Meaningful clothing[1]
ואלה הבגדים אשר יעשו חשן ואפוד ומעיל וגו’ ועשית את-מעיל האפוד כליל תכלת: והיה פי-ראשו בתוכו שפה יהיה לפיו סביב מעשה ארג כפי תחרא יהיה-לו לא יקרע: פעמן זהב ורמון פעמן זהב ורמון על-שולי המעיל סביב: וגו’ ונשמע קולו בבאו אל-הקדש
These are the garments that you shall make: The Choshen, the Eiphod, the Me’il…You shall make the Me’il of the Eiphod completely [dyed] techeiles. Its head-opening will be within it. It shall have a lip sewed around it’s opening. It shall have like the opening of scale armor, [so that] it will not tear. [It should have] alternating golden bells and pomegranates on the bottom, going around…its sound will be heard as he enters the Holy[2]
This week’s parsha describes the manufacturing of the various garments that the Kohanim were to wear during the Temple Service. The gemarra explains[3] that each of these garments had some significant purpose, besides serving as a standard uniform for them to wear. Each garment atoned for a particular sin. We are taught that the Me’il, a techeiles-dyed tunic, atoned for the sin of improper speech. Can we find any allusion to this connection between these two seemingly unrelated things?