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Shabbat Shalom: Parshat Vayakhel Pekudei Exodus 35:1-40:38
By Shlomo Riskin
Efrat, Israel- “The cherubs were with wings spread upwards, sheltering the
Ark Cover (Kaporet)... with their faces toward one another” (Exodus 37:9)
What was the symbolism behind these cherubs? The Sages of the Talmud gave an
interpretation fraught with significance regarding the Rabbinic attitude
towards marriage and sex, an attitude which is especially crucial for our
Age of the Internet:
“Rav Katina said,
‘When the Israelites would ascend (to the Holy Temple) on the Festival,
(the Priest- Kohanim) would roll up the curtain (Parohet) for them, and
display for them the cherubs, who were joined together (in an embrace)’.
The Priest-Kohanim would then tell them, ‘Behold, the beloved feelings for
you on the part of the Omni Present. Are like the beloved feelings of a male
for a female’”(BT Yoma 54a).
The Talmud queries as to which Holy Temple is under discussion; after all,
the First Temple built by King Solomon did not have a Curtain (Parochet)
between the Holy of Holies and the Sanctuary, only a stone wall, and the
golden cherubs of the Holy Ark Cover (Kapporet) never made it to the Second
Temple! R. Aha Bar Yaakov explained that R. Katina is indeed discussing the
Second Temple, which had a parochet (curtain) in front of the Holy of
Holies, and this curtain was indeed rolled up during the Pilgrim Festivals;
the cherubs which were on display were actually painted engravings upon the
wooden panels which covered the stone walls of the Holy of Holies,
engravings of cherubs which harked back to the First Temple and which
decorated the Second Temple as well.
As the Bible records, “All the walls of the Temple were surrounded by
designs, (an engraved network of figures of) cherubs, palm trees and
blossoming flowers... and he overlaid (them) with gold; (the cherubs)...
were as the joining of a man, accompanied” (1 Kings 6:29, 35 and 7:36).
And what is meant by these last words, “as the joining of a man,
accompanied?” Rabbah bar Rav Shila explained, in the very discussion of
the Talmud of our question at hand, “(The cherubs appeared in the
engravings) as a man who is joined in an embrace with his female companion”(BT
Yoma 54b).
The Talmud then records how the Roman conquerors, who destroyed the Second
Temple, had no understanding of, or appreciation for, this pictorial
representation of the cherubs on the wall of the Holy of Holies:
“Said Resh Lakish,
‘When the Gentiles entered the Sanctuary, they saw (the engravings of) the
cherubs joined together in an embrace. They took (the engravings) out to the
marketplace, and they said, Should these Israelites - whose blessing is a
blessing and whose curse is a curse (so they are so close to G-d) - be
involved in such (erotic) matters? Immediately, (the Romans) debased (the
Israelites), as it is said, (Lamentations 1:8) All who once respected her
(Israel), debased her, for they saw her nakedness.’”(Ibid).
The Gentiles totally misunderstood the sacred symbolic message of the
cherubs: G-d’s love for Israel, and Israel’s love for G-d, can only be
compared to the love of a lover and beloved, a bride and her groom.
Maimonides (Rambam) - the arch rationalist - legalist - theologian of the
twelfth century - puts it very well:
“What is the proper love that we must have for G-d? It is to love G-d with
an exceedingly great and intensely powerful love until the individual is
constantly enraptured by it; he must be stricken like a lovesick person,
whose mind is at no time free from his passion for a particular woman, with
the thought of her filling his heart at all times, whether he be sitting
down or rising up, whether he be eating or drinking. Even more intense
should the love of G-d be in the hearts of those who love Him, and this love
should constantly absorb him, as we are commanded to love the Lord ‘with
all your heart and with all your soul.’ Solomon expressed this
allegorically in the verse, ‘for I am sick with love’ (song of songs,
2:5). Indeed, the entire Song of Songs is an allegorical description of this
love.” (Maimonides, Mishnah Torah, Laws of Repentance, 10,3).
It is fascinating to note that it was the great Rabbi Akiba who taught -
concerning the love song which is the Song of Songs - that if each book of
the 24 books of the Bible is holy, the Song of Songs is the Holy of Holies.
This is the same Holy of Holies which featured the engraving of the
embracing cherubs. And Rabbi Akiba did not merely mean to say that the lover
in the Song of Songs is the Almighty and the beloved is the Israelite
nation; after all, the Rabbinical Sages have already taught us that “no
verse is to be completely detached from its literal meaning.” Therefore
what R. Akiba is teaching is a most lofty truth: every proper and passionate
love relationship between man and woman is reflective of the one greatest
cosmic love relationship between G-d and Israel. Love is a sacred feeling,
union is a sacred expression, and marriage is a sacred ritual.
Hence, it is tragic when our youth receive their sex education from the
street, or from impure relationships depicted by movies, or from internet
porn. Our schools must be equipped, our educators must be trained, to teach
about the sexual relationship from the stories and commandments of our
Bible, from the engravings of the cherubs of the Holy of Holies. And parents
must explain to their children not only the evils of immoral sexuality, and
not only the legitimate joys of marital sex but also the sanctity of the
sexual union from the perspective of Judaic teachings. Sex must once again
be joined to love and marriage, and must be seen as one of the great
miracles and wonders of a fulfilled family life. And such education has to
begin no later than the sixth grade of elementary school!
For me, as a Rabbi who has been privileged to participate in thousands of
weddings, the most meaningful blessing I know is the blessing of
Sanctification: “Blessed are thou, O Lord our G-d, who has sanctified us
with His commandments and has exhorted us against sexual immorality...
Blessed art Thou who has sanctified us through the nuptial canopy and the
sanctity of betrothal.”
(BT. Ketubot 7b - according to the most accepted text of normative
practice).
Shabbat Shalom
Shlomo Riskin
Chancellor Ohr Torah Stone
Chief Rabbi - Efrat Israel
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