"To be a teacher in the right sense is to be a learner.  I am not a teacher, only a fellow student."  (Soren Kierkegaard)

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A FEW PRE-SHABBAT WORDS FROM RABBI AARON

Within parashat Terumah we read about the unusual mythical creatures called k'ruvim - כרובים, cherubs or cherubim, in English. Let's look at the description provided by the text:

 “Make an atonement cover of pure gold—two and a half cubits long and a cubit and a half wide. And make two cherubim out of hammered gold at the ends of the cover. Make one cherub on one end and the second cherub on the other; make the cherubim of one piece with the cover, at the two ends. The cherubim are to have their wings spread upward, overshadowing the cover with them. The cherubim are to face each other, looking toward the cover. Place the cover on top of the ark and put in the ark the tablets of the covenant law that I will give you. There, above the cover between the two cherubim that are over the ark of the covenant law, I will meet with you and give you all my commands for the Israelites."

Here are a few slices from Psalms. You'll notice that in these descriptions the cherubim are not mere figures in gold. They are living breathing powerful mythical creatures.

In my distress I called to the Lord; I cried to my God for help. From His temple He heard my voice; my cry came before him, into his ears. The earth trembled and quaked, and the foundations of the mountains shook; they trembled because he was angry. Smoke rose from his nostrils; consuming fire came from his mouth, burning coals blazed out of it. He parted the heavens and came down; dark clouds were under his feet. He mounted the cherubim and flew; he soared on the wings of the wind. He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him— the dark rain clouds of the sky. Out of the brightness of His presence clouds advanced, with hailstones and bolts of lightning. The Lord thundered from heaven; the voice of the Most High resounded. He shot his arrows and scattered the enemy, with great bolts of lightning he routed them. The valleys of the sea were exposed and the foundations of the earth laid bare at Your rebuke, Lord, at the blast of breath from your nostrils.

The Lord reigns, let the nations tremble; He sits enthroned between the cherubim, let the earth shake. 

What was the purpose of the "atonement cover" - the kaporet - כפורת? And what purpose did the cherubs serve? These aren't simple questions. Below you'll find several pictures that really are ancient cousins to the biblical cherubim. Additionally [courtesy of Wikipedia], we find some ancient Near Eastern terms [those languages have been out of use for many centuries] that could shed light on our ancient biblical cherubs. Even though we're not certain about the ancient Hebrew meanings, I think we can safely say that these cultic figures were part of a much larger ancient Near Eastern religious vocabulary and iconography.

So what do we as modern Jews do with these ancient characters? If I were a literalist, I'd make some mental allowance for a couple of ancient griffins or hippogryphs to be part of God's retinue; much like the "holy beasts” that guard the divine throne, the chayot hakodesh - חיות הקודש mentioned within our morning prayers. As a non-literalist, I search for symbol and metaphor and I ask how these cherubim might speak to the world in which we live. For me, there is a phrase in the biblical text which is a keeper.

They faced each other. 

Here's my take-home. What covers the tablets? The atonement-cover כפורת, the kaporet; same root as kippur, as in Day of Atonement. The tablets enshrine the covenant. They embody the Laws. We have broken those laws. Many times. The tablets are broken. And yet, we keep the pieces in the ark because we sense the holiness even in the broken shards. And God is certainly about forgiveness. That's why a kaporet covers the tablets. As for the cherubim, they might remind us of protection or blessing. They hint at echoes of other ancient beasts patrolling the precincts of their gods. But their orientation is what is critical. Atonement must be in the context of face - to - face. Without the positioning which makes relationship real, the cherubs are really just another pair of ancient fabulous creatures. With them taking in each other's gaze, we are reminded what the covenant is about. We remember that it is our facing the other that lends holiness to the ground upon which we tread.

Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Aaron

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