A Kingdom of Barefoot Cohanim Prof. Brian Tice, B.Sci., M.Sci.

20 Feb 5776

I will eventually be coming around to this week's parashah, but I need to back up about

3 weeks to ramp into this.

Turn with me to Shemot (Exodus) 19, page 81 in Stern, starting with verse 4. This is

Hashem speaking.

4 'You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I carried you on eagles'

wings and brought you to myself. 5 Now if you will pay careful attention to what

I say and keep my covenant, then you will be my own treasure from among all the

peoples, for all the earth is mine; 6 and you will be a kingdom of cohanim for

me, a nation set apart.' These are the words you are to speak to the people of

Isra'el.

The Hebrew of that text forecasts that Israel will become a ים וגוי קדוש הנ a) ממלכת כ

kingdom of Cohanim and a set apart nation). This is the first, other than Malkhi-Tzedek,

that we encounter the notion of a democratized priesthood, that is, a priestly office that

extends beyond the genetic boundaries of the tribe of Levi. This is revisited again in 1

Kefa 2:4-9, which is on page 1516 in Stern.

4 As you come to him, the living stone, rejected by people but chosen by God and

precious to him, 5 you yourselves, as living stones, are being built into a

spiritual house to be cohanim set apart for God to offer spiritual sacrifices

acceptable to him through Yeshua the Messiah. 6 This is why the Tanakh says,

"Look! I am laying in Tziyon a stone, a chosen and precious cornerstone; and

whoever rests his trust on it will certainly not be humiliated." 7 Now to you who

keep trusting, he is precious. But to those who are not trusting, "The very stone

that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone;" 8 also he is a stone that

will make people stumble, a rock over which they will trip. They are stumbling at

the Word, disobeying it - as had been planned. 9 But you are a chosen people,

the King's cohanim, a holy nation, a people for God to possess! Why? In order

for you to declare the praises of the One who called you out of darkness into his

wonderful light.

That last verse begins to answer the question of what it looks like for us to be part of this

Kingdom of Cohanim, this Set Apart Nation of Israel: “But you are a chosen people,

the King's cohanim, a holy nation, a people for God to possess! Why? In order for

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you to declare the praises of the One who called you out of darkness into his wonderful

light.”

The way that we “declare the praises of the One who called” us “out of darkness into

His wonderful light” is to take upon ourselves the duties of the Priesthood which has

been expanded to include each of us, Levite Cohen or not. The first verse of this week's

parashah contains a single verb that encapsulates all that priesthood entails, a rare word:

the piel infinitive construct verb “l'kahen” (לכהן). It is used only three times in the entire

Tanakh (the other two occurrences being at Leviticus 7:35 and Ezekiel 44:13).

The first part of Exodus 29:1 is rendered by Stern: “Here is what you are to do to

consecrate them for ministry to me in the office of cohen.” The part of that which

renders our verb l'kahen is, “for ministry to me in the office of cohen” - not a very

verby-sounding translation, but it communicates the idea. The Hebrew verb means “to

minister as a priest” (all of that is expressed in one single word in Hebrew), but that

definition does not really give us a lot of detail. It really needs to be further unpacked.

Thankfully, Scripture unpacks it for us.

The duties of a priest are more deeply delineated in the verb pair found in Numbers 3:7-

8, 8:25-26, and 18:5-6. That verb pair is “avad” and “shamar.” Each of these words has a

range of meaning in isolation, but in tandem, used as a pair or as a binary verbal unit,

their meaning narrows to one of a strictly priestly context – a worship context. We can

actually trace this verb pair back all the way to Creation. Turn in your Stern with me to

page 2 (Genesis 2:15).

ADONAI, God, took the person and put him in the garden of 'Eden to cultivate

and care for it.

Those last two verbs are the verb pair we find in the duties of a priest: “cultivate” is

actually עבד (avad; to work, serve, or worship), and “care for” is the verb שמר (shamar;

to keep, guard, or protect). Fourth Century scholar Ephraim the Syriac commented that

“working and guarding” (avad and shamar) had to have a non-physical, spiritual

meaning, as there were no tools for plowing and no other people to act as robbers.

Targum Neophyti, a very early Aramaic commentary on the Torah, translates the verse,

“And Adonai Elohim took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to labor in the

Torah and keep its commandments.”1

1 Targum Neophyti dates to possibly as early as the late 1st or early 2nd Century CE and is halakhically

more Orthodox than Targum Pseudo-Yonatan, though not as Orthodox as Targum Onkelos... thus it presents a middle voice as far as the Targumic literature goes. In modern scholarship, John H. Walton promotes this understanding.

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Perhaps some of you are asking how this meaning could be in view in a passage which

presents a time prior to the giving of Torah through Moshe.

There are some indications in Genesis that Adam and Chavah already knew some part of

the Torah standards. G-d condemns Kayin’s murder of Hevel in Genesis 4:10-12... but

with no Torah standards which Kayin would have been expected to know and keep, what

would have been the basis for such a condemnation? In Genesis 6, Noach was able to

discern the clean animals from the unclean in order to board the correct number of each.

He knew the content of Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14 over a millennium before

Moshe's encounter with Hashem. One more? Genesis 26:5 (page 26 in Stern). In this

passage, God blesses Isaac on the basis of Avraham’s faithfulness to keeping

commandments. He says:

All this is because Avraham heeded what I said and did what I told him to do - he

followed my mitzvot, my regulations and my teachings.

Based on the application of the priestly verb pair of avad and shamar to Adam, we can

see him as being installed in the Garden (actually a Garden Temple) as Hashem's first

priest. Being pre-Levitical, he would have, like most of us, been of the Malkhi-Tzedek

Order.

The concept of the Garden as a Temple might be new to many of you. I got some of this

from a pair of scholars from the 19th Century named Paul Billerbeck and Hermann

Leberecht Strack from a work entitled Kommentar zum Neuen Testament aus Talmud

und Midrasch.2 Let's take a little side-journey through the Garden a moment and shed

some light on that concept.

We'll be back in Genesis 2 for the next few minutes. Page 2 of Stern. We'll begin at

verse 8.

ADONAI, God, planted a garden toward the east, in 'Eden, and there he put the

person whom he had formed.

2 Paul Billerbeck (1853–1932) was a late-19th and early-20th Century Hebrew Christian scholar who was

well studied in Judaism, and Hermann Strack (1848-1922) studied Talmudic and rabbinic literature under Rabbi Moritz Steinschneider (1816–1907). More recent works positing this line of thought include Jon D. Levenson, Sinai and Zion: An Entry into the Jewish Bible (New York, N.Y.: Harper Collins, 1985), 111–45, and G. K. Beale, The Temple and the Church’s Mission: A Biblical Theology of the Dwelling Place of God (Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press), 50–80.

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Notice that the Garden occupies only a portion of Eden. It was set "toward the east, in

Eden." Reading on:

Out of the ground ADONAI, God, caused to grow every tree pleasing in

appearance and good for food, including the tree of life in the middle of the

garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

The key phrase here is "the middle of the Garden" (or "midst of the garden" in some

translations). This refers to a specific location within the garden – just a portion of the

garden, which constituted only a portion of Eden. Jump over now to Genesis 3:8 –

They heard the voice of ADONAI, God, walking in the garden at the time of the

evening breeze, so the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of

ADONAI, God, among the trees in the garden.

This verse is understood by the Sages as indicating that there were appointed times for

Adam and Chavah to meet with Hashem, i.e. "the time of the evening breeze," and given

that the Rebellion of Adam occurred at a tree specifically located in the midst of the

Garden, this would be the appointed place. That Hashem was looking for Adam at this

place and at this time suggests that Adam is not keeping the appointment.

One more passage – Genesis 3:22-25 –

22 ADONAI, God, said, "See, the man has become like one of us, knowing good

and evil. Now, to prevent his putting out his hand and taking also from the tree of

life, eating, and living forever -" 23 therefore ADONAI, God, sent him out of the

garden of 'Eden to cultivate the ground from which he was taken. 24 So he drove

the man out, and he placed at the east of the garden of 'Eden the k'ruvim and a

flaming sword which turned in every direction to guard the way to the tree of life.

25 They were both naked (ערום), the man and his wife, and they were not

ashamed.

We see here that Adam and Chavah were cast out of the Garden of Eden, but not out of

all of Eden.

The keruvim mentioned in verse 24 are featured prominently in the curtain-work of the

Tabernacle, as we will see in next week's parashah, perhaps as a reminder that the

worshipper is entering a space from which Adam had been expelled for his

disobedience, a reminder to enter that space in a state of ritual purity and set-apart-ness,

and of due reverence.

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We see a fourth geographical region when we get to the expulsion of Kayin in the next

chapter... to a place outside of Eden, to the east of it, called Nod (which, appropriately, is

a Hebrew word meaning "wandering," since apart from Hashem and His standards, we

have nothing to guide our halakha or direct our spiritual path).

We can easily lay the floorplan of the Tabenacle and Temple overtop of this image of

Eden. When we do so, we find the place where the priest Adam goes to meet with

Hashem at the appointed time (the midst of the Garden) aligning with the place where

the Cohen HaGadol goes to meet with Hashem on Yom Kippur (the Holy of Holies).

We can draw back a little from there and see an alignment also between the rest of the

Garden and the Miqdash or Sanctuary. Moving out a bit further from there, we find

ourselves in the part of Eden not occupied by the Garden, or, in the Tabernacle/Temple

grid, the Outer Courts. The final region identified is the land outside of Eden, i.e. the

place of Kayin's exile from Eden. This correlates to what lies outside the Temple

complex altogether. When Adam sinned, he and his wife were expelled from the Holy

of Holies and the Sanctuary, but Kayin's sin got him cast out from the entire Temple

complex.

That is a simple walk-through of the Garden-Temple concept. Scholars have gone much

deeper with the detailing of this, but for the sake of time, I will point out just one more

consideration: it has been suggested that the Prophet Ezekiel saw this connection and

wrote of it in his description of HaSatan's Rebellion in the 28th chapter of the book

bearing his name (page 677 in Stern), verses 13-15 – but hold your place in Genesis 3.

13 You were in 'Eden, the garden of God; covered with all kinds of precious

stones - carnelians, topaz, diamonds, beryl, onyx, jasper, sapphires, green feldspar,

emeralds; your pendants and jewels were made of gold, prepared the day you

were created. 14 You were a keruv, protecting a large region; I placed you on

God's holy mountain. You walked back and forth among stones of fire. 15 You

were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, until unrighteousness

was found in you.

Equating "the Garden of G-d" in Eden with "G-d's holy mountain" (a term used

everywhere else it occurs in Scripture to refer to the Tabernacle or Temple) projects the

essence of "temple-ness" onto the Garden. Exodus 15:17 puts the first Temple on a

mountain designated as being identifiable with Hashem, and the future Temple is set

upon it in Ezekiel 40:2; 43:12; and Revelation 21:10.

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This one last verse from Genesis 3 will connect us to this week's parashah. Genesis

3:21 (back on page 4) –

ADONAI, God, made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.

A Jewish understanding of this verse, expressed as early as Rabbi Meir Baal HaNes3 in

the 2nd Century CE, is that Hashem determined what Adam would wear as priest (an

incorruptible body of אור, spelled aleph-holem waw-resh), and that he would be

defrocked upon expulsion, having that body replaced with one made of common,

perishable skin (עור, spelled ayin-holem waw-resh).

Those two words are almost homonyms in Hebrew – only different by one letter, and the

two letters are so close in sound that you can barely hear a difference in Classical

Hebrew and what difference there was has disappeared in modern pronunciation – so the

two words are very close in sound, but not at all the same in meaning. The first means

"heavenly or Divine light" and the second means "perishable skin." Not really close at

all, as it turns out. Let me flesh that out a little.

Gesenius's Hebrew Lexicon asserts that the primary meaning for עור is "human skin" and

that the verb translated "clothed" (לבש) can also mean "wrapped" or "enveloped."

Ephrem the Syriac (306-373 CE) insisted, "It seems most likely that when their hands

were placed over their leaves, they discovered themselves to be covered in human skin."

Iyov (Job) seems to have had the same understanding when he stated, "You clothed me

with skin and flesh" (10:11). Psalms tells us that HaShem is "clothed with glory and

majesty, wrapped in light as with a garment" (Tehillim 104:1-2).

Moshe's face shining after his encounter with Hashem in Genesis 34:35 was, as the text

suggests, a transference of a glimmer of that glory and majesty to Moshe. It is taught by

many of the Sages (not just Rabbi Meir and Ephrem the Syriac, but also Rashi, Targum

Onkelos, the author of Genesis Rabbah, etc.) that this constituted a partial restoration of

the "bodies of light" which Adam and Chavah forfeited by their disobedience.

A 3rd or 4th Century Aramaic commentary, Memar Marq remarks, "Moshe was clothed

with the Image which Adam lost in the Garden of Eden, and his face shone up to the day

of his death" (5:4).4 This isn't Scripture, admittedly; it's a commentary – but it is a very

3 Rabbi Meir Baal HaNes lived 139-163 CE and is reputed to have been the son of a convert to Judaism who

was descended from Emperor Nero (Talmud Bavli, Gittin 56a). He is credited with much of the work of compiling and setting to text the Talmud Bavli per Avraham Cohen, Everyman's Talmud (New York, N.Y.: E P Dutton & Co., 1949), xxv.

4 The first to teach any alternate understanding, as far as the present author could locate, was the heretic

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early commentary reflecting a very early understanding of the text which is before us...

so that is the value we can find in it. Like Moshe, we will have those incorruptible

"bodies of light" restored to us as well – not just our faces, however, but our whole

being. Rabbi Sha'ul alludes to this in 2 Corinthians 5:1-3 (page 1444).

1 We know that when the tent which houses us here on earth is torn down, we

have a permanent building from God, a building not made by human hands, to

house us in heaven. 2 For in this tent, our earthly body, we groan with desire to

have around us the home from heaven that will be ours. 3 With this around us,

we will not be found naked.

Let's examine what Sha'ul means here by "naked." Here, it is understood as "stripped of

our incorruptible bodies; or corrupted by the sin nature which translated to our mortality

in the Garden incident." Genesis 2:25 and the first part of 3:1 will illuminate this. It is on

page 3 in Stern.

They were both naked (ערום), the man and his wife, and they were not ashamed.

Now the serpent was more crafty (ערום) than any wild animal which ADONAI,

God, had made....

It is interesting that that word "crafty" in 3:1 is the exact same Hebrew word ערום which

is translated "naked" in the previous verse (2:25). The first instance, according to Rashi,

means "not bearing mortality or the shame of sin which begat us our mortal flesh," or

more simply "incorruptible;" and, the second (just seven Hebrew words later) means

"stripped of that state of being incorruptible." We see in Sha'ul's use of the word the

meaning as it is used in the second instance, i.e. in Genesis 3:1.

Back to 2 Corinthians 5, having inherited the flesh body earned for us by Adam's sin,

that "earthly tent," a particular uniform was established for the Cohanim in this week's

parashah. I told you I'd make it there. Please turn with me in your Stern to page 91,

Exodus 28:2-5 –

2 You are to make for your brother Aharon garments set apart for serving God,

expressing dignity and splendor. 3 Speak to all the craftsmen to whom I have

given the spirit of wisdom, and have them make Aharon's garments to set him

apart for me, so that he can serve me in the office of cohen. 4 "The garments they

are to make are these: a breastplate, a ritual vest, a robe, a checkered tunic, a

turban and a sash. They are to make holy garments for your brother Aharon and

Origen (184-254 CE), who wrote, "those were tunics of skin taken from animals" (Homilies on Leviticus 6.2.7).

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his sons, so that he can serve me in the office of cohen. 5 They are to use gold;

blue, purple and scarlet yarn; and fine linen.

As we see these garments described in detail, we will see how impressive and intricate

they are. I think it is fitting to read the remainder of the chapter with a focus on the

appearance of these majestic garments. The ephod and belt are described in verses 6-

14:

6 They are to make the ritual vest of gold, of blue, purple and scarlet yarn, and of

finely woven linen, crafted by a skilled artisan. 7 Attached to its front and back

edges are to be two shoulder-pieces that can be fastened together.

8 Its decorated belt is to be of the same workmanship and materials - gold; blue,

purple and scarlet yarn; and finely woven linen.

9 Take two onyx stones and engrave on them the names of the sons of Isra'el -

10 six of their names on one stone and the six remaining names on the other, in

the order of their birth. 11 An engraver should engrave the names of the sons of

Isra'el on the two stones as he would engrave a seal. Mount the stones in gold set-

tings, 12 and put the two stones on the shoulder-pieces of the vest as stones call-

ing to mind the sons of Isra'el. Aharon is to carry their names before ADONAI on

his two shoulders as a reminder.

13 Make gold squares 14 and two chains of pure gold, twisted like cords; attach

the cord-like chains to the squares.

Next comes the breastplate, verses 15-30:

15 Make a breastplate for judging. Have it crafted by a skilled artisan; make it like

the work of the ritual vest - make it of gold; blue, purple and scarlet yarn; and

finely woven linen. 16 When folded double it is to be square - a hand-span by a

hand-span.

17 Put on it settings of stones, four rows of stones: the first row is to be a carnel-

ian, a topaz and an emerald; 18 the second row a green feldspar, a sapphire and a

diamond; 19 the third row an orange zircon, an agate and an amethyst; 20 and the

fourth row a beryl, an onyx and a jasper. They are to be mounted in their gold set-

tings. 21 The stones will correspond to the names of the twelve sons of Isra'el;

they are to be engraved with their names as a seal would be engraved, to represent

the twelve tribes. 22 "On the breastplate, make two pure gold chains twisted like

cords.

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23 Also for the breastplate, make two gold rings; and put the gold rings on the two

ends of the breastplate. 24 Put the two twisted gold chains in the two rings at the

two ends of the breastplate; 25 attach the other two ends of the twisted chains to

the front of the shoulder-pieces of the ritual vest.

26 Make two gold rings and put them on the two ends of the breastplate, at its

edge, on the side facing in toward the vest. 27 Also make two gold rings and at-

tach them low on the front part of the vest's shoulder-pieces, near the join, above

the vest's decorated belt. 28 Then bind the breastplate by its rings to the rings of

the vest with a blue cord, so that it can be on the vest's decorated belt, and so that

the breastplate won't swing loose from the vest.

29 Aharon will carry the names of the sons of Isra'el on the breastplate for judg-

ing, over his heart, when he enters the Holy Place, as a continual reminder before

ADONAI.

30 You are to put the urim and the tumim in the breastplate for judging; they will

be over Aharon's heart when he goes into the presence of ADONAI. Thus Aharon

will always have the means for making decisions for the people of Isra'el over his

heart when he is in the presence of ADONAI.

And the remaining garments close out the chapter:

31 You are to make the robe for the ritual vest entirely of blue. 32 It is to have an

opening for the head in the middle. Around the opening is to be a border woven

like the neck of a coat of mail, so that it won't tear.

33 On its bottom hem make pomegranates of blue, purple and scarlet; and put

them all the way around, with gold bells between them all the way around -

34 gold bell, pomegranate, gold bell, pomegranate, all the way around the hem of

the robe. 35 Aharon is to wear it when he ministers, and its sound will be heard

whenever he enters the Holy Place before ADONAI and when he leaves, so that

he won't die.

36 You are to make an ornament of pure gold and engrave on it as on a seal, 'Set

apart for ADONAI.' 37 Fasten it to the turban with a blue cord, on the front of the

turban, 38 over Aharon's forehead. Because Aharon bears the guilt for any errors

committed by the people of Isra'el in consecrating their holy gifts, this ornament is

always to be on his forehead, so that the gifts for ADONAI will be accepted by

him.

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Notice that there is a requirement here for those who enter into the presence of Hashem,

the High Priests, to wear a head covering while on duty. This, incidentally, is where the

kippa comes from – we do not come before Hashem with an uncovered head because the

commanded state of dress of a worshipper in the Holy of Holies and Sanctuary (the

"Tent of Meeting") features a covered head. Remember that this was not just for Aharon

but also for his sons.

Continuing on with the reading:

39 You are to weave the checkered tunic of fine linen, make a turban of fine linen,

and make a belt, the work of a weaver in colors.

40 Likewise for Aharon's sons make tunics, sashes and headgear expressing

dignity and splendor. 41 With them clothe your brother Aharon and his sons. Then

anoint them, inaugurate them, and consecrate them, so that they will be able to

serve me in the office of cohen.

42 Also make for them linen shorts reaching from waist to thigh, to cover their

bare flesh. 43 Aharon and his sons are to wear them when they go into the tent of

meeting and when they approach the altar to minister in the Holy Place, so that

they won't incur guilt and die. This is to be a perpetual regulation, both for him

and for his descendants.

These are not burlap Friar Tuck frocks; they are comparable to royal robes and

dressings. In fact, we have a historical account in the Babylonian Talmud, Tractate

Yoma, Folio 69a, of Alexander the Great encountering a High Priest of Israel. The

Samaritans had petitioned him to destroy the Jerusalem Temple, and he had agreed to do

this. On his way there, however, the High Priest, Shim'on, met him on the road into the

Holy City appealing for mercy. Upon seeing him in full priestly dress, Alexander bowed

down to him. The Samaritans who were with him were in shock, asking, "Such a great

king as you are and you bow down to a Jew?" Alexander recognized these garments as

emblems of royalty, and the wearer as a representative of a King.

How does all this relate to our position in the Kingdom of cohanim? We too are given a

specific attire to don as Believers. We find this described in Ephesians chapter 6 (page

1464 in Stern). We'll begin reading at verse 13.

13 So take up every piece of war equipment God provides; so that when the evil

day comes, you will be able to resist; and when the battle is won, you will still be

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standing. 14 Therefore, stand! Have the belt of truth buckled around your waist,

put on righteousness for a breastplate, 15 and wear on your feet the readiness

that comes from the Good News of shalom. 16 Always carry the shield of trust,

with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the Evil One.

17 And take the helmet of deliverance; along with the sword given by the

Spirit, that is, the Word of God;

Many have equated these elements with Roman armor, but if you'll let me rattle just one

more traditional teaching of Churchianity, I want to push back on that today. I base my

challenge principally on Ephesians 6:11-12, which we did not read, but we'll read it now.

11 Use all the armor and weaponry that God provides, so that you will be able to

stand against the deceptive tactics of the Adversary. 12 For we are not struggling

against human beings, but against the rulers, authorities and cosmic powers

governing this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realm.

Let me suggest, based on what we just read, that perhaps this "armor" is more spiritual

than military, and that perhaps the "belt of truth" in verse 14 is more representative of

the high priestly belt of Exodus 28:8, that the breastplate of righteousness is the same

breastplate, symbolically, as the breastplate described in Exodus 28:15-30, and that the

helmet of deliverance in verse 17 of Ephesians 6 is the head covering of Aharon which

had inscribed on it "Qadosh l'Adonai" ("Set Apart for Hashem"). The sword of the

Spirit is identified as the Word of Hashem, the same as was central to the Temple

wherein the Cohanim labored.

It appears that verse 15 speaks of a foot-dressing, although the priests did not wear any

such thing but, rather, were barefoot. Let's look at that a bit closer. I will concede that

the priestly garments did not include foot-dressings. I think Shemot (Exodus) 3:5 and

Yehoshua 5:15 pretty well establish for us that we don't wear shoes when meeting with

Hashem. We can also find support in Yeshayahu 52:7 –

How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news,

proclaiming shalom, bringing good news of good things, announcing salvation

and saying to Tziyon, "Your God is King!"

He said "feet" – not "shoes." And, he spoke of those who "bring Good News, who

proclaim salvation." The Hebrew word for "Good News" is besorah. That is the

Gospel, which is exactly what is equated with the foot-dressing Sha'ul writes of in

Ephesians. Could it be that Yeshayahu 52, written 600 years before a Roman army was

even imagined, was the basis for Ephesians 6:15? That we are to bind our feet,

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figuratively rather than literally, with no man-made doctrines, but only with the Gospel

of Hashem?

There is more to the priesthood than that in which we dress ourselves, and the

"dressings" of Ephesians 6, I think, are emblematic of something deeper than robes and

tunics. There is a halakha, a lifestyle, to which these things point, and that begins with

the charge we are given in Ephesians 6:18. After we put on our vestiges, we are told

this:

... pray at all times, with all kinds of prayers and requests, in the Spirit, vigilantly

and persistently, for all God's people.

This is the picture of you and me in a Kingdom of Barefoot Cohanim.

Let us pray:

Avinu uMalkheinu, Our Father and our King:

Show each of us how to dress ourselves presentable to You, to be able to come into Your

presence with hearts that reflect the quality attributes of a High Priest who has

adequately prepared for coming before You on Yom Kippur... to be proper

representatives of You to others, as Cohen Shim'on was to Alexander the Great, and to

strip from our feet anything man-made, binding them with only the Gospel of Your Son,

our Messiah, in whose precious name Yeshua we pray and for whose glory we order our

halakha. Amein.