Behind the Scenes with Rashi
Legend has it, that one day, the great Torah commentator, Rashi (Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki – 1040-1105) who lived in France around a thousand years ago, noticed a noblewoman riding by on horseback and for some reason he was gazing at her clothes. Later, he was bothered by this. “Why was I paying so much attention to that noblewoman?” He couldn’t figure it out.
When Rashi came home that day, he was busy writing his commentary on Parshas Tetsaveh, about the special clothes of the Kohen Gadol. When he tried to describe the Eifod – the apron – he got stuck. He wrote, “I have not heard any explanation of its form…”
Suddenly, he remembered the noblewoman riding the horse. Aha! Now he knew. He had a feeling, deep down in his heart that the Eifod of the Kohen Gadol looked something like the riding apron worn by ladies on horseback!
These are the continuation of Rashi’s words in that Pasuk – Chapter 28 verse 4: “My heart tells me that it was something tied behind him… like an apron of sorts… which the ladies of the nobility wear while horseback riding.”
That’s why he had noticed the noblewoman – so that he could explain to the whole world exactly how the Kohen Gadol’s clothes looked!
And now you know… the rest of the story!
