Taamei Hamitzvos - The Aron
Reasons Behind the Mitzvos
By Rabbi Shmuel Kraines
“Study improves the quality of the act and completes it, and a mitzvah is more beautiful when it emerges from someone who understands its significance.” (Meiri, Bava Kama 17a)
Shemos 25:10-22
The innermost sanctum of the Mishkan contained nothing other than the Aron (Ark) of the Luchos, on which are inscribed the Ten Commandments that are a microcosm of the Torah. It is called “the Aron of the Covenant of Hashem” (Devarim 10:8) because the Luchos symbolize the covenant between Hashem and the Jewish people.
Idolaters place their idol in the center of their temples because it is the focus of their worship. In stark contrast, we believe in a one and only God Who has no form and Whose essence cannot be perceived by any sense, including thought (Introduction to Tikkunei Zohar pg. 17a). We can only perceive Hashem according to how He chooses to relate to us, and that is primarily through His Torah. We are therefore commanded to place the Luchos in the innermost chamber of the Mishkan, at the focus of our worship.
On top of the Aron’s cover are two statues of golden angels called “keruvim,” one male and one female (Rabbeinu Bechaye). Although the Torah generally prohibits making such statues, this was an exception. To avoid the possibility of people thinking that the keruvim represent Hashem, the Torah instructs us to make two of them. They are to be facing each other with their gazes downward to the Aron, demonstrating that they are only statues that honor Hashem, and not idols (Midrash HaGadol and Chizkuni).
The Mishkan is Hashem’s house, the Holy of Holies is His throne room, the Aron is His throne, and the keruvim represent the angels that carry the Throne of Glory, as witnessed by Yeshayah and Yechezkel in their prophecies (Rabbeinu Bechaye). The fact that Hashem sits enthroned upon the Aron suggests that the revelation of Hashem's kingship is linked to our fulfillment of His Torah.
The Sages see the keruvim as a representation of the husband-wife relationship between Hashem and His people (see Yoma 54a). This does not contradict the idea that the keruvim represent the angels that carry Hashem’s Throne; rather, it is another facet of the same idea. For, as has been explained, Hashem's kingship is revealed specifically through His relationship with the Jewish people, which means that His Throne of Glory is His relationship with us. That is, when we perform His will completely and lead the world in His service— as shall be in the days of Mashiach — His Throne is complete.
Hashem's Throne of Glory in Heaven is carried by four angels; so too, the Aron is carried by four Levites, using these two staves (Rabbeinu Bechaye). The two staves are each connected to the Aron by two rings, and we are commanded never to remove them. Malbim suggests that this symbolizes that we carry the Aron with our two eyes and two ears, which must be constantly attached to the Torah. [Further symbolisms of the staves have been discussed in an earlier article.]
The Sages also see the Aron as a symbol of the Torah scholar, who contains the Torah and embodies it with his every act. Thus, the Aron is a wooden box plated with gold on both sides, symbolizing that a Torah scholar must be "golden" inside and out. The Aron was two-and-a- half by one-and-a-half amos. Just as its physical measurements are broken (i.e., not whole numbers), a Torah scholar needs to break his physical dimensions by curbing his physical drives (Rabbeinu Chananel, cited by Rabbeinu Bechaye). Baal HaTurim writes that the keruvim symbolize a pair of Torah scholars engaging in joint study. The Aron has a crown (25:11), which represents the Crown of the Torah (Yoma 72b).
It emerges that the Aron alludes to Hashem’s Throne of Glory, His Torah, and His people. These concepts are ultimately one, for the Jewish people reveal Hashem’s kingship by fulfilling His Torah, as the Zohar (Vol. III, pg. 74a) states, “The Holy one, blessed is He, the Torah, and the Jewish people are interlinked.” This finds expression in the fact that the cover of the Aron, which houses the Torah, and the keruvim, which represent the relationship between Hashem and the Jewish people, are carved from a single block of gold.
The keruvim’s presence in our place of worship indicates that their worship is linked to ours. Hence, there are specifically two keruvim, corresponding to the two Tablets of the Covenant (Rav Hirsch), which suggests that the power of the angels is linked to our fulfillment of the covenant. Similarly, there is a verse that describes Hashem as being enthroned upon the praises of the Jewish people, which means that Hashem does not accept praises from the angels until He receives the praises of the Jewish people (Avos D’Rabbi Nassan §26 and Siddur Rokeach, Uva LTzion). Though the angels are incomparably greater than human beings, they are dependent on our worship, for it is the worship of the Jewish people — which rises despite all our challenges — that Hashem primarily desires (Bishvili Nivra HaOlam §32). We may thus suggest that the keruvim denote that our service and praise, though confined by all the limitations of earthly human beings, are amplified beyond measure by the parallel service and praise of the angels.
