"On its hem make pomegranates of blue, purple and crimson yarns, all around the hem with bells of gold between them all around" Exodus 28:33
February 18, 2016 11:52These decorative trimmings on the High Priest's blue robe are recalled to this day by the precious finials placed on the poles of a Torah scroll, which are called rimonim (pomegranates) and adorned with bells. Just as our sidrah tells us it was important to hear the High Priest moving about within the Temple, in the same way we are meant to hear the tinkling of the bells when the Sefer Torah is carried around the synagogue and show proper respect.
High Priests have long vanished from Jewish life, but the Torah, with its robe, breastplate and bells, is now our virtual High Priest.
Most commentators picture the bells alternating with the pomegranate tassels, as in the translation above, but Nachmanides notes that the text literally says the bells are within the pomegranates.
Many symbolic meanings have been attributed to these ornaments. The ancient historian Josephus tells us that "the bells signified thunder, and the pomegranates lightning" - the same heavenly manifestations that accompanied the revelation of the Torah.
The Talmud sees every item of the High Priest's vestments as atoning for a particular sin, so the tinkling of the bells atones for lashon hara, malicious gossip (Zevachim 88b).
The profound Chasidic Rabbi Yaakov Leiner of Izbitz sees the bells and pomegranates as two kinds of spirituality: a bell sounds through its emptiness and represents the ecstasy of one who is emptied of self and resounds only to the divine call. The pomegranate, on the other hand, is full of seeds, and for the Talmud already represents the ideal Jew who is full of mitzvot, good deeds.
The High Priest must rise to other-worldly fervour, but also come back down to earth by expressing that transcendent experience in the fullness of life, with practical acts of goodness.
Another modern Chasidic commentator, the Peninim Yekarim, Shimon Bezalel Neuman of Tarno, suggests that the golden bells represent those blessed with money, whose wealth is only meaningful when it is used to carry out good deeds.