Projecting Purpose and Building Belonging with Clothes

During my most recent read of Parashat T'tzaveh, I surprised myself by immediately thinking of Meryl Streep. God prescribes Aaron and his sons will be priests and be provided outfits for "dignity and adornment." God details the specific, artistic way each piece should be crafted, how they should be embellished, and specific design pieces.

But why did I think of Meryl Streep?! God is describing these sacral vestments and all I can picture is God standing before Moses, offering a monologue similar to Streep's in "The Devil Wears Prada." Miranda Priestly, played by Streep, stands before Andy, played by Anne Hathaway, and gives her a scathing monologue about fashion. Andy, who cares little about fashion, doesn't understand the subtle differences between accessories. Priestly lectures Andy about how blue is not just blue, it's cerulean. She goes on to explain how fashion is thoughtful and intentional and pieces are artfully put together.

I began to consider what role clothing plays today in our everyday lives and our URJ congregations and camps. Clothes send so many messages. In his podcast, "The Psychology of Us," Professor RJ Starr calls this "enclothed cognition," which "captures how the clothes we wear can affect our mental processes and emotional state." He explains that our clothing sends messages to our own minds and bodies, changing the way we act, walk, talk, or think about ourselves. When we lounge around the house wearing sweats and a t-shirt, we act differently than when we put on a business casual or formal outfit. Our brain notes the clothes and their messages, and we act accordingly. Starr tells us why we may feel differently about ourselves and that others may view us differently while wearing certain clothes, but all of this seems to really be mostly about inclusion and acceptance. This includes self-acceptance as well as the acceptance of others.

Starr highlights that clothes send messages to those around us as well, either about who we are, who we would like to be, or how we want to be perceived. Our brains are constantly taking in hundreds (if not thousands) of pieces of information, so they categorize things to make sense of them. Therefore, having priests wear beautifully adorned and thoughtfully designed clothing and accessories makes a statement: these people are important and have an important job.

T'tzaveh also made me think about Kamala Harris. Her pantsuits have become an iconic part of her public persona, making her recognizable just by her garb, much like the priests and their ornate outfits. Much like Kamala Harris's choice to wear an outfit that would serve specific purposes, we get an exhaustive list of all the pieces of the priests' outfits, with verse upon verse about the ornate details that should go into every item. Every piece differentiates the High Priest from the community and reminds him of his responsibility to lead the people. Every detail is important, intentional, and vital to his holy work. Similarly, Harris made waves with her typical pantsuit and Converse shoes, sending a message that she was ready to dress formally and get to work, but was still grounded. Her choices sent messages to others as well as herself.

Harris's choice of pantsuits is also an intentional message in politics, a field dominated by men. Harris writes in her recent memoir, "107 Days:"

As trivial as it may seem, women are still judged on all this [their clothing]. Get it wrong in one direction, you're a frump. Go too far in the other, you're vain and frivolous. Like our tone of voice or our uninhibited laugh, it has the potential to be noted ahead of the consequential matters we're engaged in, be it national security or a billion-dollar infrastructure deal.

Harris's choice of pantsuits seems to help other folks categorize her as someone who is powerful, someone who gets things done, someone who can be in charge of important national matters. One way she implied she could be trusted with these responsibilities was through her clothing choices.

Female rabbis are often spoken to about their clothing, being told they should dress differently or that they should wear specific types of clothes on the bimah, while male rabbis are almost never spoken to about their clothing.

What if we challenge ourselves to never make assumptions about folks based on their clothes? 

For some people, their choice of clothing may only have to do with what fits best on their body or what feels best on their skin. Some folks choose their clothing based on what is tolerable to them if, for example, they become overloaded by the sensory feeling of specific materials or clothes with tags. Financial constraints can also play a role in folks' choice of clothing. Sometimes, allowing folks to wear things that may not always seem to fit the venue can be a beautiful moment of inclusion. It may simply mean sending the message that folks should come to us as they are most comfortable and in a way that feels authentic to them.

I wonder what other messages we can send to our community members about the clothes they choose to wear in our spaces. I wonder how we can build the world in which we hope to live, one outfit at a time. Can we recognize that folks are sending messages with the clothes they wear while also recognizing that other factors often come into play? The best thing we can do is recognize what we see and think as we approach every situation with curiosity. Finally, I wonder what else we can learn from God's detailed instructions about these intricately designed clothes for the high priests.