Titzaveh: Costume 

Much of the parsha describes the vestments of the Kohen Gadol.  The high priest, the chief minister of the Temple service was dressed in a uniform. This costume is presented as a set of symbols that unified the 12 tribes of Israel  in gems on his epaulets  and jewels on his escutcheon. 

The description of the priestly vestments and the ritual of installation are bracketed by instructions for the Kohen Gadol ( High Priest). He lit the candelabra  and he burnt the incense.  He acted as the representative of the people in these, and presumably (almost) all of his duties.  He dressed the part. 

This year the parsha is read on the Shabbath following Purim, the holiday that is traditionally associated with costumes.  The season seems to lend itself to costuming in other cultures, as well.  Mardi Gras is a week earlier.  St Patrick's day ( with its requirement for green)  is 3 weeks later.   Perhaps the emergence of spring, as it bedecks the earth with flowers and reawakening grasses is related to this urge toward flamboyance. 

Hiding true identity behind a facade is central to the Purim story.  Esther is instructed to hide her Jewish ethnicity from the royal court... until the crucial moment. Mordechai, who flaunts his identity, brings pretentious  Haman to the idea of mass extermination for all the people of his ethnicity.  Mordechai denies Haman the  fealty that he craves, and Haman's grandiosity moves him to murderous hatred that goes beyond Mordechai the individual, to his entire nation. Globalizing the traits of a particular ethnic group leads to mass murder in the Purim story and much history  that follows it. 

For most of the High Priest's tasks, he wore these prescribed attire.  The regalia submerged the individual identity into a representative of the people. When the High Priest performed the epitome of the service, the Yom Kippur rituals,  he removed the  ornate uniform and dressed in  pure, simple  linen. The  self emerged from the symbolic.  The atonement of Yom Kippur worked at the level of the individual, the service had to be performed by a vulnerable person without  armor.  

This confluence of Purim and Titzaveh evokes the modern themes of identity and prejudice. The high priest replaced identity with a nationalistic appearance. He became the delegate of the  people as a whole.  Esther was able to hide her identity, in the most intimate of circumstances and from the most rabid antisemite.  There are people who cannot remove the outward signs of their identity: people of color, people who look Jewish. There are people for whom ethnic identity , and its demonstration  by haberdashery is a priority.  Some people wear skins. 

Every day, the candelabra must be lit and the incense offered. Ethnicity serves many purposes.  It is also a target.