https://www.facebook.com/avi.rabinowitz/posts/10158354547280892
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1420456141410458/permalink/3500611586728226/
The below is the FB post lijned to above
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The Torah's prescription for how to hear God's voice
Summary:
Question: Why kruvim (cherubs) on the ark? Answer:The ark is like Eden, and kruvim are in the Eden account mentioned as protecting it.
Question: why two not one? Answer: because they were guarding two tablets (in the ark)
Question: why facing each other? Answer: because the message was in the space between them, ie between the two tablets.
Question: why did God's voice emanate from between the two? Answer: because humans are created in the divine image and have at their essence the divine spirit, and that is the message of the space between the tablets.
Explanation: Near the beginning of this week's Torah portion God says "they will build me a temple and I will dwell within them". Right after that, God describes the main part of the (mini-)temple, the ark, in which were the two tablets, and on top of which were the two kruvim.
Why are they here?
Perhaps we can better understand if we look at where else in the Torah they are mentioned.
Humanity was made to exit the Garden of Eden NOT because they ate from the tree of knowledge; the Torah states the reason explicitly as "lest the humans eat from the Tree of Life". A very significant difference! And two kruvim were placed to protect the way to the Garden and its tree of life.
So are we being denied Life? God forbid!
After eating from the tree of knowledge humanity entered a different phase and were given God's commandments as a guide to Life, then the Laws of Noah, and later at Sinai God gave the Jewish People the Torah which is called "the tree of life" (Proverbs 3:18), and which is encapsulated in the tablets.
After eating of the tree of knowledge in Eden, the Tree of Life in the Garden was not anymore the apporpirate path for humanity, rather they were now best served by nourishing from the alternate tree of life which God gave as more appropriate to the post-edenic state - the Torah.
And there were two kruvim protecting each of the two forms of Tree of Life: the one in the aron (ark) ie the luchos (tablets), and the one in Eden, 'protecting' (keeping available to us when approached appropriately, and serving as a signpost to) the path to the tree of life/Torah-tablets.
The kruvim were posted on the ark which was the main part of the holy of holies, somewhat like the Garden of Eden in that it was forbidden to enter except for the high priest after purification, and only once a year on Yom Kippur, asking for God's assistance in returning to God ('teshuva'), where Yom Kippur was itself instituted after the events of Eden. Entering the holy of holies to the ark of the tablets on Yom Kippur after purification and return to one's true self, is parallel to humanity re-entering the Garden when fully purified, fully returned to holiness.
Question: The Torah describes how God spoke to Moshe Rabbenu (our teacher Moses) via a voice coming from between the two kruvim. (See the last pasuk of the parsha). Why from the kruvim and not from the aron or the tablets, and why between the two? And the Torah specifies that the kruvim were face to face. Why?
Perhaps there are two kruvim because there are two luchos (tablets). Perhap God's voice is heard between the two kruvim because that means via seeing and internalizing and acting on the connection between the two tablets, the subtext in the "white space" between the two, ie understanding how to see one set of the 5 in terms of the other (ie understanding that the commandments relating to God are reflections of those related to human-interaction, since humanity is created in the image of God and each human is a sort of encapsulation of the divine spirit as I explained for parshat Yitro.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/80847655150/posts/10166766197805151/
And this internalization, seeing God's image in all humans, is itself a tuning-in to the voice of God, and also a spiritual awakening enabling us to better hear the voice of God.
Conclusion: So the two kruvim over the tablets push us to confront the irinterconnection, and be inspired to relate to all humans as the image of God and repository of God's "ruach" (spirit), and thereby be able to hear the voice of God, 'emanating from the space between the two tablets', 'from between the two kruvim facing each other'.
May we be blessed to internalize this message and act on it, so that we can fully engage not only with both tablets but also with the depth of that which links them, thus meriting to hear the voice of God.
dibros ('words' = "commandments")
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Chumash: new vort: Parshas Trumah: Kruvim, veshachanti betocham, all humans are hashem's ruach etc
New drash on/interpretation of Veshachanti Besocham: Seems paradioxical but God can dwell in the physical, in the universe of time and space, and in a human ('vayipach...'). This was symbolized by etzba elokim writing the luchos, the 'letters' were not physical. This is why the aron carried itdelf (binso'a ha;aron), and when BY heard only 'anochi' it was enough to have them feel anochi inside them, resonatingin the ruach of hashem that is their essence, and since klal yisrael had high nevuah then and was 'am' (one), this let them feel each other, that every individual is tzelmen elokim, is at essence ruach of hashem.
A human is a kli continaing ruach of God, and when we walk it is actually the ruach carrying us like the aron, not our legs carrrying us. The luchos had one for bein odom lechavero, carved with etzba elokim,opposie the bein odom lamakom, so at sinai we felt the parallel when we heard anochi.
The kruvim were not physcal and couldnot be made accoridng to a blueprint, so it was necessary to show it to MR in a vision ["mor'om" bahar (God says to build all according to what was shown to M"R etc at Sinai], and specifically at har sinai, where they all saw sounds etc, and realized that the reality was not as it seemed to be..
Kruvim were staiotned to protect etz hachayim in gan eden, and that is the luchos, etz chayim hi, and so the aron was not fully physical .... and the idea of seeing the aron carry itself, and of being in the mikdosh at which 'veshachanti betocham' is that we all then feel that every human is image of god, can be a vessel containing hashem's ruach just like luchos can contian god's handwriting and aron and kruvim seem physical but aren.t, so too a human being.