The Face of a Child

ESSAY: The Face of a Child
In the heart of the Sanctuary stood the ark that housed the divine law. But who were the two children hovering above?

And you shall make a kapporet of pure gold... and two golden keruvim (“cherubs”)... at the two ends of the kapporet....

And you shall place the kapporet above, upon the ark; and into the ark you shall put the Testimony which I shall give you.

And I will meet with you there; I will speak with you all that I will command you regarding the Children of Israel from above the kapporet, from between the two keruvim which are upon the Ark of Testimony....

In the wake of the divine revelation at Sinai, G-d commanded that a Sanctuary be built to serve as a “tent of meeting”—a point of permanent contact between Him and His people. At the heart of the Sanctuary, in its innermost chamber, stood the ark that housed the “Testimony”—the two stone tablets on which the Ten Commandments were inscribed by the hand of G-d. The ark (in the form of a box and open at the top) was covered by the kapporet—a slab of solid gold, out of which rose the two winged keruvim, hammered out of the same piece of gold. When G-d spoke to Moses, Moses would hear the divine voice issuing from between the two keruvim.

The Testament housed by the ark was the essence of the divine communication to man, for the Ten Commandments encapsulate the entire Torah. Later, the ark also held the Torah scroll written by Moses, which embodies a more detailed rendition of the laws implicit in the Ten Commandments. So the ark was the container of the Torah, the vessel of the divine wisdom and will. Yet the divine voice did not emanate from the ark, but from a space “above the kapporet, between the two keruvim.” What was the significance of the kapporet? What were the keruvim and what do they represent? And why do they mark the point of contact between G-d and man?

Foremost among the commentaries compiled by our sages on the Torah are those by Rashi (Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki, 1040-1105) and Nachmanides (Rabbi Moshe ben Nachman, 1194-1270). Rashi defines his goal by stating: “I come only to explain the simple meaning of the verse”[1]; indeed, Rashi’s commentary has been universally accepted as the most basic tool for understanding the Torah and serves as a first reference for schoolchild and scholar alike. On the other hand, Nachmanides, a noted mystic and kabbalist, often uncovers a “deeper” stratum of significance in the Torah’s words, exposing its students to “delightful things, for those who know and understand the hidden wisdom [of the Torah].”[2]

Rashi and Nachmanides often differ in their interpretation of a particular word or verse. One example of this is their different conceptions of the kapporet and the keruvim.

Rashi sees the ark and the kapporet as two different objects. The Sanctuary contained various “vessels,” each with a designated function (e.g., the menorah, the altars); according to Rashi the ark and the kapporet are two different vessels—it is only that the designated place of the kapporet is atop the ark.[3]

Nachmanides, on the other hand, sees the kapporet as the cover of the ark (indeed, the word kapporet means “cover”)—as a component of the ark itself, rather than another of the Sanctuary’s vessels.[4]

Another difference between the interpretations of Rashi and Nachmanides concerns the form of the keruvim. According to Rashi, these were two winged figures, each with the face of a child (a boy and a girl).[5] Nachmanides is of the opinion that they were a representation of the celestial figures seen by the prophet Ezekiel in his vision of the divine “chariot.”[6]

“There are seventy faces to the Torah,”[7] say our sages, for the divine truth reverberates on every level of reality and in every dimension of the mind. The differences between Rashi’s and Nachmanides’ visions of the kapporet and the keruvim reflect the different faces of Torah that their respective commentaries expound.

Speaking from the perspective of “those who know and understand the hidden wisdom,” Nachmanides sees the Torah as the essence of the bond between G-d and His people. In the words of the Zohar, “There are three knots[8] that are bound with each other: G-d, the Torah, and Israel.... The people of Israel are bound with the Torah, and the Torah is bound with G-d.”[9] G-d invested His wisdom in the Torah and His will in its commandments; the Jew studies Torah and implements its commandments in his daily life; thus the Jew is bound with G-d.

According to Nachmanides, the divine presence in the “tent of meeting” radiated from the ark, the vessel of the Torah. The divine voice emerged “above the kapporet, between the two keruvim,” all of which were components of the ark. The keruvim were in the form of the celestial beings described in Ezekiel’s vision, which contains the most profound insights into the nature of the divine perceived by man. For the stuff of the relationship between man and G-d is divine revelation: the revelation of His wisdom and will via the Torah, which attains its loftiest and most intense form in the mystic “hidden wisdom” represented by the keruvim.

Rashi, on the other hand, elucidates the “simple meaning of the verse.” Often, this is mistakenly perceived as the most literal and superficial stratum of meaning of the Torah. But simple is not superficial. On the contrary, the simple meaning of the verse is its most profound meaning, its most elementary significance. It is the root from which all other meanings and levels of understanding derive. It is the essence of the verse, of which the others are but particular facets and expressions.

Rashi’s conception of the ark and kapporet reflects the truth that our relationship with G-d through the Torah is but the realization of a deeper, intrinsic bond that already exists between us; that the kapporet is not part of the ark, but something else, something higher. That ultimately, the divine presence in the “tent of meeting” derives not from the Torah, but from the child-faced keruvim that hover above it.

“For Israel is a youth, and I love him,”[10] proclaims the prophet. On the deepest, most basic level, G-d loves the Jew not for his wisdom or piety, but for his childishness. He loves us because, as the Baal Shem Tov[11] put it, “the simplicity of the simple Jew is of a piece with the simple essence of G-d.” He loves us because we are the extension of His quintessential self, as a child is the extension of the quintessential self of his father.[12]

Based on the Rebbe’s talks on Shabbat Terumah 5741 (February 7, 1981) and on other occasions[13]

Editor’s note: Eliezer Steinman was a leading figure in Israeli literary circles in the ’50s. His contact with the Rebbe began when he was researching his famed Be’er haChassidut series, a many-volume work on the history and philosophy of Chassidism. At the time, the chassidim he approached refused to aid him in his research, because of his extremely secularist and anti-religious stance; the Rebbe, however, instructed a Lubavitcher chassid who lived in Jerusalem to open his library to him and assist him in every way. It was through this chassid that the Rebbe began his many years’ correspondence with Mr. Steinman, in the course of which the latter changed his entire outlook, publicly retracting his earlier writings and becoming a believing, practicing Jew. What follows is an excerpt of a letter from the Rebbe to Mr. Steinman, dated Shevat 26, 5716 (February 8, 1956):[14]

... Thank you for your consideration in sending me your recent works... Regarding the series Be’er haChassidut, I have the following comments...

When writing about concepts and schools of thought in Torah, which is a living teaching and a teaching of life, particularly about that part of Torah which has a distinct emotional-experiential side,[15] and especially if one is writing for a readership to whom these concepts are new and even alien to their world, it is not enough for the author to read the said Torah works, study them in-depth and transmit their gist; rather, he must immerse himself to the greatest possible extent in the spirit of Torah and in the experience of the founders and leaders of these schools. This is doubly so if the author’s aim is to derive practical conclusions relating to contemporary life.

I don’t know you personally, but I hope you will not take it amiss if I allow myself to suggest that in order to achieve your stated aim, as you yourself express it in your introduction to Be’er haChassidut, you ought to adopt and internalize the way of life you describe in your books, that is, life according to the Torah in thought and practice, as expounded upon in your books’ sources, the works of Chassidut. Sincerity and good faith is not enough; although they are of foremost importance, in no way do they suffice.

Perhaps you suspect that I am saying all this only to influence a Jew to become fully observant of the Torah and the mitzvot, and the standards of chassidic teaching. Indeed, I confess, our sages’ words, “A person is not suspected of something unless there is some truth in the suspicion,”[16] do apply in this case. However, the “some truth” of my ulterior motive does not in any way detract from the utility, indeed necessity, of what I have said, to your aim of transmitting the teachings of Chassidut in the medium of your writing, in a manner that is optimally true to their essence.

Perhaps you also wonder at my hope to influence, with a mere letter, a writer and thinker whose way of life is doubtless founded upon a philosophy that is interwoven in the threads of his soul—to the point that I expect that the receipt of this letter will influence changes not only in his thinking but in his behavior as well.

My reasoning, however, is that I am not suggesting anything that is new or my own, but an ages-old idea, which is, at the same time, also pristinely new and recreates worlds every day—namely, the Torah and its mitzvot. And one who believes in a person and his infinite potential—for the Jewish soul, to quote the author of the Tanya,[17] is “literally a part of G-d above”[18] Who is infinite—also believes that in a single turn and in a single moment, each and every man can attain the deepest heights, regardless of where he stood a moment earlier. The impetus might be nothing more than the smallest matter and the smallest spark, since it serves only to unleash the infinite treasures that lie in the soul of the listener or reader.

Rabbi Sholom DovBer of Lubavitch (Rebbe and leader of Chabad-Chassidic movement from 1882 to 1920) suffered for many years from ill health. A leading European physician, who had spent many hours in conversation with Rabbi Sholom DovBer, categorized the Rebbe's ailment in the following manner:

``This is a man,'' said the professor, ``whose heart craves something that is beyond the capacity of the mind, and whose mind understands more than the heart can bear...''

[4]. Thus, the very same verse implies different things to the two commentators. In Exodus 25:16, after instructing Moses on the design of the ark proper—before telling him how to make the kapporet—G-d commands: “You shall place the Testimony in the ark.” Then, in verse 21, after the kapporet is described, we again read: “And into the ark you shall put the Testimony which I shall give you.” Why does the Torah repeat itself? According to Rashi, the repetition comes to emphasize that the tablets are to be placed in the ark before it is covered by the kapporet. “Place it in the ark,” the Torah is saying—in the ark as it stands alone, before the kapporet is placed upon it. According to Nachmanides, the repetition comes to make the very opposite point: that the Testament should be placed in the ark after it has been covered by the kapporet.

In other words, Rashi and Nachmanides both understand the verse’s repetition as serving to emphasize that the tablets should be placed in the ark. But what exactly is the ark? According to Rashi, the kapporet is not part of the ark proper, but another, different component of the Sanctuary (though obviously related to the ark, as evidenced by the fact that it is to be placed atop the ark). So the verse is telling us that the tablets should be placed in the ark as it is unto itself, without the addition of the kapporet. Nachmanides, on the other hand, considers the kapporet to be an integral part of the ark; so the verse comes to tell us to place the tablets in the complete ark, not in an ark lacking its cover.

In addition to the question of when to place the tablets in the ark, there are a number of other halachic issues that relate to the question of whether the kapporet is part of the ark or a “vessel” on its own. See Tzafnat Pa’ane’ach on Exodus 37:6; Likkutei Sichot, vol. XXVI, p. 176.

[12]. See Tanna D’vei Eliyahu Rabbah, chapter 14: “Two things preceded G-d’s creation of the world: Torah and Israel. Still, I do not know which preceded which. But when Torah states ‘Speak to the Children of Israel...,’ ‘Command the Children of Israel...,’ etc., I know that Israel preceded all.”

This concept is also alluded to in the Zoharic passage cited above, which speaks of “three knots that are bound with each other.” But if Torah is the link between G-d and Israel, then what we have are three entities (G-d, Torah and Israel) linked via two bonds (Israel’s connection to Torah and the Torah’s connection to the Almighty). What are the “three knots” of which the Zohar speaks?

Yet Israel’s connection with G-d via the Torah derives from a deeper connection: the “direct” connection between G-d and His people which the Torah comes to reveal. On this level, Israel’s involvement in Torah is what connects the Torah to the Almighty, what causes Him to extend His infinite and wholly undefinable being into a medium of “Divine wisdom” and “Divine will.” On this level, it is not the Jew who requires the Torah in order to be one with G-d, but the Torah which requires the Jew to evoke G-d’s desire to project Himself via the Torah. Thus we have three interlinked “knots”: G-d’s connection with Israel, G-d’s connection with the Torah, and Israel’s connection with the Torah. On the experiential level, the Torah is the link between G-d and Israel; in essence, Israel is the link between G-d and the Torah.