A Thought on Parshas Terumah

"...shna'yim k'ruvim..." "...two cherub figures..." (25:18) The instructions for building a mishkan included constructing two golden winged figures which had human-like features.These k'ruvim have been given considerable attention by our Sages and by the commentaries. Many have derived both mystical and spiritual lessons from these figures. The Panae'ach Raza offers an interpretation too. He begins by noting that the Torah declares that there are two of them. Those familiar with Lashon HaKodesh - the Holy Language - will note that the verse does not say "shnei", which would mean "a pair of them" but rather it says "shna'yim" which would best translate as "k'ruvim, two." The use of the whole number "two" represents something about "two things", which the Panae'ach Raza suggests is the two central midos or attributes which we ascribe to HaShem in His dealings with this world. There is midas Rachamim - the quality of mercy, and midas Din, the quality of justice. In the mishkan, which was the center of the spiritual universe on earth, we acknowledged that both conditions can be part of HaShem's relating with us, and we accepted that the mida we experience depends on our behavior, mida k'neged mida. We can earn mercy or we can deserve din. Now one difficulty the Panae'ach Raza notes with this "two" reference, which he links with the "two" Divine attributes which operate in this world, is that we find later in history when the mishkan was replaced with the Bais HaMikdash inaugurated by Shlomo HaMelech, there were not two but four k'ruvim. This is hard to understand at three levels. Firstly, our verse says two, not four. Secondly, no one has permission to modify or add to the Torah's commandments, so how was King Solomon allowed to add two more images? Thirdly, if the meaning of "shna'yim" is in fact the parallel of the two Divine attributes, don't those two middos now get obscured with the adding on of two more figures? How can two become four? The Panae'ach Raza works this out, true to form. The spiritual objective of Shlomo HaMelech was well reasoned: it is true that we can bisect the Divine middos into a pair, with Din and Rachamim well differentiated. However, they only are well differentiated Above. In our experience below, however, we mortals are prone to clouding the Divine reality. That is, we puzzle over Tzadik - v'ra lo - a person can be pious yet may suffer greatly. In turn, we agitate over Rasha - v'tov lo - a person can be cruel yet may live gloriously. Then, again, we look at cases of Tzadik - v'tov lo - a pious person living well, and at Rasha - v'ra lo - a wicked person who suffers, and we think we understand what and why these realities are about. But the broader reality is that we do not have an accurate handle on much in this life. We have our perception and our reasoning, but when you get down to it, we do not see enough of the true picture to know who is pious and who is not; who deserves good and who does not; what is good and what is not and whether someone else's experience is good for them or is really punitive or bad for them. This broader reality, namely, that there is a much broader reality than we can fathom, was depicted in King Solomon's addition of two more k'ruvim. The world still operates on the attributes of Mercy and Justice and by symbolizing the four possible manifestations of Divine responses to mortal behavior - discernable Justice, discernable Mercy, and the two opposite circumstances where we cannot discern the congruence of each attribute with our perception of what should be happening - we accept that there are also times when Din and Rachamim seem to interface, and we submit to the Divine Justice of it all, for Justice too is driven by Divine Mercy. Good Shabbos. D Fox