant place for
beauty in the religious
life, especially in Avodah,
“service,” which once meant
sacrifice and now means
prayer.
ART CAN MOVE US
An immense body of recent
research into neuroscience,
evolutionary psychology
and behavioral economics
has established beyond
doubt that we are not, for
the most part, rational
animals. It is not that we
are incapable of reason, but
that reason alone does not
move us to action. For that,
we need emotion — and
emotion goes deeper than
the prefrontal cortex, the
brain’s center of conscious
reflection. Art speaks to
emotion. It moves us in
ways that go deeper than
words.
That is why great art has
a spirituality that cannot
be expressed other than
through art — and that
applies to the visual beauty
and pageantry of the service
of tabernacle and Temple,
including the robes and
sashes of the priests. There
is a poem in the reader’s
repetition of Musaf on Yom
Kippur that expresses this to
perfection. It is about mareih
cohen, the appearance of the
High Priest as he concluded
his service and emerged
from the Holy of Holies:
As the brightness of the
vaulted canopy of heaven,
As lightning flashing from
the splendor of angels,
As the celestial blue in the
fringes’ thread,
As the iridescence of the
rainbow in the midst of
clouds,
As the majesty with which
the Rock has clothed His
creatures,
As a rose planted in a garden
of delight,
As a diadem set on the brow
of the King,
As the mirror of love in the
face of a bridegroom,
As a halo of purity from a
mitre of purity,
As one who abides in secret,
beseeching the King,
As the morning star shining
in the borders of the East —
Was the appearance of the
[High] Priest.
And now, we can define
the nature of the aesthetic
in Judaism. It is art devoted
to the greater glory of God.
That is the implication of
the fact that the word kavod,
“glory,” is attributed in the
Torah only to God — and to
the cohen officiating in the
house of God.
Judaism does not believe
in art for art’s sake, but in
art in the service of God,
giving back as a votive
offering to God a little of
the beauty He has made in
this created world. At the
risk of oversimplification,
one could state the differ-
ence between ancient Israel
and ancient Greece thus:
where the Greeks believed
in the holiness of beauty,
Jews believed in hadrat
kodesh, the beauty of
holiness.
There is a place for the
aesthetic in avodah. In the
words of the Song at the
Sea: zeh Keili ve-anvehu,
“This is my God, and I will
beautify Him.” For beauty
inspires love, and from love
flows the service of the
heart.
The late Rabbi Lord Jonathan
Sacks served as the chief rabbi of
the United Hebrew Congregations
of the Commonwealth, 1991-2013.
His teachings have been made
available to all at rabbisacks.org.