Each of the kohanim’s splendid garments adorned a specific part of their bodies. Each of the additional garments and ornaments worn by the Kohen Gadol served a defined purpose: the choshen was made of twelve stones corresponding to the Twelve Tribes, the tzitz atoned for sacrifices brought in a state of impurity, and so on.

The exception is the avnet, the sash or belt, which doesn’t seem to have served any specific purpose. The other garments did not actually require a belt to hold them in place, and even the garments which might have benefited from a belt certainly did not need a 32-cubit long belt, which required the kohen to wrap it around himself repeatedly (see Rambam, Klei Hamikdash 8:19)!

The purpose of the avnet is simply to express the kohen’s “readiness” to serve before G-d, (unlike the other garments which are each associated with a particular mode and theme of Divine service, corresponding to a specific part of the body.) This is akin to the...

The Tenth of Tevet is one of the four fast days that commemorate dark times in Jewish history. The others are Tisha B'Av (the day of the destruction of both Temples in Jerusalem), the 17th of Tammuz (the day of the breaching of the defensive wall of Jerusalem by Titus and the Roman legions in 70 CE), and the third of Tishrei (the day that marks the assassination of the Babylonian-appointed Jewish governor of Judah, Gedaliah ben Achikam. He was actually killed on Rosh Hashanah but the fast day was advanced to the day after Rosh Hashanah because of the holiday).

The Tenth of Tevet marks the onset of the siege of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, the King of Babylonia, and the beginning of the battle that ultimately destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple of Solomon, and sent the Jews into the 70-year Babylonian Exile. The date of the Tenth of Tevet is recorded for us by the prophet Yechezkel, who himself was already in Babylonia as part of the first group of Jews exiled there by Nebuchadnezzar,...