The Torah speaks of two ornaments on the bottom hem of the High Priest’s robe: golden bells and fabric pomegranates.
Based on two interpretations of the Hebrew word btocham the commentaries differ on how the bells and pomegranates were placed.
A) Alternating golden bell and fabric ppomegranate on the hem of the robe. This opinion translates btocham as between them: golden bells between the fabric pomegrantes.
B) Within each fabric pomegrante there was a golden bell. This opinion reads btocham as within. This way the fabric pomegranates acted as a cover or somewhat a muffler for the bells.
Its an interesting argument and may have an important message about our noise needing a muffler or doing without… but here’s another life message:
Bells make noise while fabric absorbs noise. You could consider the former a talker and the latter a listener. Having both as an integral part of the High Priest’s garments signifies the importance both have in our lives.
But there are two approaches. The first is that we have to alternate between speaking and listening. Give each person a chance.
The second approach is that listening have talking inside it (active listening etc) and that our speaking be empathetic and listener-focused, talking through a listening cover.
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The Rebbe has a different very beautiful explanation about the bells and pomegranates and the opinions about their placement. I will soon post the chabad.org link here.