Types of dress and vestments in Western religions
Judaism
Early sacerdotal dress
Jewish vesture is an amalgam of very ancient and extremely modern religious dress. Originally, sacerdotal dress was probably varied and complex, but, after the destruction of the Second Temple in ad 70 and the subsequent disappearance of the Temple offices, many garments associated with priestly functions passed into oblivion. Chief among these offices was that of the high priest. In addition to the usual Levitical garments (those of the priestly class), the high priest, while officiating, wore the meʿil (mantle), the ephod (an upper garment), a breastplate, and a headdress. The meʿil was a sleeveless robe of purple the lower hem of which had a fringe of small gold bells alternating with pomegranate tassels in red, scarlet, purple, and violet. The ephod—an object of much controversy—probably consisted of a wide band of material with a belt to secure it to the body, and it was worn over the other priestly garments. Most important was the breastplate (ḥoshen), which was square in outline and probably served as a pouch in which the divinatory devices of Urim and Thummim were kept. Exodus, chapter 28, verse 15, specifies that it was to be woven of golden and linen threads dyed blue, purple, and scarlet. Because of its oracular function, it was called the “breastpiece of judgment.” On the face of the breastplate were set 12 gems in four rows, symbolizing the 12 tribes of Israel. These stones were a sardius, a topaz, and a carbuncle in the first row; an emerald, a sapphire, and a diamond in the second; a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst in the third; and a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper in the fourth. The identity, sequence, and objects of representation of these stones are matters of controversy. Worn over the ephod, the breastplate was slung from the shoulders of the wearer by golden attachments. On his head the high priest usually wore a mitzenfet (either a tiara or a turban), except on Yom Kippur (“Day of Atonement”), when he wore nothing but white linen garments upon entering the Holy of Holies (the inner sanctuary).