Parashat Terumah describes the construction of the tabernacle, the portable sanctuary the Israelites were commanded to construct in the desert. At its center lay the Holy of Holies, the inner sanctum that housed the Ark of the Covenant. According to the instructions in this week’s Torah portion, the ark was to have two winged cherubim facing each other at each end. What are these two cherubim and what is their significance?
The Talmud describes them as k’rabia, which literally means “like youths.” But this clarification does not answer the deeper question: What place do figures of youths have within the Holy of Holies? For that, we can look to the Zohar:
It is written: “Serve the Lord with gladness” — the joy of the two cherubim. Because they are youths, whoever dwells among them has his face turned like a youth’s and rejoices with them. And this is the mystery: When the One who dwells rests upon them, He is turned into a youth, in the joy of all and with desire. Even if He comes in judgment upon the world, as soon as He rests upon them, He is turned into joy. The youth is bound in gladness, and the world is turned to mercy. Whoever is in anger, let the youth come before him and his anger will be calmed and he will be turned in joy, and he makes himself like a youth. And then all is in joy. And on this mystery it is written: “For Israel is a youth and I love him” — there is no love and affection except in youths.
It is written: “And Joshua son of Nun, a youth, did not depart from the tent.” He would stand within the tent of Moses, for that tent was the tent of Moses. And at the time when the Shekhinah would come and find Joshua there, who was a youth, immediately there was joy and the will of gladness, for Joshua’s face was the face of the moon. In all things, in all his mysteries, it was so. When the tabernacle was built, there was no longer a need for Joshua to be there, for the cherubim were there, and they were found in love for one another, face to face, like youths in joy. Once the One who dwells rested upon them, immediately all was in joy, and judgment was not found at all. And because the Holy One, blessed be He, desires His people Israel, they needed to show a deed below, to arouse mercy and to remove judgment so that it would not hold sway over them at all, and they would always be in joy with Him. Fortunate are they in this world and in the world to come.
Zohar Hadash, Terumah, 43c
According to the kabbalists, the Shekhinah, the feminine dimension of God that dwells in the tabernacle, is identified with the sefirah of Malkhut, the lowest sefirah and the interface between all the sefirot above it and the material world. It is therefore Shekhinah that transmits the expressions of God’s countenance — sometimes merciful, sometimes wrathful and angry. This oscillation between mercy and wrath is why the kabbalists also compare the Shekhinah to the moon, which sometimes shines and sometimes is dark. In this passage, the Zohar is suggesting that in order to merit the illumination of the Shekhinah’s countenance when she visits her dwelling place, one must embody the effervescent spirit of youth. The place where the spirit of youth dwells is the place where the indwelling of the Shekhinah can appear.
This idea is most surprising. We might imagine that meriting the presence of the Shekhinah requires gravity, composure and spiritual maturity — not the spirit of youth. Yet experience also teaches us that the company of young people can awaken a sense of fervor and vitality. There is something open, dynamic and inspiring in youth that can serve as a vessel for the Shekhinah. In a similar way, the Shekhinah itself is roused with joy when it dwells in a place where the spirit of youth also resides.
From there, the Zohar turns to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ attendant and eventual successor as leader of the Israelites. In Exodus, Joshua is described as a youth who was always in Moses’ tent (also called the Tent of Meeting), but we are not told why. The reason, says the Zohar, lies in the description of him as a youth. The Tent of Meeting was the place where Moses encountered God prior to the building of the tabernacle. Joshua’s youthful presence there was required for the illumination of the Shekhinah’s countenance as she dwelled in the tent. And indeed, when the tabernacle was built and became the place where Moses communicated with Shekhinah, there was no longer a need for Joshua’s presence. From then on, the role of embodying the spirit of youth was filled by the cherubim.
The Zohar is teaching that the place where the illuminated Shekhinah dwells in the world is the place where youthful energy surges. No better vessel exists for it than the blazing spirit of youth. This is why God, who desires to illuminate His countenance to His children, meets with Moses specifically between the two cherubim — from the place of youth.
Anyone whose youthful years are beyond them knows that maturity, for all its virtues, also entails loss. Adulthood can grant us a stable, considered and directed life, but sometimes at the cost of inspiration generally, and the indwelling of the Shekhinah in particular. Sometimes we may search for that inspiration and fail to find it. The Zohar here seems to be calling to us to rouse the cherubim within us and in this way to awaken inspiration and the illumination of the Shekhinah’s countenance toward us.
This piece was originally published as part of A Year of Zohar: Kabbalah for Everyone, an original series produced by My Jewish Learning and Sefaria. Sign up for the entire series here.
