The clothes of the Cohen Gadol present commentators with room for a great deal of conjecture. How much is symbolic, how much mystical and how much a reflection of cultural norms of status and beauty is something that we are not likely to ever know for sure
As is well known, the sages believed that each of the clothes of the Kohen Gadol would bring atonement for certain types of sin. The choshen (breastplate) would atone for sins in judgement. Indeed, the Torah uniquely appends a name to this garment, calling it the choshen mishpat, the choshen of judgement. Moreover, the Torah itself makes some sort of connection between the choshen’s relationship to judgment and the fact that it must sit on the Kohen Gadol’s heart (28:30)
Kli Yakar gives us an interesting insight here. He points out that a Jewish judge is given a great deal of leeway, such that his decision is accepted even if we do not fully understand it. He reminds us that it can really be no other way, as the judge must take a great deal of factors into consideration before making his decision. He summarizes this with the rabbinic notion that a judge must rule according to that which is seen by his eyes. And so many poskim were known to decide the same question differently depending on whether the questioner was poor or rich, highly committed or less committed, etc. Hence the only place he can search to know to what extent his judgement was correct is the inner recesses of his heart. If his heart is finely attuned, he will judge these very subjective variables correctly. But if not, it is in his heart that the sin lies, and it is from there that it must be atoned. And so, the breastplate must be over the heart.
On some level, this connection between the heart and the subjectivity of judgment is something that applies to us all. It is not only judges and rabbis that make difficult subjective calls. What parent has not had to do so in raising their children? In fact, who has not had to make judgment calls about themselves? This can run from the mundane decision of whether to cross an intersection at a yellow light (and we all know that it all depends on the specific circumstances) to the more significant decisions of where to live, what career to pursue or who to marry. It can only be according to the wisdom in our hearts that we can come to such decisions, and it is only in our hearts that we can search as to how correct we have been. And just like this is at the center of Bigdei Kehunah, it is also at the center of our own spiritual lives.
Finally, it is critical that we remember that there is a type of Urim and Tumim within our own hearts. And so all of the decisions we make have to be with the understanding that even if the Divine voice within us may be silent – as the Urim and Tumim generally were – it is still there for us to gather our strength and inspiration from at all times. Hence, we must emulate the clothes of the Kohen Gadol and raise and beautify our own inner Urim and Tumim – meaning we must work on our inner wisdom. We must make its development a priority, realizing that who we become and the impact we will have on our communities is all dependent on the wisdom of our hearts.