Few stories or their morals are more recognizable than that of the Emperor's New Clothes. The clever weavers trick the foolish monarch into thinking they have made him a wondrous suit, only visible to those who are of sufficient intelligence and skill. So he moves around the kingdom completely naked as underlings and peasants declare the beauty of his garments to avoid revealing themselves as foolish and unworthy. Generation after generation has taken Hans Christian Andersen's tale and applied it to situations when the masses fawn over something of no substance until a child or one without guile points and says "The Emperor is not wearing any clothes!"
However, the Torah reading this week, Tetzaveh, turns this classic story inside out. The clothes are real.... but where is the emperor? The clothes in question are the special garments that are to be fashioned for the Kohen Gadol, the man who would serve as High Priest in G*d's holy sanctuary. Most of the reading is occupied by the description of these garments and the manner in which they are to be made. We know from context that the instructions are being given to Moses, but for the first and only time from the story of his birth the Hebrew name Moshe is missing from the Torah portion. What is it about this portion that Moses should be missing?
A beautiful interpretation comes from Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook, first chief Rabbi of Palestine and an innovative reader of Jewish sources. Rav Kook recognizes that although the first official High Priest will be Moses' brother Aaron, it is Moses who first acts as Kohen when he performs the initial rituals inaugurating the sanctuary and installing the priests. And yet Moses never dons the priestly garments that his brother and future Kohanim will be commanded to wear. Why? Because Moses is different. Unlike Aaron who wears the clothes as a reminder of his office and his responsibility to the people, Moses is one with his task. He is engaged in holiness in all of his endeavors without separation or artifice. Instead of the ornate vestments, Moses officiated in a simple white shroud. And so, Rav Kook continues, the name "Moshe" does not appear in the section dedicated to to the special garments.
Ironically, this discussion about wearing clothing comes as we enter the month of Adar, the month associated with Purim, a day for dressing up in silly and humorous masks and costumes. In a way, wearing a Purim costume is the other side of the coin from Moshe's forgoing of the priestly garments. Instead of trying to emulate Moses' level of modesty, we instead exchange our usual trappings of self-importance for clothes that no one could take seriously.
While the Emperor of the famous story went naked because he thought he was wearing clothes, our traditions remind us that it is just as foolish to wear clothes but lose sight of who we are without them.
For me, these thoughts about humility and the Torah portion in which Moshe can not be found have an added significance. Today, the 5th day of the Hebrew month of Adar I, marks the eighteenth year since my dear friends Matthew Eisenfeld and Sara Duker were murdered in a terrorist attack along with 24 passengers on the #18 bus in Jerusalem. Sara and Matt, whose Hebrew name is Moshe, were both sides of the coin: they were not afraid to uncover their true selves and yet they were self-aware enough to not to take themselves so seriously. I will always associate them as much with Purim costumes and silly hats as with the incredible depth of character and love of Torah that they embodied. Forever missing, but nonetheless woven into the fabric of the lives of all who knew them and all they touched. May their memory be for a blessing and inspiration.