Spark of Jewish Experience

One of the strangest phenomena in our Torah are the Cherubim. These are angels resembling young children. In the innermost chamber of G-d’s temple, the place He calls “Holy of Holies,” G-d tells us to make two golden figurines with wings, one a male, the other a female. Some commentaries say they were one boy, and one man. The reason for this is because the Ark in the Holy Temple housed the “marriage document” binding G-d to His people. Who could be trusted to guard this seminal manuscript? The Cherubim!!

There is seemingly nothing more bizarre than this: G-d tells us He despises idols — and He wants us to despise them, as well. He says, “Don’t even think of making idols. If idols come to your hands, burn them, destroy them, uproot them. Give your lives rather than give any credence to those idols.” Meanwhile, these Cherubim certainly give the appearance of idols!

It gets even stranger, when we would be at odds with G-d and He with us, these two would face away from one another, back to back. But when the two of us would be in harmony, the temple priests would open the curtains and show us the two figurines entwined in embrace. And they would say, “See how cherished you are by your G-d.” It really is an odd way to display the closeness between the Jews and the Master of the Universe. But that’s exactly what it conveys. Perhaps we can say it’s just an indicator how we are perceived by G-d and therefore we then can make the necessary arrangement for repentance. So it’s not idol worship at all. Nevertheless, there is a looming question as to why Cherubim have the appearance they have, and why they are in such an important place in the Temple.

There’s even a common thread between the explanation for the Cherubim and my long association with the Diamond district on 47th street. It involves an old man who retired a few years before I left the business. He worked for a Jewelry company called Zolands, which I sold merchandise to for many years. From my earliest years of working in the industry, this old man always called me “kid”.

To give a firm explanation for the Cherubim, let us first probe into what the Cherubim that adorn the top of the Aron represent?

Rabbi Yissachar Frand learns from the writings of the Chatam Sofer, that the Cherubim represent Torah scholars. Interesting. Why is it that those who study Torah are represented by the child-like figures of the Cherubim?

If we had to come up with a symbol for Talmidei Chachomim-Torah scholars, we would not pick child-like images, would we? We would be more likely pick images of adults with long, gray or better yet white, beards. The Lubavecher Rebbe and Rav Shach come to mind. There you go, they would make great Cherubim!! Why did the Torah chose to symbolize Talmidei Chachomim with child-like faces?

Let’s explore a very interesting concept which will shed light on our topic.

I remember a warm breeze passing through my childhood home in Rego Park Queens, late one Shabbat afternoon. However this was not your ordinary breeze that was permeating through my house. You see, my fellow readers, my father planted mints and lots of them in the back yard. As anybody knows a thing or two about planting, mints-nana grow like wildfire. The cross ventilation of the breeze carried the nana aroma, and marched it through our home as the sun set. I gravitated between heaven and back. However to my frustration the scent didn’t last after the initial pleasant burst, although I really wanted it to continue.

This is in perfect harmony with what Rabbi Akiva Tatz teaches us about life and nature. The first contact, whether it be smell, sound, sight, or touch is a tremendous sensation. However, it doesn’t last. The second and third such feeling afterwards does not live up to the first contact. Those who are big sports fan might remember the old Shafer beer commercial where the narrator proclaims the second beer is as good as the first.

Rabbi Tatz warns us that marriage is the same. He gets complaints often by individuals stating that they don’t have the same feeling as when they initially got married. “The sparks are gone” they tearfully say. After two years they want to get divorced. That’s wrong!! Of course one doesn’t still have the sweaty palms and the giggly nature and that’s because now the actual marriage begins. The initial mesmerizing sensation of meeting someone wonderful is over. For now it will take an entire lifetime to get that feeling again and when it does it will be much more meaningful and gratifying then the initial first time.

This is the nature of the beast within a human. It should be noted that there are some significant exceptions. There are those who can magnify that spark for an extended period. Some can make it last an entire lifetime. The Talmud (Baba Kama 97b) tells us, “The coin of Abraham had the images of an old man and woman on one side and the images of a young boy and girl on the other side.” G-d had promised Abraham, “Ve’agadla shemecha,” that He would make Abraham’s name great (Gen. 12:2). The Midrash Rabba in Lech Lecha explains that this means that Abraham would become famous and a coin would be minted in his honor. This is the coin that the Talmud is referring to.

The commentator, Eitz Yosef, explains that the young boy and girl on the coin represented Abraham and Sarah, who miraculously experienced renewed youthfulness. Rabbi J. B. Soloveitchik explains that on a psychological level Abraham and Sarah were able to seamlessly meld the advantages of youth and maturity. And just like their name was added a letter and they went against nature so too their descendants are able to accomplish the same feet. They too will not be subjected to the laws of nature.

This is exactly what the Greeks wanted to destroy. The three treasures that set aside the Jews from nature were Rosh Chodesh-the new moon, which renews every thirty days. The second is Shabbat which renews once a week. And the last is brit Milah which transforms a boy to a new world, a world of mitzvoth and entrance into the congregation of Israel. Without these three the bnai Yisrael would lose their nuance, their vitality. The Greeks wanted to aim directly at B’nai Yisrael’s power source.

There is not a week that doesn’t pass when one doesn’t see some advertisement for a miraculous product that will make us look or feel years younger. Expensive creams that will take years of wrinkles off our skin, wonder diets or special exercises that will shape our body to make us look drastically more youthful . . .

And have you ever noticed that it is a societal faux pas to ask anyone beyond their teens what their age is? Too many of us remain at 21++ years, without the willingness to publicly acknowledge the passage of time.

Let’s face it: our society as a whole adores and pursues youth. Not only that we remember our youth with such sweetness and yearn for the opportunity to relive those glory days.

Why do Cherubim represent Talmidei Chachomim? This is the answer, Rabbi Frand indicates, that Cherubim represent Torah Scholar, for they must always possess a child-like exuberance to learn Torah. Typically, only children possess such exuberance. As we get older, we become jaded and nonchalant about things. If we can think back to when we were children or can think back to the way our children were or the way they are – that first time that one learns Chumash, the excitement is palpable. The first time one’s child recites the Mishna of “Mah Nishtana,” he is so keyed up that the excitement keeps him up for the entire Seder! Likewise, the first time one learns a blatt Gemara.

The way to become a Talmud Chacham is to make sure that our learning always maintains the symbolism of “…and I shall speak with you from atop the lid, from between the two Keruvim that are on the Aron of the Testimony…” [Shmot 25:22]. A person must try to hold onto that child-like enthusiasm, in order to become a true Talmud Chacham. As we’ve mentioned in the past, the word for a sage in Hebrew is not “Chacham”, it is “TALMID Chacham”. Even the great sage remains a STUDENT.

It seems like it’s was a different world today compare to our childhood; it seems like, at times, it’s a different existence entirely. Is our youth behind us? Will we ever experience that wonderful feeling again? Will we ever have an opportunity to relive or see a video of our youth with all its feeling we had attached to it? How many of us remember getting really excited and enthusiastic about something lately. That’s a childhood frequent occurrence and, frankly, I truly miss that feeling. I remember when my son was about three years old, how he would get excited for the littlest thing.

I read this beautiful poem I would like to share:

A child’s enthusiasm comes in a storm, taking over the child’s entire world.

That is why, when a child embraces a new, good trait, it enters forever.

The old man on 47th street working for Zolands made me feel good every time I walked into the store for he called me “kid”. Even twenty five years later he called me “kid”. It made me feel good; it made me feel young. When I walked in one time and found out he retired, I felt sad. One of the other salesmen, Fred, asked me “Why are you sad about him retiring?” I said “The old man always made me feel good because he called me “kid””. Fred laughed and said “He called everyone kid whom he didn’t remember.”