אור החיים — והיה על מצח אהרן... לרצון להם לפני ה'

Q — The Tzitz, the golden plate on the High Priest's forehead, is engraved with two words — 'קדש לה'' (Holy to the Lord) — and it makes Israel 'acceptable before God.' What is the connection between those two words and Israel's acceptance?

A — Or HaChaim reads 'קדש' as referring to Israel themselves (as in 'קדש ישראל' — 'Israel is holy to the Lord'), and 'לה'' as expressing that the entire nation, called 'holy,' belongs to God — 'beloved, cleaving, devoted.' The inscription thus proclaims Israel's attachment to God, which is precisely what renders them favorable before Him. This is the secret of 'I am my beloved's' — when Israel is devoted to her Beloved, 'then my Beloved is favorable to me.'