Terumah: “Defying Gravity”

Terumah: “Defying Gravity”

Rabbi Jeffrey Miller

 

“Flying is learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss.”

Douglas Adams.

“The reason birds can fly and we can’t is simply because they have perfect faith, for to have faith is to have wings.”

J.M. Barrie.

Angelic beings are introduced to us rather early in the Torah narrative.  As mankind (or ‘people-kind’, if you are following this week’s news from our northern neighbor) are expelled from Eden:

… He [God] stationed from the east of the Garden of Eden the cherubim and the blade of the revolving sword, to guard the way to the Tree of Life.   [Gen. 3:24]

וַיַּשְׁכֵּן֩ מִקֶּ֨דֶם לְגַן־עֵ֜דֶן אֶת־הַכְּרֻבִ֗ים וְאֵ֨ת לַ֤הַט הַחֶ֨רֶב֙ הַמִּתְהַפֶּ֔כֶת לִשְׁמֹ֕ר אֶת־דֶּ֖רֶךְ עֵ֥ץ הַֽחַיִּֽים

The cherubim are positioned at the entrance to Eden, armed with scary, ninja-like swords.  We encounter cherubim again in this week’s parsha, where figurines of them were carved from a single bock of gold to adorn the cover of the Ark:

And make one cherub from the one end and the other cherub from the other end; from the ark cover you shall make the cherubim on its two ends.	יַֽ֠עֲשֵׂ֠ה כְּר֨וּב אֶחָ֤ד מִקָּצָה֙ מִזֶּ֔ה וּכְרוּב־אֶחָ֥ד מִקָּצָ֖ה מִזֶּ֑ה מִן־הַכַּפֹּ֛רֶת תַּֽעֲשׂ֥וּ אֶת־הַכְּרֻבִ֖ים עַל־שְׁנֵ֥י קְצוֹתָֽיו:
The cherubim shall have their wings spread upwards, shielding the ark cover with their wings, with their faces toward one another; (turned) toward the ark cover shall be the faces of the cherubim.   [Ex. 25:19-20]	הָי֣וּ הַכְּרֻבִים֩ פֹּֽרְשֵׂ֨י כְנָפַ֜יִם לְמַ֗עְלָה סֹֽכְכִ֤ים בְּכַנְפֵיהֶם֙ עַל־הַכַּפֹּ֔רֶת וּפְנֵיהֶ֖ם אִ֣ישׁ אֶל־אָחִ֑יו אֶ֨ל־הַכַּפֹּ֔רֶת יִֽהְי֖וּ פְּנֵ֥י הַכְּרֻבִֽים:

Again, the cherubim are poised as guardians, this time safeguarding the Ark’s contents: The Luchot HaBrit, commonly called The Ten Commandments!

Yet the only physical description given in the Torah is that the cherubim were winged.  We are left to imagine for ourselves what (else) they may have looked like.  Centuries later, the Prophet Yechezkel offers a vision of these beings as having multiple sets of wings, four separate faces, and מַרְאֵיהֶ֣ם כְּגַֽחֲלֵי־אֵ֗שׁ בֹּֽעֲרוֹת֙ כְּמַרְאֵ֣ה הַלַּפִּדִ֔ים, an “appearance like fiery coals, burning like the appearance of firebrands”.  (Ezek. 1:13; see, also, Ezek. 12 ff.)

The cherubim (i) guard the entrance to Eden, (ii) carry – or at least accompany – the Divine Chariot, and (iii) protect the Ark.  They are God’s Cosmic Bouncers.

It seems odd, then, that in the Talmud, Rabbi Abbahu described the cherubim that were carved on the Ark as having child-like faces.  (See, T.B. Sukkah 5b.)  It is even more fascinating that despite the fact that Rabbi Abbahu is challenged by the explicit description of cherubim in Ezekiel, the view of the cherub as a winged child becomes the dominant image in Chazal (i.e., Rashi, Rashbam, Ibn Ezra) as well as Western art and literature.  Just google (image) “cherub” if you don’t believe me.

Let’s leave for another day a discussion of why Biblical commentators (and artists alike) prefer the child-like image of cherubim to the fierce image of Yechezkel.  Why do the cherubim on the Ark have wings but the ones guarding Eden do not?  And to complicate matters further, when the cherubim appear to the Prophet Yechezkel, they each have four wings rather than the single set of wings depicted on the Ark’s cover.

Yet another ‘kind’ of angels, seraphim, were described by the Prophet Isaiah:

In the year of the death of King Uzziah, I saw the Lord sitting on a high and exalted throne, and His lower extremity filled the Temple.	בִּשְׁנַת־מוֹת֙ הַמֶּ֣לֶךְ עֻזִּיָּ֔הוּ וָֽאֶרְאֶ֧ה אֶת־אֲדֹנָ֛י ישֵׁ֥ב עַל־כִּסֵּ֖א רָ֣ם וְנִשָּׂ֑א וְשׁוּלָ֖יו מְלֵאִ֥ים אֶת־הַהֵיכָֽל:
Seraphim stood above for Him, six wings, six wings to each one; with two he would cover his face, and with two he would cover his feet, and with two he would fly.   [Isa. 6:1-2]	שְׂרָפִ֨ים עֹֽמְדִ֚ים מִמַּ֙עַל֙ ל֔וֹ שֵׁ֧שׁ כְּנָפַ֛יִם שֵׁ֥שׁ כְּנָפַ֖יִם לְאֶחָ֑ד בִּשְׁתַּ֣יִם | יְכַסֶּ֣ה פָנָ֗יו וּבִשְׁתַּ֛יִם יְכַסֶּ֥ה רַגְלָ֖יו וּבִשְׁתַּ֥יִם יְעוֹפֵֽף:

Thus, we encounter angels with no wings (Breishit), two wings (Shemot), four wings (Yechezkel), and six wings (Isaiah).  What’s going on?

A simple answer could be that angels are not all created equal.  An Equally plausible partial answer is that a physical description of the cherubim was omitted in Genesis because it was unimportant; the text focused not on their appearance but on their task (and weaponry) as armed guards.  However, their wings take center stage in this week’s parsha precisely because the Torah is describing them as carved statues adorning the cover of the Ark.

For Yechezkel, the wings were instruments of travel, carrying the cherubim upward, “וַיֵּרוֹמּוּ מִן־הָאָ֚רֶץ לְעֵינַי”, “and lifted themselves from the earth, before my eyes”.   (Yechezkel 10:19.)  In Isaiah’s vision (ch. 6), the wings were not merely for flying: “…with two he would cover his face, and with two he would cover his feet, and with two he would fly.”  As explained by Rashi:

• with two wings he would cover his face so as not to look directly at God;
• with two wings he would cover his body for modesty;
• with two wings he would “fly”, meaning “serve” God.

Dr. Bernard Septimius pointed me to Jacob’s famous ladder:

And he dreamed, and behold! a ladder set up on the ground and its top reached to heaven; and behold, angels of God were ascending and descending upon it. [Gen. 28:12]

וַיַּֽחֲלֹ֗ם וְהִנֵּ֤ה סֻלָּם֙ מֻצָּ֣ב אַ֔רְצָה וְרֹאשׁ֖וֹ מַגִּ֣יעַ הַשָּׁמָ֑יְמָה וְהִנֵּה֙ מַלְאֲכֵ֣י אֱלֹהִ֔ים עֹלִ֥ים וְיֹֽרְדִ֖ים בּֽוֹ:

If indeed the wings were an instrument for flying, like those of a bird, why then were Jacob’s angels climbing up and down a very large ladder from Heaven to Earth?  Dr. Septimius concluded that despite the fact that angelic wings are described in functional terms (flying, covering, protecting, etc.), surely (i) angels do not really need wings to fly, (ii) Heaven is not a place that can be reached with soaring wings (or a large tower) anyway, and (iii) Jacob’s ladder provides a ‘lower-tech’ method of traversing Heaven and Earth.  It must be, then, that wings – when they are present at all – are symbolic rather than utilitarian.

Yechezkel, for example, was moved to describe what he heard as much as what he saw:

And I heard the sound of their wings, like the sound of many waters like the voice of the Almighty-when they went; the sound of stirring, like the sound of a camp; when they would stand, they would let down their wings.   [Yech. 1:24]

וָֽאֶשְׁמַ֣ע אֶת־ק֣וֹל כַּנְפֵיהֶ֡ם כְּקוֹל֩ מַ֨יִם רַבִּ֚ים כְּקֽוֹל־שַׁדַּי֙ בְּלֶכְתָּ֔ם ק֥וֹל הֲמֻלָּ֖ה כְּק֣וֹל מַֽחֲנֶ֑ה בְּעָמְדָ֖ם תְּרַפֶּ֥ינָה כַנְפֵיהֶֽן:

The wings in Yechezkel’s ‘vision’ were a delicate musical instrument, creating a Divinely beautiful, beatbox sound.  The lyrics came a little later; words, so stirring that Chazal incorporated the angelic song into our most sacred prayer, the Kedushah:

Then a spirit carried me away, and behind me I heard a great roaring sound: “Blessed is the Presence of the LORD, in His place”.   [Yech. 3:12]

ותשאני רוח ואשמע אחרי קול רעש גדול ברוך כבוד־ה ממקומו

Isaiah’s prophecy included a tactile experience; the angels touched his mouth with Divine tongs.  He, too, brought back the poetry of the angels, which also made its way into the Kedushah:

 

And one would call to the other, “Holy, holy, holy! The LORD of Hosts!  His presence fills all the earth!” [Isa. 6:3]

וְקָרָ֨א זֶ֤ה אֶל־זֶה֙ וְאָמַ֔ר קָד֧וֹשׁ ׀ קָד֛וֹשׁ קָד֖וֹשׁ ה צְבָא֑וֹת מְלֹ֥א כָל־הָאָ֖רֶץ כְּבוֹדֽוֹ׃

Jacob was tired and afraid.  He was alone and the best pillow he could find that night was a cold, hard stone.  He was fleeing the wrath of his brother but unbeknownst to him, his troubles were just beginning.  He was about to encounter a man who would take advantage of him through kindness – by offering loggings, a kind smile and a pretty daughter.  In fact, Jacob’s life can be summarized as moving slowly from one crisis to another.  His angels, then, were perched on a ladder, ascending and descending, moving slowly and methodically, plugging along, one rung at a time.

Sforno explains the symbolism of the cherubim on the cover of the Ark:

The reason why the Torah continues in describing these cherubs as facing the lid of the Ark, i.e. looking downwards whereas their wings are spread upwards, is a reminder that although inspiration originates in heaven, understanding of God and how He works can only come by paying close attention and studying what He does in our material, “lower” part of His universe.  The ideal means of unraveling the meaning of God’s actions is through His revealed word, the Torah, of which the Ark has become the repository.  The upshot of the message contained in the symbolism represented by the cherubs, their shape, their posture, etc., is that for us on earth the key to obtain all these insights must be obtained by study of the Torah. By giving us the Torah, allowing us to build the Tabernacle, etc.,

[https://www.sefaria.org/Exodus.25.20?lang=bi&p2=Sforno_on_Exodus.25.20.1&lang2=bi&w2=all&lang3=he]

We, who yearn to return to Eden, sometimes see angels soaring effortlessly to and fro.  These visions inspire to reach out as far as we can and then some.  But because we are only human, at other times, we see angels ominously guarding (and blocking) our paths.  Different visions come to different people; prophets and prophecies are unique – as are their allusions, metaphors, and symbols – because they mirror – or at least respond to – the uniqueness of the moment.  In other words, angels – like beauty itself – are in the eye of the beholder!

Shabbat Shalom!