This week’s parsha is Tetzaveh which discusses the bigdei kehuna, the priestly garments. One of the garments was the meil-the robe. On the bottom edge of the robe were pomegranates made of different types of wool with bells placed in between the pomegranates.
The Ramban explains that the purpose of the bells was to announce the approach of the Kohen Gadol, to receive permission to enter the Heichal, the sanctuary of the King. Entering without permission incurred a penalty Chas v’Shalom.
If the Kohen Gadol needed the pomegranates and bells to enter, why did he enter on Yom Kipper, into the holiest chamber, the Kodesh haKadoshim without the robe? On Yom Kippur Hashem reveals His inner love for the Klal Yisroel. Because of this revelation of Hashem’s intimacy for us we were welcome without notice, and therefore the Kohen Gadol, the representative of Klal Yisroel, entered without the robe. During the rest of the year he wore that vestment as an announcement was necessary.
According to the Ramban, the bells were only a preparation to, not an actual service in the Temple. But since the bells rang throughout the avodah, the Kohen’s service, we must say that they also were part of it as well.
What did the pomegranates specifically symbolize, that they were used on the robe and not some other item? The Gemara explains that the pomegranate symbolizes the Jew far from Torah observance, and says that even the “reikanim shebach- those that are called empty” are full of mitzvos as a pomegranate is full of seeds. The Kohen Gadol served for all of Klal Yisroel, not just for Tzaddikim. The Kohen Gadol serves even for those Yidden who find themselves on the outer edge, the pomegranate on the very bottom of the robe. When someone feels very far from Hashem, when he draws close, it is with crying out and clamor. When someone realizes that he is in danger, he screams without hesitation. The Kohen Gadol represented these Yidden, Baalei Teshuva, with a ‘tummel’, the sound of the bells. With these bells he represented all Yidden from the highest to the lowest.
On Yom Kippur, all Yidden are like Malachim ad stand with Hashem as one, on the level of yechidah. No Jew feels far, all are close and feel Hashem’s intimacy. Therefore no bells are necessary, and the Kohen Gadol’s entry is with “kol dmama daka-with a still silent voice”.
The lesson for us is that we need to go out into the world and find Yidden and draw them close to Hashem and to Yiddishkeit. One might ask though, what is the necessity that it be with clamor and fanfare? The answer is that the time we find ourselves is ‘the period of the shuli ha’meil- the bottom edge of the robe’, ikvasah d’Meshicha. We need to sound the bells to get the attention of those that are profoundly distracted by perspectives, desires and ideologies that are the furthest possible distance from Yiddishkeit. A tummel is necessary just to enable the message to be heard. This is especially true today in an environment where nothing is quiet, there is no shame. To drown out the tummel of the goyishkeit we need to make a tummel in Kedusha. Through this may we merit to hear the “yitaka b’shofar gadol- the sounding of the great Shofar” announcing the arrival of the geula, now mamash!
(Likutei Sichos v. 16)