Shabbat Terumah 3 Adar I 5768, Feb 9, 2008

Efrat, Israel – "Make two golden cherubs, beating them out as one piece from the ends of the cover (of the Holy Ark)….spreading their wings upwards…" (Exodus 25: 18-20)

The Ark-Cover in the Biblical Sanctuary, punctuated on both ends with cherubs, has left a strong imprint on our western art consciousness, countless images of winged, angelic creatures with exquisitely young and innocent faces. And indeed our classical Biblical commentaries Rashi (1040 – 1105), based on a Talmudic passage (B.T. Hagiga 13b), derives the Hebrew word K'ruv from the Aramaic rubis, literally a young person. Apparently the symbolism of this imagery comes to teach that the whole-hearted purity of our future generations must maintain the continuity of the Divine Teaching within the Ark, thereby protecting it.

However, there is a radically different image of cherubs in a much earlier passage in the Book of Genesis, described along with the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden after they eat of the forbidden fruit: "… And He placed the cherubs at the east of the Garden of Eden, along with the flaming, revolving sword, to guard the path leading to the Tree of (eternal) life" (Genesis 3:24). And in explaining the cherubs of this verse, Rashi comments, "angels of destruction." How can the same image of cherubs symbolize such two contrasting ideas?

One possible resolution may be that a young, innocent child has enormous potential to study and develop in Torah – but the possibility always exists for him to turn in another negatively destructive direction. The crucial issue becomes in which environment he is placed: if he is sent to serious academies of Torah learning from Nursery School onwards, and he is inspired to stand close to the Holy Ark, the chances are great that he be a cherub guarding the Torah; but if he is left to his own devices, placed in an unsupervised fashion next to an internet or television which have programs of violence and sexual immorality, the likelihood is that he will be drawn to the revolving sword and may G-d forbid develop into an agent of destruction.

But the distinction is not as clear-cut as my previous argument might suggest. I have often been confronted in my rabbinical career by parents who have seemingly done all the right things, sent their children to all the "right" schools – and have nevertheless suffered the heart-ache of seeing their offspring veer far from the traditional paths of religious observance. Certainly there can be no fool-proof for success; every individual is a world unto him/herself, born with his/her own genetic proclivities, subject to influences from un-expected and far-flung directions. But our Biblical portion does suggest – at least by innuendo – yet another critical variable the interior accoutrements of our Sanctuary are an ark (aron, literally a closet) a menorah (candelabrum), a table, and an altar. The first three are immediately recognizable as the necessary furnishings of a home; and when we remember that the Sanctuary was the primary institution of the Israelite Religious establishment, the message which cries out to us is that our synagogues and schools must express the same warmth, love, sensitivity and individual concern as parents express for the children in their household. Our Sages have made this principle a cardinal aspect in the qualifications for a teacher: " 'And you shall teach Torah diligently to your children' – these are your students, who must always be referred to as your children" (Deut. 6:7, see Rashi ad loc).

And if the school, study hall and synagogue must have the familial warmth of a home, certainly a home must have the loving sensitivity which children have the right to expect from parents. There are instances especially when each parent is involved in a high-powered and pressurizing professional pursuit – when a household becomes reminiscent of a bus-station, with each member on his/her own time table, when everyone rarely meets together at one time, and when they do, they generally crash into one another. Children would like to feel that at least for their parents they are the highest priority. This means receiving a parents' undivided attention during a conversation – without his/her answering a cell-phone or reading an SMS at the same time – and receiving quantity (and not just quality) time from the parent. Indeed, for children, quantity time is quality time, as my wife is fond of saying. Indeed, my children fault me to this day for having been there for emergency situations, but only for emergency situations; Imma was always there for us – and that prevented many emergency situations from occurring! Perhaps this explains the altar, the place of sacrifice. Parents, teachers and rabbis must make sacrifices – take away from their own professional and private time – to give time to their children, students and congregants, who have the right to expect them to do so.

In the final analysis, however, I would suggest an altogether different resolution to the question of the two types of Biblical cherubs, the cherubs at the ends of the Ark – Cover and the cherubs guarding the tree of life with the revolving sword. I write these words only a few days after two newly – freed terrorist prisoners walked into a Yeshiva High School dormitory in Kibbutz Kfar Etzion at 10:30 p.m. last Thursday evening with the intent to murder innocents. Miraculously, they first entered a class-room where the counselors were having a meeting rather than the Bet-Midrash Study Hall where many students were still learning. The counselors, unlike the students, were armed – and shot the terrorists dead before they could do any damage. The counselors are young and innocent, just released from their years in Yeshivat Hesder, with faces very reminiscent of the cherubs. Fortunately, they were armed with their modern-day "revolving swords," and successfully guarded the path to the Tree of Life.

The Torah is truly our tree of life. Our youth- our cherubs – must preserve and protect it. They do it by studying it and they do it by defending it against our enemies. Both are angels, soldiers in the army of the Lord.

Shabbat Shalom
Shlomo Riskin
Chancellor Ohr Torah Stone
Chief Rabbi - Efrat Israel