We can learn a lot from the k'ruvim, the cherubs on top of the Holy Ark. What do you think?
“U-f’neihem ish el achiv – The cherubs faces will be toward one another…” (Shemot/Exodus 25:20)
On the cover of the Ark were two k’ruvim (cherubs) that faced each other. What is the significance of this position? A number of explanations are given. Here are a few:
Rabbi Yaakov Baal Ha-Turim (1268-1340) explains the k’ruvim invoked the image of Torah Scholars studying in chavruta (pair study). Such an image above the Ark containing the Torah was meant to remind the people of the pursuit of Torah knowledge and an ideal way to do so – with a fellow.
Rabbi Binyamin Levine (author of the work “Chamesh Yadot”) says the cherubs modeled the good relationship that needs to exist among leaders. The cherubs stood atop the Ark, representing leadership. There are often different leadership players. Only through their working together can the people thrive.
A third interpretation sees the k’ruvim’s positioning as teaching about the need for a face-to-face relationship among the Jewish people. Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch wrote (on Exodus 25:20): “The whole nation of Israel is represented not by one cherub but by two, by a pair of cherubs.... Israel will become a pair of cherubim who, in mutual respect and consideration, are peacefully directed one to the other, each one there for the other, each a guarantor for the other, each entrusted to the other - in brotherly cooperation, a whole nation keeping and protecting the whole community….”
The common theme in these three interpretations is the centrality of an open, face-to-face relationship in all spheres of life. On top of the Ark containing the Torah were two k’ruvim facing each other. In Torah study, in leadership, and among ordinary individuals, the key to success is facing each other so we can thrive as individuals and as a community.
Shabbat Shalom!
