Bells, whistles, and pomegranates[1]
ויעשו על-שולי המעיל רמוני תכלת וארגמן ותולעת שני משזר: ויעשו פעמני זהב טהור ויתנו בתוך הרמנים על-שולי המעיל סביב בתוך הרמנים: פעמן ורמן פעמן ורמן על-שולי המעיל סביב לשרת כאשר צוה יקוק את-משה
They shall make pomegranates of spun blue, crimson, and red wool on the bottom of the cloak. You shall also make pure gold bells, and place them within the pomegranates, on the bottom of the cloak, going around, within the pomegranates. A bell, a pomegranate, a bell, a pomegranate, on the bottom of the cloak, going around. It’s for Divine service, as Hashem commanded Moshe[2]
There’s a dispute between Rashi and the Ramban[3] how the pomegranates and bells were oriented on the bottom of the Kohen Gadol’s cloak. Rashi says they were alternating, whereas the Ramban says the bells were within the pomegranates. Ramban has support from a verse in our parsha, where it says the bells were בתוך the pomegranates. While this could be translated as “amongst” the pomegranates, the more standard way to translate this would be “within” the pomegranates. However, the subsequent verse supports Rashi, as the verse seems to stress that they were alternating.