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שבת שלום - פרשת תרומה
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Video Shiur
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Click play to watch
Rav Herschel Shechter's shiur about Ahavat Hashem and Yirat Hashem |
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News and Notes
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The entire yeshiva
wishes mazal tov to Shloimie
Spitzer and Miryam Weinstein,
on their marriage this
week in Toronto. Rav
Pesach Wolicki served
as mesader kiddushin,
and many Yesodei HaTorah
alumni attended the wedding.
Shetizku livnot bayit
ne'eman b'Yisrael!
We
also wish mazal tov to
Joshua Morris, on his
recent engagement to
Sarah Harris. Shetizku
livnot bayit ne'eman
b'Yisrael!
Last
night, Rav Scott Kahn
delivered a sicha on
the topic of Mishenichnas
Adar Marbim b'Simcha;
following the sicha,
the entire yeshiva was
surprised to find a bus
waiting outside the beit
midrash, which took them
to the Kotel for Maariv
and a shiur on Purim
by Rav Yaakov Arram.
When everyone arrived
back at the yeshiva at
about 1 AM, hot cholent
and kugel were waiting
for them, as many students
prepared to learn through
the night. It was a
wonderful way to begin
preparing for Purim -
with a combination of
fun and serious limud
haTorah.
We
welcome back Rav Meir
Arnold following his
successful interview
trip to the United States.
Rav Wolicki will be
spending Shabbat in Seattle,
and will also be in Florida
early next week before
returning to Israel.
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Cherubs - Our Interface with God
By Rabbi Pesach Wolicki
This week's and next week's Torah portions deal exclusively with one topic; the collecting of materials for and building of the Mishkan and everything in it. These sections do not relate the actual collecting and building.
Rather, in this portion of the Torah, G-d dictates the details of this project to Moshe.
On of the central items in the Mishkan is the Ark of the Covenant - Aron ha'edut. The ark is a box made of cedar wood and gold. It function is to house the two tablets of the covenant that Moshe brought down from Mount Sinai. The following verses describe the cover of the ark.
"Make a cover of pure gold, two and one-half cubits long, and one and one-half cubits wide. Make two golden Cherubim [plural of cherub]. You must make them by hammering them out of the two ends of the cover. Make one Cherub out of one end, and one Cherub out of the other end. >From the [same piece of gold as the] cover itself, you shall make the Cherubim on its two ends. The Cherubim shall spread their wings upward, sheltering the cover with their wings, and the Cherubim shall face one another. Their faces shall be inclined toward the cover [i.e. facing down]. Place the cover on top of the ark and place the testimony [i.e. the tablets] that I will give you into the ark. I will meet with you there and I will speak with you from above the cover - from between the Cherubim that are on the ark of the testimony - all that which I will command you concerning the Children of Israel." (Exodus
25:17-22)
The two Cherubs were to be hammered out of the same piece of gold as the cover itself. They were not to be made separately and then soldered on to the cover. They were to be standing facing each other with their faces pointing down toward the box and their wings were to be rising upward. G-d's word would then come to Moshe from between the two Cherubim.
What are Cherubim? What is their purpose? What do they symbolize? What do they have to do with prophecy? Why was it necessary to make them out of the same piece of gold as the rest of the cover of the ark?
What is a Cherub?
The first appearance of Cherubs in the Torah occurs when Adam and Eve are banished from the Garden of Eden for having sinned. "He [G-d] banished Adam [from the Garden of Eden] and at the east of the Garden of Eden He stationed the Cherubim and the flame of the rotating sword to guard the way to the Tree of Life." (Genesis 4:24)
From this text it appears that the role of Cherubs is to guard and protect.
Cherubs appear in this role in a number of biblical texts.(see Ezekiel
28:14) Alternatively, they are mentioned as the vehicle of G-d's presence.
"And He rides the Cherub and flies off" (Psalms 18:11, see also Ezek. 9:3 and Ps. 80:2) Numerous Biblical texts refer to G-d as "the One who dwells on [or rides] the Cherubim" - "yoshev hakeruvim."
Rav S.R. Hirsch asserts that the Cherubim atop the ark fill both of these purposes. This dual role, writes Rav Hirsch, is seen in the description of the wings of the Cherubim.
The verse states that "The Cherubim shall spread their wings upward," i.e.
they continually reach toward heaven. They represent the spiritual rise toward G-d - the interaction with the spiritual that requires ?vertical'
movement upward. At the same time the Cherubim are described as "sheltering the cover with their wings." The same wings that serve as the vehicle for G-dliness, serve to guard and protect the Tablets of the Testimony - the Torah. The dual purpose of the Cherubim is to carry - to serve as the vehicle for - that which is above and to protect that which is below.
The Cover
The verse states that "From the [same piece of gold as the] cover itself, you shall make the Cherubim." Why not simply make them separately and attach the completed Cherubs to the golden cover? Why add this seemingly useless difficulty to the process?
As mentioned above, one of the purposes of the Cherubim is to protect the contents of the ark - the Torah. This role can be filled perfectly well by the cover without the Cherubs. A simple cover would surely suffice. It would seem that the Cherubs are not necessary for the protection of the ark. The instruction to fashion the Cherubs out of the same piece of gold as the cover teaches that we must not differentiate. The Cherubs and the cover are one and the same. To speak of the cover without the Cherubs is impossible.
The message here is that guarding the Torah and being a vehicle for the glory of G-d are indistinguishable roles.
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