From: Netvort@aol.com
Sent: Friday, February 11, 2005 2:55 AM
To: JoshHoff@aol.com
Subject: Netvort : parshas Terumah, 5765

   



                                               Both Sides Now

                  By Rabbi Joshua (figuratively known as The Hoffer) Hoffman


In memory of Rabbi Dr. Michael Katz - Yechiel Michel ben Reuven - who passed away on Monday. Rabbi Katz, a truly integrated Torah personality, served as a Rosh Yeshivah in Yeshivas Rabbeinu Yitzchok Elchonon (RIETS) of Yeshiva University for fifty-nine years. May his memory be a blessing.


In this week's parsha, God gives Moshe instructions on building the mishkan - the Sanctuary - and the various utensils contained within it. Part of the structure consisted of a series of ten curtains that are draped over a configuration of keroshim, or boards. Embroidered on these curtains were two keruvim, or cherubs, made through 'ma'aseh chosheiv, 'or 'the work of an artist.' (Shemos 26:1). Rashi explains this to mean that the keruvim were depicted on the curtains as woven on both sides of the curtain rather than embroidered, which is needlework that is only on one side. Although Rashi gives, as an example, of this kind of work, a curtain which has an image of a lion on one side and the image of an eagle on the other side, other commentators do not explain it this way. The medieval commentator Rabbeinu Meyuchas ben Eliyahu, for example says that the keruvim on the curtains had the same images as those that stood atop the holy ark, which had the faces of two young boys, or a young boy and a young girl. Following the approach of Rabeinu Meyuchas, we need to understand why the keruvim were woven on both sides of the curtain, rather than on just one, and, secondly, why there was a seeming duplication of the keruvim that sat atop the holy ark.


Rabbi Meir Juzint, z"l, in his Nechamas Meir, volume 2, writes that since the  keruvim, according to one opinion in the midrash, represent two youths studying Torah, as do those atop the aron, they must exhibit the same character trait symbolized by the manner in which the aron was constructed. The Torah says that the aron was made of acacia wood that was overlayed on both the inside and the outside with gold. The Talmud (Yoma 72b) derives from this requirement that any Torah scholar whose inside, meaning whose character, is not the same as his outside, meaning, his outer comportment, is not a true Torah scholar. In the same way, writes Rabbi Juzint, the keruvim were woven onto both sides of the curtains, to symbolize that the Torah student represented by the keruvim must be of one piece, thoroughly saturated with the Torah they learn, both inwardly and outwardly. Rabbi Juzint does not, however, explain how the curtains symbolize Torah study, and why we need a second symbol to show the need for integrity of character among Torah scholars.


  Rabbi Mordechai Ilan, in his Mikdash Mordechai, suggests a further element of symbolism in connection with the Torah scholar as reflected in the manner of the construction of the menorah. The Torah instructs us that the menorah must be made of pure gold, 'beaten out" (Shemos 25:31). Rashi explains that it must all be made of one piece. This is symbolic, says Rabbi Ilan, of the crown of a good name. The Mishneh in Avos (4:17), tells us that there are three crowns - the crown of Torah, the crown of kehunah, or priesthood, and the crown of malchus, or kingship. The crown of a good name, however, teaches the mishneh, is 'oleh al gabeihen,'  which means, literally, that it rises above them. This could be explained to mean that the crown of a good name, as a separate, fourth crown, is greater than the other three. Alternatively, it can be explained to mean that it is not a separate crown, but part of each of the other three crowns, resting  above each of  them, meaning that without the crown of a good name attached to them, the other crowns are not complete. Rabbi Ilan explains that the crown of a good name refers to the aspect of mikshe - being of one piece - that is required of the menorah. Having a good name means that a person is an integrated whole, with no inner contradictions existing among the various aspects of his personality. Although Rabbi Ilan does not mention this, the aspect of an integrated personality, as symbolized by the menorah, has special significance in regard to the Torah personality, since the menorah itself is a symbol of the oral Torah, while the aron is symbolic of the written Torah, as explained by the Chasam Sofer (see Netvort to parshas Terumah, 5762, available at Torahheights.com). Perhaps the idea is that an integrated study of the written law and the oral law will aid the talmid chacham in having an integrated personality, guided by Torah.

The two keruvim sitting atop the aron, in the form of two young boys, according to one opinion in the midrash, represent, as Rabbi Ya'akov ben Asher, in his commentary Ba'al HaTurim explains the imagery, two people studying Torah together. The process of learning in which they face each other and show mutual respect for what each one has to say, arguing out the details of Torah, integrating the written Torah with the oral Torah, until they reach a conclusion, is an ideal way of forming a personality that is grounded in Torah, and reflects the construction of the aron, which is overlayed on the inside and out with gold. The image of the keruvim woven into the curtains, on the other hand, represents the resultant individual personality, formed in the crucible of Torah study, as symbolized by the two keruvim sitting atop the aron, engaged in Torah study carried out in an atmosphere of mutual respect and intellectual rigor. We still need to understand, however, how it is that the curtains symbolize Torah study, and what it is that the integration of the keruvim into the yerios comes to teach us.

 The Ba'al HaTurim writes that the ten curtains placed were symbolic of the 'aseres hadibros,' or the Decalogue, commonly known as the Ten Commandments. Thus, if we understand the keruvim woven into the curtains, according to the commentary of Rabbbeinu Meyuchas, as referring to the same kind of figures that sat atop the aron, we have a duplication of the symbolism of two Torah students engaged in Torah study. The fact that they are woven into both sides of the curtains, as Rabbi Juzint explains, tells us that these two students have integrated personalities. Rabbi Shlomo Ephraim of Lunshitz, in his commentary Keli Yakar, explains the symbolism of the ten curtains differently. He says that they correspond to the ten utterances by which God created the world. Many midrashic sources view the mishkan as symbolic of the entire universe, so that the ten curtains as a vehicle for that symbolism is quite appropriate. If we accept both the approach of the Ba'al haTurim and the Keli Yakar, we can understand the idea represented by  the symbolism of the keruvim  woven into the curtains, as I will demonstrate.  


We have mentioned in the past that the author of the work Halochos Gedolos, known as Bahag, refers to the book of Shemos as Sefer Sheni, or the second book. The Netziv explains that, according to the Bahag, there is an intrinsic connection between the first two books of the Bible, with the second book, which we commonly refer to as the book of Shemos, serving as a completion of the first book, the book of Bereishis, or 'beginning.' Whereas the book of Bereishis describes the physical creation of the universe, the book of Shemos, or 'the second book,' in the terminology of the Bahag, describes, in its presentation of the redemption from Egypt and the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai, the spiritual completion of the universe. Ramban, in his commentary to the beginning of our parsha, writes that the purpose of the mishkan was to perpetuate the experience of Mt. Sinai, bringing the divine presence among the people, in the mishkan, on a permanent basis. This was accomplished by following the Torah in a complete way, integrating it into all aspects of life, and permeating one's personality with it. By doing this, God's presence would be felt, not only in the mishkan, but in daily life, as well, thus integrating the physical and spiritual aspects of the world, and completing the creation of the universe. The two keruvim woven into the ten curtains of the mishkan, then, represented the successful integration of both the written and oral law, reflecting the ten utterances of the Decalogue, into one's personality, and the resultant completion of creation, symbolized by the ten curtains as representing the ten utterances by which God created the world.



Please address all correspondence to the author (Rabbi Hoffman) with the following address - JoshHoff @ AOL.com.

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