Reply To: Short & Sweet

Terumah: Angelic Aspirations

At the pinnacle of the Mishkan, in the heart of the Kodesh HaKodashim, was a seemingly strange thing: two statues, looking at each other. The Torah goes out of its way to tell us that when Hashem spoke to Moshe, the voice of Hashem came from in between the two Keruvim. What is this supposed to teach us?

Perhaps we can suggest that the Keruvim show us how Hashem’s presence is experienced in this world. Hashem’s voice is not heard when Torah is viewed as merely an academic pursuit, meant to be studied for intellectual value.

When there is a society of people who are one with the Torah (מקשה תעשה אותם), who are at one which each other (ופניהם איש אל אחיו), and who are always looking upwards to connect to Hashem (פורשי כנפים למעלה) – then by being in the presence of those people, you will feel the presence of Hashem. Hashem’s voice is heard just by he very existence of such a people. This is who the Jewish nation aspires to be – people who bear the presence of Hashem in every aspect of their lives.

לע״נ דוד חיים בן ישראל דוב הכהן
לע”נ ר׳ חיים רוב בן ר׳ בןציון שלום