The Final Change of Clothes

Parashat Aḥarei Mot begins with a description of the service of the High Priest on Yom Kippur.

The High Priest entered the Holy of Holies only as part of the service of Yom Kippur. There are three spheres of sanctity: time, place and man. When the High Priest entered the Holy of Holies, these three spheres converged.

During the Yom Kippur service, the High Priest changed between the “white garments” (four priestly garments, made exclusively of linen) and the “golden garments” (an additional four garments, which were made of dyed wool and golden threads as well as linen). The order of changing garments was as follows: the High Priest ritually rinsed his hands and feet, removed the garments, immersed himself in a mikve, changed garments and again rinsed his hands and feet.

Rabbi Shimshon Raphael Hirsch notes that the final ritual rinsing of hands and feet was when the High Priest changed from his Temple garments to his own clothes at the end of Yom Kippur. Thus, says Rabbi Hirsch, this final change of clothing is actually part of the Yom Kippur service. In a sense, Rabbi Hirsch suggests, this final change of clothing is the essence of the Yom Kippur service. If everything the High Priest has done remains behind in the Temple, he has accomplished nothing.  The service of the Temple has meaning only when it is applied in concrete life outside the Temple. “That which is striven for in the holy garments must wait for its true meaning for what is accomplished in secular clothing.”