In Pasuk Daled it says, אֵלֶּה הַבְּגָדִים אֲשֶׁר יַעֲשׂוּ חשֶׁן וְאֵפוֹד וּמְעִיל וּכְתֹנֶת תַּשְׁבֵּץ מִצְנֶפֶת וְאַבְנֵט וְעָשׂוּ בִגְדֵי קֹדֶשׁ לְאַהֲרֹן אָחִיךָ וּלְבָנָיו לְכַהֲנוֹ לִי:
What is an ephod?
Rashi explains that there is no tradition regarding what the ephod is but suggests that Ephod was something that the Cohen girded on his back and was about the width of a man's back. However, there is no clear, sure answer as to what it looked like.
What other possibilities are there for the Ephod looked like? What could it symbolize?
for what the ephod actually looked like, many tend to agree with rashi. the torah tells us it was gold and had crimson, blue and red wool braided and intertwined to the sides of the rim. there are 4 rows of 3 columns of stones in different colors, each symbolizing a different shevet. unlike rashi, many describe it as looking like a form of royal armor or even a gold torso shieldm, although since today there is no beit hamikdash, we cannot be totally sure to what it resembled.
ReplyDeleteThe ephod means a garment set apart for the priest. It was made of threads of blue purple and scarlet and linen. There were two shoulder pieces and there were gold rings that held the breastplate.
ReplyDeleteIn the first aliyah of Parshat Tetzaveh, Hashem orders the Jewish people to use the purest of the pure oils for the daily lighting of the Menorah. Moshe is told to instruct Ahron and his sons by dressing them up in special holy garments. The Torah describes the making of the Cohen Gadol's ephod-which is described as a reversed apron-like garment(tied in the front) which covered the back, and was studded with stylish precious stone shoulder straps. It was made of blue, purple, red-dyed wool, linen and gold thread.
ReplyDeleteIn Shoftim 8: 27 it says, "And Gideon made an ephod thereof, and put it in his city, even in Ophrah; and all Israel went astray after it there; and it became a snare unto Gideon, and to his house." The ephod here clearly does not refer to an article of clothing since it was made of gold. Rather it was some type of idol or piece of jewelry. This shows how an object can be used for evil, as in the case of Shoftim, or for good, as in this weeks parsha.
ReplyDeleteRamban says that it was a square a zeret long and a zeret wide. In it should have four rows of stones as described by the Torah. Each stone should be square and set in a setting of gold that encompasses it from below and from the four directions.
ReplyDeleteHe should engrave on the stones the names of the tribes according to their order of birth. Thus on the ruby, the name Reuben is engraved and on the jasper, Benjamin is engraved. At the outset, above Reuben, he should write [the names] Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and below Benjamin, he should write, שבטי 'ה so that all the letters are found there.The width of the ephod is the width of a person's back from shoulder to shoulder. Its length extend from one's elbows to his feet. It has two bands extending from it on either side with which it is fastened. They are called the belt of the ephod. The entire garment is woven with gold, sky-blue wool, red wool, scarlet wool, and linen with 28 threads as described with regard to the breastplate.