Tetzaveh / Shabbat Zachor
Reflection by Rabbi Ariel Hendelman
How do we wear our practice?
"In this Parsha we get a beautiful and detailed description of the garments worn by the Kohen Gadol. These garments were worn specifically when the Kohen Gadol would be performing the ritual rites in the Mishkan and also in the Temple.
There's particular detail paid to the twelve stones that adorn the breastplate, which correspond to the twelve tribes. There's lapis lazuli, amethyst, agate, sapphire and more.
The stones can be a metaphor for meditation practice itself.
Our practice can be beautiful.
It can be simple, like a stone.
It can be grounding, through the simple dedication of returning to our practice every day, returning to the breath or other anchor in any moment.
As the stones accompanied the Kohen Gadol, so there is a sense of a spiritual companionship that practice offers us. In this simple accompaniment we find ourselves centered. We find ourselves remembered, in this week of Shabbat Zachor, the Shabbat of Remembrance. And we find ourselves ready to meet the uncertainty of the world.
Shabbat Shalom.”