The priestly sash or girdle (Hebrew ''avnet'') was part of the ritual garments worn by Jewish high priests who served in the

Temple in Jerusalem The Temple in Jerusalem, or alternatively the Holy Temple (; , ), refers to the two now-destroyed religious structures that served as the central places of worship for Israelites and Jews on the modern-day Temple Mount in the Old City of Jeru ...

. The "sash" or "girdle" worn by the High Priest was of fine linen with " embroidered work" in

blue Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between violet and cyan on the spectrum of visible light. The eye perceives blue when ...

, purple and

scarlet Scarlet may refer to: * Scarlet (cloth), a type of woollen cloth common in medieval England * Scarlet (color), a bright tone of red that is slightly toward orange, named after the cloth * Scarlet (dye), the dye used to give the cloth its color * ...

(, ); those worn by the priests were of white, twined linen. The sash should not be confused with the embroidered belt of the

ephod An ephod ( he, אֵפוֹד ''ʾēfōḏ''; or ) was a type of apron, which according to the Hebrew Bible, was worn by the Jewish high priest the kohen gadol, an artifact and an object to be revered in ancient Israelite culture, and was closely ...

. Like the other priestly vestments, the purpose of the sash was "for glory and for beauty" (). On the Day of Atonement the High Priest changed into special linen garments that included a sash of fine linen without any embroidery (). These linen garments were worn only once, with new ones being made each year.

Rabbinical commentary

According to

Rabbinical literature Rabbinic literature, in its broadest sense, is the entire spectrum of rabbinic writings throughout Jewish history. However, the term often refers specifically to literature from the Talmudic era, as opposed to medieval and modern rabbinic writ ...

Midrash ''Midrash'' (;"midrash"
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. he, מִדְרָשׁ; ...

and