For some time, a small group has sought to place a barrier within Israel and between Israel and their Father in Heaven, whether in prayer without a partition or in military service without separation.
They advocate prayer without a barrier between the men’s and women’s sections, and military frameworks without separation between male and female soldiers, thereby undermining the sanctity of the camp, of which it is said in Deuteronomy, “And the camp shall be holy." This concept of a barrier is expressed in the High Priest’s sacred garments, specifically in the belt described in this week's Torah portion.
“And these are the garments which they shall make: a breastplate, an apron, a robe, a tunic of checker-work, a belt, and a sash; and they shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother and for his sons, to minister to Me" (Exodus 28:4). “And for Aaron’s sons you shall make tunics; and you shall make belts for them and headbands for glory and beauty" (Exodus 28:40).
The belt functions as a barrier in the Temple. The High Priest is commanded to gird his loins with it during his service. The Sages explain that not only do the sacrifices atone for Israel’s sins, but so too do the priestly garments. Rabbi Anani bar Sasson in Tractate Zevachim teaches that each priestly garment atones for a particular transgression. The belt atones for thoughts of the heart, sins connected to inner impulses and inclinations, and therefore it is worn around the area of the heart and forearms.
It atones for evil thoughts such as arrogance, lust, and contemplations of transgression that arise in the heart. The belt separates the upper body, symbolizing intellect, heart, and spirituality, from the lower body, which represents physical and material needs. For this reason, the priest must not wear the belt too high or too low, but opposite his hands, thereby forming a deliberate division between the upper and lower parts of the body.
The belt was extraordinarily long, thirty-two cubits, approximately sixteen meters. The Jerusalem Talmud (Yoma 8) records this measurement, and Rambam writes in Hilchot Klei HaMikdash (8:19): “Its length was thirty-two cubits, and its width about three fingerbreadths; one wraps it around and around."
The priest wrapped the belt around himself many times, demonstrating that it was not merely functional but symbolic. Its purpose was to teach the necessity of a barrier against the impulses of the heart, even in holiness, even in the Holy of Holies. The lengthy and deliberate wrapping symbolized the complete subjugation of bodily desire and created a spiritual “shield" for the priest.
In Mitzvah 395, the Minchat Chinuch explains that the priest would feel his arms touching the belt from above and around much of his body’s circumference. The extended wrapping embodied the restraint of physical will and formed a spiritual barrier against the inclinations of the heart.
Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook, discussing synagogues without partitions, wrote that we must not belittle this firm foundation of communal sanctity. Synagogues, he argued, should not be built without a women’s section. The practices of the nations, he warned, seek to erode sanctity and purity, especially in places meant to radiate holiness, such as synagogues and houses of study (Ma’amarim HaRav HaKook, p. 511).
Elsewhere, in Ein Aya on Berakhot 34, Rabbi Kook cautioned that one should not imagine that elevation lies only in lofty abstractions. Human emotions are boundless, and even awe of natural beauty can awaken base desires. The spirit must therefore be cultivated so that material impulses do not overpower moral integrity. The Torah’s goal is to elevate the soul from coarse pleasures to higher joys rooted in intellect, justice, and devotion to God.
According to Rambam (Hilchot Klei HaMikdash 1:1), the belt was girded before the turban. The Gemara in Zevachim explains that the turban atoned for pride and arrogance. Upon it rested the tzitz, a golden plate inscribed “Sanctified To God," fastened with threads of blue and placed upon the High Priest’s forehead. Yet before displaying the Urim V'Tumim (Hebrew meaning 'luminous and perfect', sacred articles placed within the High Priest's choshe or breastplate), the signs of the covenant between Israel and God, the priest first girded the belt, symbolizing the separation between the heart and its physical drives.
There is an apparent paradox in the belt. It was woven of wool and linen, a mixture ordinarily forbidden under the sin of shaatnez, combined fibers, yet in the Temple it was permitted. Although priestly garments contain physical elements, they are instruments of sanctification and atonement. The High Priest’s role unites diverse elements, so much so that a murderer confined to a city of refuge could leave only upon the High Priest’s death. Yet at the same time, the belt emphasizes distinction: between human and divine, between varying levels of sanctity, between what is demanded of creation and what is demanded of Israel.
Halacha, Jewish law, recognizes many types of barriers and partitions, each establishing physical or spiritual boundaries that define sanctity. In the synagogue, a partition relates to modesty and reverence. In the laws of Shabbat and its boundaries, known as Eruvin, virtual borders regulate movement and domain. The sukkah requires defined walls. The Temple contained graded levels of holiness: the curtain separated the Holy from the Holy of Holies; gates and boundaries on the Temple Mount determined who might enter. Distinctions exist between sacred and secular, between Israel and the nations, between Shabbat and the six days of labor, between the camp of the priests, the Levites, and the Israelites, and even regarding those sent outside the camp.
The Torah, and following it, the Sages, teach which barriers are necessary and which must be removed. “Do not approach here! Remove your sandals from your feet, for the place upon which you stand is holy ground" (Exodus 3:5). If God spoke thus to Moses, how much more so should this apply to anyone who presumes to alter an age-old tradition by removing a barrier in the holiest of places. Just as the priestly garments included a belt as a barrier, so too the Temple itself contained a curtain dividing the Holy from the Holy of Holies, between the candleabrum, the table, and the incense altar, and the Ark with the Tablets. Who would dare claim that all vessels are equal and that the curtain should therefore be removed?
Indeed, such a restoration occurred during the Festival of Sukkot. Because the commandment of rejoicing includes women, “And you shall rejoice on your festival" (Deuteronomy 16:14-15), a designated area was prepared for women in the Temple so they could observe the celebrations. Special balconies were constructed in the Women’s Courtyard so that all could participate in holiness and modesty. Through this arrangement, sanctity was preserved, and barriers between Israel and their Father in Heaven were removed, and the Mishna even records this as 'a great rectification' to the service.
I recall one of our teachers at Yeshivat Horev, Rabbi Rubin, of blessed memory, who noted that in the daily verses of praise we recite, “Young men and maidens, elders together" (Psalms 148). All praise God, but youths and maidens remain distinct; only the elders are described as together with them.
Likewise, the absence of separation in combat units creates distance between Israel’s fighters and the People of Israel and their Father in Heaven. Separation is particularly vital in times of crisis, when soldiers wage God’s wars against the incarnations of Amalek's spirit in our generation. Rambam, in Hilchot Melakhim, citing the Mishna in Sotah, writes that in a mandatory war all go forth, even a groom from his chamber and a bride from her canopy, as the prophet Joel states: “Let the groom go forth from his chamber, and the bride from her canopy" (Joel 2:16).
Rabbi David ben Zimra (the Radbaz) found it difficult to interpret this literally. Is it fitting, he asked, that a bride go to war? “All the glory of the king’s daughter is within" (Psalms 45:14). He therefore explained that while the groom goes out to fight, the bride leaves her canopy not for battle but to provide support, food, and water for the soldiers. Others similarly understood that women did not fight but assisted the army in essential ways.
In the war against Amalek, Moses commands Joshua: “Choose men for us and go out to fight Amalek." Rashi explains that they were brave men and those who feared sin. The Gemara in Kiddushin states: “It is the way of a man to wage war; it is not the way of a woman to wage war." The throne of God is incomplete until Amalek’s memory is erased. Yet in Judaism, unlike other faith traditions, the end does not justify the means; the path to the goal must itself remain pure.
Even before the establishment of the state, one such incarnation of Amalek feaed barriers. Haj Amin al-Husseini, the Mufti of Jerusalem, opposed the placement of a barrier at the Western Wall, claiming it signaled Jewish designs on the Temple Mount. His agitation contributed to the 1929 pogrom in which many Jews were murdered. Yet the sanctity of the site endured, and since the return to the Old City, a partition has stood at the Western Wall, honoring modesty and preserving tradition.
On the eve of the War of Independence, there were also those who objected to the erection of partitions in Tel Aviv. The controversy deepened divisions within the nation, and that same year war broke out. Today, in the name of progress, a small group demands the removal of barriers at sacred sites, seeking to reshape longstanding practice.
The Torah and the Sages guide us in discerning where boundaries must stand and where they must fall. The first distinction in creation, after heaven and earth, is God’s choosing of Israel from among the nations: “For You have chosen us and sanctified us." May God grant wisdom so that we know where to place proper partitions and, through them, remove the true barriers between Israel and their Creator. With God’s help, in the rebuilding of the Temple, sanctity will again be safeguarded through proper boundaries.
The author is the founder and chairman of Tzifha International Real Estate.