B"H

Friday, Adar 3, 5780 / February 28, 2020

This week's Parsha, Terumah, is about the building of the Mishkan and its contents; the Aron (ark), the Kaporet (ark cover), the Shulchan (table), the Menorah (candelabra) and the Mizbe'ach (altar).  The Torah details the materials, measurements and construction of each component of the sanctuary.

The Torah states, "And they shall make an ark…and you shall overlay it with pure gold from within and from without… And you shall put into the ark the testimony (two Tablets).  And you shall make an ark-cover of pure gold... And you shall make two Cherubim of gold at the two ends of the ark-cover... And the Cherubim shall be spreading their wings on high covering with their wings over the ark-cover and their faces one toward the other..."  

Inside the Aron (ark) were both sets of Tablets; the first Tablets, which Moshe broke when he saw the Jewish people worshipping the Golden Calf, as well as the second set of Tablets.

There are many lessons we can draw from the Aron.

The Aron was made of three boxes, which were placed one into the other.  The inner and outer boxes were made of gold. The middle box was made out of wood, for the Torah is called " a Tree of Life." 

The interior and exterior of the Aron were of gold. This teaches us that a person must be the same on the inside (in one's heart and mind), as on the outside (in their behaviour and relations with others).

Due to the gold content of the Aron and the Tablets, which were inside the Aron, the Aron was extremely heavy.  Yet, when traveling, only four people carried the Aron.

How was this possible? Our sages say, "The Aron carried its carriers!" In other words, it wasn’t the people who carried the Aron, rather, the Aron (Torah) carried the carriers! This teaches us that Torah is not a burden. Rather, it is the Torah which carries and uplifts the one who adheres to it.

Each of the two golden "Cherubim" on the ark cover had the face of a child and each had wings which extended over its head, as the Torah states, "And the Cherubim shall be spreading out their wings on high, screening with their wings the ark-cover, with their faces one toward the other."

The Cherubim teach us two very important lessons.  First, the guardians of the Torah are the children. Teaching our children Torah and the practice of mitzvot is the only way to guarantee our continuity.  

Also, that we must face and see each other.  There must be love and harmony between us.   These two factors were in fact the pre-conditions for G-d's giving the Torah to the Jewish people in the first place. 

SHABBAT  SHALOM

Montreal candle lighting time: 5:21 / Shabbat ends: 6:25