Parshas Terumah
1. On the verse "ונתת את הכפורת על הארון מלמעלה ואל הארון תתן את העדות אשר אתן אליך" ("And you shall place the Kapores [the Ark cover] on the Ark from above, and into the Ark you shall place the Testimony that I will give you")1 there is a dispute between Rashi and the Ramban:
Rashi says that the reason the verse repeats the command "ואל הארון תתן את העדות" ("and into the Ark you shall place the Testimony") — for it already says earlier: "ונתת אל הארון את העדות" ("And you shall place into the Ark the Testimony")2 — is: "יש לומר שבא ללמד שבעודו ארון לבדו בלא כפורת יתן תחלה העדות לתוכו ואח"כ יתן את הכפורת עליו" ("One can say that it comes to teach that while it is still an Ark alone3, without a Kapores, he should first place the Testimony inside it, and afterwards place the Kapores upon it")4.
The Ramban takes issue with Rashi and asks: "אם היה זה צוואה משמעו יותר שאחר שיתן הכפורת על הארון כאשר אמר, יתן בארון את העדות, כי ארון יקרא בהיות הכפורת עליו" ("If this were a command5, its meaning would rather be that after he places the Kapores on the Ark, as He said6, he should place the Testimony in the Ark; for it is called an Ark [OCR unclear] when the Kapores is upon it")7.8
That is to say: according to Rashi, the "Ark alone" — without the Kapores — is called an "Ark"9; and therefore10, when it says "and into the Ark you shall place the Testimony," this means into the "Ark alone," without a Kapores11. Whereas according to the Ramban, that "it is called an Ark . . when the Kapores is upon it," one cannot say that a command phrased in this language "would rather mean" [what Rashi says] — on the contrary: "you shall place" means "after he places the Kapores on the Ark"12.
2. It can be said that this is not merely a difference regarding the name "Ark," but rather a halachic difference concerning the definition of the Ark (and the Kapores):
According to the Ramban, the Kapores is a detail and part of the Ark, and only when the Kapores lies upon the Ark is the Ark complete [since it is similar to the Ark itself, which was made "of three boxes"13, and only all of them together constitute the entity of the Ark — likewise the Kapores, a covering over the Ark, is a part of the Ark]14;
and according to Rashi, the Kapores is a vessel in its own right15; it is only that its place is upon the Ark16.
We find this line of reasoning with regard to halachah: the Rogatchover says that
[from the fact that the Gemara17 calls the Kapores a "vessel" (in the expression "we derive a vessel from [OCR unclear] a vessel"), and likewise from what is stated in Toras Kohanim18: "לפי שנאמר כפורת יכול יהי כיסוי לארון ת"ל כפורת, כפורת לארון ואין כיסוי לארון" ("Since it says 'Kapores,' one might think it is a covering for the Ark; therefore the verse says 'Kapores' — a Kapores for the Ark, and not a covering for the Ark")19, it is understood that]
the Kapores "לא הוי רק בשביל כיסוי אלא זה מציאות בפ"ע רק צריך להניחו על ארון" ("is not merely for the sake of covering, but is an entity in its own right; it is only that it must be placed on the Ark")20. Accordingly there is a halachic ramification (as the Rogatchover brings there)21: the Kapores is a sacred service vessel "מחמת הזאה של יום הכפורים" ("because of the sprinkling of Yom Kippur"), and therefore the Kapores must be communal property, and may not have "שמו כתוב עליו" ("his name written on it") (the name of an individual). Whereas the Ark does not have the status of a sacred service vessel (and that is why we find that regarding the Ark it says "ויעש בצלאל" ("And Betzalel made")22, but not regarding the Kapores23).
3. It can be said that there is a further halachic ramification between the two approaches:
a) Regarding the intention "לשמה" ("for its sake")24 — those who made the Kapores had to have intent, in making the Kapores, for its sake: according to the Ramban it follows that this had to (could?) be included in the intent for the sake of the Ark; whereas according to Rashi it can be said that the intent for its sake had to be a separate intent25 — specifically for the sake of the Kapores26.
b) Assuming that the prohibition against making an object in the form of the Mishkan (and the Mikdash) and the vessels of the Mikdash27 applies also to the Ark28: if the Kapores is a part of the entity of the Ark, then one transgresses this prohibition only when one makes the form of both — the Ark and the Kapores29; if, however, the Kapores is an entity in its own right, it can be said that the prohibition applies also when one makes the Ark by itself, or the Kapores (with the cherubim30) by itself.
4. The explanation of the above dispute (between Rashi and the Ramban), it can be said, is connected with the difference in their approaches regarding the general concept of the Ark:
The Ramban says31 that "עיקר החפץ במשכן הוא מקום מנוחת השכינה שהוא הארון כמו שאמר ונועדתי לך שם ודברתי אתך מעל הכפורת (על כן הקדים הארון והכפורת בכאן) כו'" ("the main purpose of the Mishkan is the resting place of the Shechinah, which is the Ark, as He said32, 'And I will meet with you there, and I will speak with you from above the Kapores' (therefore He mentioned the Ark and the Kapores first here), etc."), and this is accomplished by placing the Testimony into the Ark — together with the Kapores,
(and as he says33 regarding the mitzvah of making the Ark: "עשיית הארון והכפורת לשום שם העדות תמנה מצוה בפ"ע" ("the making of the Ark and the Kapores to house the Testimony is to be counted as a mitzvah in its own right")34).
That is to say, not only is the Ark the vessel for the Testimony, but the Kapores as well (and the cherubim35) is a garment and vessel for the "Testimony," through which "And I will meet with you there" is accomplished36.
According to Rashi, however, the purposes of the Ark and of the Kapores are separate matters: the Ark is for the sake of the Testimony, as is evident from the fact that at the end of the command to make the Ark (before the command "ועשית כפורת גו'" ("And you shall make a Kapores etc.")) the Torah says37 "And you shall place into the Ark the Testimony that I will give you" — that this is for the sake of the Torah (as Rashi explains "העדות" ("the Testimony") — "התורה שהיא לעדות ביני וביניכם שצויתי אתכם מצות הכתובות בה" ("the Torah, which is a testimony between Me and you that I have commanded you the mitzvos written in it")).
The Ark is for the sake of the Testimony, whereas the Kapores, which is mentioned after this38, is a separate matter39 — "ונועדתי לך שם ודברתי אתך מעל הכפורת מבין שני הכרובים גו' כל אשר אצוה אותך אל בני ישראל" ("And I will meet with you there, and I will speak with you from above the Kapores, from between the two cherubim etc., all that I will command you for the Children of Israel"). Moreover: according to Rashi on the verse, this is not the concept of the "resting place of the Shechinah," but rather: "כשאקבע מועד לך לדבר עמך אותו מקום אקבע למועד שאבא שם לדבר אליך" ("When I set a meeting with you to speak with you, that is the place I will set for the meeting, where I will come to speak to you")40.
And therefore Rashi holds that the Kapores is a vessel in its own right and not a part of the Ark.
5. As a result of the above difference (between Rashi and the Ramban) regarding the Kapores (whether it is a part of the Ark or a vessel in its own right), there follows a difference also regarding the cherubim upon the Kapores, for regarding the cherubim, too, two lines of reasoning can be proposed41:
a) The cherubim are a detail of the Kapores: from "שני קצות הכפורת" ("the two ends of the Kapores") two cherubim were hammered out42.
b) The cherubim are not merely a detail of the Kapores (with the Kapores being a part of the Ark, as a vessel for the Testimony); rather, the cherubim themselves are (also) a part of the Ark, just like the Kapores.
According to Rashi, who holds that the Kapores is a thing separate from the Ark (as above), the cherubim, too, are of course not a detail of the Ark; moreover: from the plain meaning of the verses it is implied that the cherubim are not a matter in their own right, but a detail of the Kapores, which is why: (a) the cherubim are "מקשה . . משני קצות הכפורת" ("hammered43 . . from the two ends of the Kapores")44; (b) they are "סוככים בכנפיהם על הכפורת . . אל הכפורת יהיו פני הכרובים" ("shielding the Kapores with their wings . . toward the Kapores shall be the faces of the cherubim")44. That is to say, the vessel for "And I will meet . . and I will speak" is the Kapores45; only that within the Kapores itself, the voice comes "from between the two cherubim."
In contrast, the Ramban explains46 the concept of the cherubim, and this is his wording: "והנה הוא כמרכבה אשר ראה יחזקאל . . ואדע כי כרובים המה ולכך נקרא יושב הכרובים, כי היו פורשי כנפים להורות שהם המרכבה נושאי הכבוד . . ואם תחשוב עוד למה . . תוכל לדעת כי ראוי להם שיהיו פורשי כנפים למעלה כי הם כסא עליון וסוככים על העדות שהוא מכתב אלקים" ("Behold, it is like the Chariot that Yechezkel saw . . 'and I knew that they were cherubim'; and therefore He is called 'He Who dwells among the cherubim'47, for they spread their wings to show that they are the Chariot that bears the Glory . . And if you further consider why . . you can know that it is fitting for them to spread their wings upward, for they are the supernal throne, and they shield the Testimony, which is the writing of G‑d").
With this he explains why the verse repeats "ונועדתי . . ודברתי אתך מעל הכפורת מבין שני הכרובים אשר על ארון העדות" ("And I will meet . . and I will speak with you from above the Kapores, from between the two cherubim that are upon the Ark of the Testimony") (even though "בידוע שהכרובים הם על ארון העדות" ("it is known that the cherubim are upon the Ark of the Testimony")) — because these words come to explain the content of the concept of the cherubim: "כי בעבור שיצוה בכרובים להיותם פורשי כנפים למעלה ולא אמר למה יעשם כלל ומה שימשו במשכן ולמה יהיו בענין הזה, לכך אמר ונתת הכפורת עם כרוביו אל הארון תתן את העדות אשר אתן אליך כדי שיהיה לי כסא כבוד כי אני אועד לך שם ואשכין שכינתי עליהם ודברתי אתך מעל הכפורת מבין שני הכרובים בעבור שהוא על ארון העדות" ("For since He commanded that the cherubim spread their wings upward, and did not say at all why they should be made, what purpose they serve in the Mishkan, and why they should be in this form, He therefore said: 'And you shall place the Kapores' with its cherubim; 'into the Ark you shall place the Testimony that I will give you,' so that I shall have a throne of glory, for I will meet with you there and cause My Shechinah to rest upon them, 'and I will speak with you from above the Kapores, from between the two cherubim,' because it is upon the Ark of the Testimony").
It follows that the cherubim are a part of the Ark just like the Kapores;
all three are the "resting place of the Shechinah," and on the contrary: G‑d is called "He Who dwells among the cherubim"48.
6. Based on this, we will also understand the reason for the difference between Rashi and the Ramban regarding the form of the cherubim:
The Ramban teaches, as above, that the cherubim are "like the Chariot that Yechezkel saw . . He Who dwells among the cherubim"; whereas Rashi says49 that the cherubim had "דמות פרצוף תינוק להם" ("the likeness of a child's face")50.
According to the Ramban, the cherubim are a matter of the "resting place of the Shechinah," and therefore they are in the form of the supernal Chariot;
and Rashi follows his own approach, that the Kapores (and the cherubim) is not a detail of the Ark (and the Testimony within it), but a separate matter and vessel51, and therefore the cherubim have "the likeness of a child's face" — which emphasizes G‑d's affection for the Jewish people, as it is written, "כי נער ישראל ואוהבהו" ("When Israel was a child, I loved him")52 ("a child's face").
That is to say: the Ark with the "Testimony" within it points to the concept of Torah; and the Kapores — where "I will meet with you there, and I will speak with you . . all that I will command you for the Children of Israel"53 — emphasizes how dear the Jewish people are to G‑d (which is why the form of the cherubim is "a child's face").
[This is along the lines of the explanation of Rabbeinu Bachaye54 concerning the cherubim, where he elaborates that "על דרך הפשט" ("according to the plain meaning") the two cherubim, which were male and female, came "להודיע כמה ישראל חביבין לפני הקב"ה כחבת זכר ונקבה" ("to make known how beloved Israel is before the Holy One, blessed be He, like the affection of male and female"); and as the Gemara says in Yoma55: "בשעה שהיו ישראל עולין לרגל מגללין להם את הפרוכת ומראין להם את הכרובים שהיו מעורים זה בזה ואומרים להן כמה חבתכם לפני המקום כו'" ("When Israel would go up for the pilgrimage festival, they would roll back the Paroches for them and show them the cherubim, which were intertwined with one another, and say to them: See how beloved you are before the Omnipresent, etc.")56 — all of which emphasizes57 "הפלגת הדביקות" ("the extraordinary closeness") between G‑d and the Jewish people without any intermediary, as he elaborates there.]
7. The explanation of this in the inner dimension of the matters:
The concept of the Ark, within which was the "Testimony," points to Torah58. And as is (also) stated in the Ramban59, all of Israel participated in making the Ark so "שיזכו כולן לתורה" ("that they would all merit the Torah")60.
It follows that according to the Ramban — that the Kapores (and cherubim) are one thing with the entity of the Ark (and the Testimony) — the "I will meet with you . . and I will speak with you from above the Kapores" is also connected with the concept of Torah (the Tablets).
Whereas according to Rashi, these are two separate matters — Torah and Israel.
It can be said that the reason for the difference between them is:
In the Ramban's commentary there are "דברים נעימים . . (ו)ליודעים חן" ("pleasant words . . [and] for those who know Chen [the hidden wisdom]")61; he explains matters of the secrets of the Torah openly, which is connected with the level of "revelations." And from the perspective of the revelations, "ישראל מתקשראן באורייתא ואורייתא בקוב"ה" ("Israel is bound to the Torah, and the Torah to the Holy One, blessed be He")62 — the bond between the Jewish people and G‑d is through Torah.
Whereas in Rashi's commentary, the plain meaning of Scripture, one senses the simplicity of a Jew, and the simplicity of a Jew is one with the simplicity of the Essence63. And the bond of the Jewish people with G‑d is even higher64 than the bond through the Torah, so to speak.
As is known65, the explanation of why we say "תלת קשרין" ("three bonds")66 "מתקשראן" ("are bound together") (and not two) is that there is the bond of "the Holy One, blessed be He, Israel, and the Torah."
And therefore Rashi teaches that the Kapores (and cherubim) is a vessel separate from the Ark — because the Kapores expresses the essential bond between the Jewish people and G‑d, which is higher than the Torah; and in keeping with the saying of our Sages67 that the thought of Israel preceded (even) the Torah.
And this is also the explanation, in the inner dimension of the matters, of why the cherubim had specifically "the likeness of a child's face" — because the essential love of a father for a son68 is not connected with the son's virtue, but stems from their being one essence. And this essential love is revealed specifically with regard to a small son69.
Similarly, the essential love of G‑d for the Jewish people is not connected with their revealed service in Torah and mitzvos, but rather stems from their being "חלק אלקה ממעל ממש" ("truly a part of G‑d above")70 ("a part of the Essence")71. And therefore the essential love for the Jewish people is expressed specifically in "the likeness of a child's face."
8. According to this it is understood that there is a fundamental difference between Rashi and the Ramban in the reason why the Kapores (with the cherubim) has its place "on the Ark from above":
According to the Ramban, the Kapores and cherubim, too, are for the sake of the Testimony in the Ark (which is why the verse emphasizes "from between the two cherubim that are upon the Ark of the Testimony," as the Ramban says, as above in section 5);
whereas according to Rashi, the reason the Kapores is "on the Ark from above" is that the Kapores is higher than the Ark (and the Testimony within it)72, and therefore they protect the Ark — the Kapores is the covering over the Ark and the Testimony within it; they are guardians of the Torah73. For by virtue of the essential bond between Israel and the Holy One, blessed be He, the Jewish people bestow upon the Torah, as is known74, and specifically "ולאפשא לה" ("to increase it")75.
And this is also the connection with the explanation of Kapores as related to kaparah ("atonement")76 — because the power to atone for sin stems from the root of Jewish souls as they are higher than the Torah77. Therefore, even when a Jew has had a deficiency in observing the Torah (that is, a deficiency has arisen in his bond with G‑d through the Torah), it is in his power to fill that deficiency once again and obtain atonement78 — and even more (along the lines of the superiority of baalei teshuvah over tzaddikim) —
up to the higher meaning of "atonement": "לכפר לפני ה' להיות נחת רוח לקונו" ("to atone before G‑d, to be a source of gratification to his Maker")79.
(From the sichos of Shabbos Parshas Terumah and Shabbos Parshas Mattos 5741)
Notes
1) Our parsha, 25:21.
2) 25:16.
3) So it reads in Rashi in our editions and in the first printing, and likewise in the Rosh and in several commentators. But in the Ramban, the word "alone" is not quoted from Rashi.
4) Tosafos HaDar Zekeinim and the commentary of the Rosh on the Torah here explain similarly. And elsewhere. See below, note 9.
5) Note that the Ramban on Eikev (10:5) indeed cites this verse: "that He commanded me: 'And you shall place the Kapores etc., and into the Ark you shall place the Testimony etc.'"
6) So it is quoted in the Rosh. In our editions of the Ramban the word "said" is absent (see Ramban, Chavel edition, and the sources cited there). The Tur HaAroch cites from the Ramban: "On the contrary, it would appear more the opposite: that after he places the Kapores upon it he shall place the Testimony, as it is written, 'And into the Ark you shall place the Testimony.'"
7) So it reads in our editions of the Ramban. The Tur HaAroch concludes the Ramban's words: "and it is called an Ark together with the Kapores upon it." A precise manuscript reads: "for it is not called an Ark except when the Kapores is upon it" (cited in Ramban, Chavel edition; and see there the commentary Kur Zahav — according to our version).
8) See below, section 4 — the Ramban's own explanation of the verses.
9) So it is in Rashi, as above; but in the sources in note 4 they explained only the actual fact: in the words of Tosafos, "to place the Tablets in the Ark before you put back the Kapores"; and in the words of the Rosh, "before placing the Kapores, you shall place the Torah inside it" (and see below, note 36).
10) Unlike Ibn Ezra here: "According to the usage of the language — he would already have placed the Testimony in the Ark, and afterwards you shall put back the Kapores." Similarly in Chizkuni, "according to its plain meaning." And see Re'em and Or HaChaim here.
11) This requires further study in Or HaChaim here, who wrote on Rashi's words that it is implied from them that there was room to err and place the Testimony on top of the Ark. This is not the place to elaborate.
12) See the commentators on Rashi (Re'em, Be'er Mayim Chaim, Maskil LeDavid, Be'er Yitzchak), and see there also regarding the order in the verse (according to Rashi) — that it puts first "And you shall place the Kapores on the Ark from above" (and see also the commentators in note 4, and elsewhere). This is not the place to elaborate.
13) The wording of the Tanchuma — Vayakhel 7. Similarly in Rashi on our parsha (25:11), from Yoma 72b.
14) So the Gur Aryeh explains, in his second explanation, the repetition in the verses (not as Rashi's words). But his explanation there accords with the Ramban's view explained below in section 4 (see note 36), and not with Rashi's view explained below in the text there.
15) Accordingly, it is all the more understandable why [the verse] mentions the placing of the poles of the Ark before the placing of the Kapores (Pekudei 40:20).
16) On the Torah, our parsha (25:17); Vayakhel (37:6).
17) Sukkah 5a.
18) Acharei 16b (section 1:11).
19) This accords with our version of Toras Kohanim and with the commentary of Rabbeinu Hillel on Toras Kohanim there. And see Raavad and Korban Aharon on Toras Kohanim there.
20) The wording of the Tzafnas Paneach on our parsha, there.
21) Tzafnas Paneach, Vayakhel, there. And see also what he writes on our parsha, 25:10; Tzafnas Paneach, second edition, 67:4.
22) Vayakhel 37:1.
23) Ibid. 37:6 (except that it comes in continuation of "And Betzalel made" at the beginning of the passage).
24) See Rashi on our parsha, 25:8. And see at length Likkutei Sichos vol. 21, p. 254ff., on the law of lishmah in the vessels, and the sources cited there.
25) Note the Shach on the Torah, our parsha, 25:17: "What need is there to state the length and width? If the Kapores is on the Ark, it is certainly the size of the Ark . . rather, it comes to teach about its making, that one must have a particular intent in its making, etc."
26) Likewise one can say that there is a practical difference as to whether participation in the Kapores also fulfills what the Ramban writes (on the Torah, ibid., [OCR unclear]): "that all Israel should participate in making the Ark etc., and the involvement — that each one should donate one gold vessel for the Ark, or help Betzalel a little, or have intent for the matter."
27) Rosh Hashanah 24a, end; Avodah Zarah 43a, end; Menachos 28b; Rambam, Laws of the Chosen House 7:10.
28) However, in the above sources the prohibition is not cited with regard to the Ark. See the next note. And in Tzafnas Paneach, second edition, there: "However, nonetheless it is not a complete sacred service vessel, and therefore the Gemara in Avodah Zarah 43 does not count one as liable if he made an ark in the form of the Ark."
29) In Minchas Chinuch, mitzvah [OCR unclear], after questioning the Rambam as to why he did not mention the form of the Ark although he did mention the anointing oil, he writes: "And although regarding the anointing oil there is a ramification that it is forbidden to make its like — the Ark, too, is forbidden to make, like [making] a Heichal in the likeness of the Heichal. And perhaps the Ark with the cherubim is one vessel; if so, cherubim are in any case forbidden to make, as explained there in the mitzvah of 'You shall not make with Me,' while an Ark without cherubim carries no prohibition and is perhaps permitted. This requires further study."
A certain scholar pointed out to me that in Tosafos HaRosh (Bnei Brak, 5728) on Rosh Hashanah 24b, end of the passage beginning "Chutz": "One may say that it is not called [a replica of] its service vessels unless one made a complete vessel, such as the Table and the Menorah, and likewise the Ark with the Kapores and cherubim." And in the publisher's notes there he deliberates, as above, regarding the Ark and Kapores, etc., and connects this with the dispute between Rashi and the Ramban.
30) See the previous note. And see below, section 5.
31) In his commentary on the Torah, at the beginning of our parsha.
32) Our parsha, 25:22.
33) In his glosses on the Rambam's Sefer HaMitzvos, positive commandment 33. He likewise counts "making the Ark and Kapores" in his additions to Sefer HaMitzvos there, in the count of the positive commandments (at the end of the negative commandments), in the passage beginning "And you, if you understand."
34) And he continues there in his glosses: "And do not think to say that it should not be counted because we were not commanded for all generations, and it was made only for the Tablets of the Covenant . . if it entered our minds that it was lost or broken, it would be a mitzvah to make it according to the original measure, to house the Tablets of the Testimony, for so were we commanded."
35) See below, section 5.
36) See the above-mentioned Gur Aryeh (note 14), that both the Ark and the Kapores are vessels and serve the Testimony. And see Or HaChaim here: "He further means that one should not place the Testimony into the Ark until the Ark is complete with this Kapores, and not before."
And seemingly this is also implied according to the above-mentioned Rosh (note 4) (although in his view the actual order is the opposite), that the Kapores, too, "serves the Testimony," for he continues: "If so, why does it need to say this? It is obvious — when it is closed, how could one place the Testimony there? One can say that it means even merely to cover it: if it is properly settled, do not cover it before placing the Testimony" (and see also the Tur HaAroch there, how he answered according to Rashi). And seemingly it is understood from this that the Kapores, too, serves and is a vessel for the Testimony.
37) 25:16 (and see [OCR unclear] on Rashi here, who writes that the verse there comes to state the purpose of the Ark and not a command; but from Rashi here it is implied as in the text).
38) Accordingly, one can explain that the addition in this verse (25:21), "it comes to teach that while it is still an Ark alone, without a Kapores, he should first place the Testimony inside it, and afterwards place the Kapores upon it," refers to the actual deed: from the previous verse we know only that this [the Kapores] is not its purpose, and here it adds that in actual practice, too, the order must be so — that while it is still an Ark alone, he should first place the Testimony.
39) As is implied according to Rashi also from the fact that it needed to state the length and width of the Kapores — although the Kapores is "a covering over the Ark . . he places it upon it like a kind of board" (Rashi there, 25:17) — as above (note 25) from the Shach on the Torah. — Although one could say that it excludes the Kapores being shorter than the above, since it is placed over the thickness of the two inner boxes (twice). — And see Rashi 25:17, s.v. "two and a half cubits"; 25:11, s.v. "a crown of gold." And see Ibn Ezra (25:14).
40) And see Rashi, Tetzaveh 29:42. Note that there he cites this view as "some say."
41) There is also a practical difference regarding intent lishmah — at the time of the hammering (as above in the text).
42) 25:18.
43) See Rashi there, s.v. "You shall make them hammered": "He placed much gold at the start of making the Kapores and struck it with a hammer and mallet in the middle, so that its ends protruded upward, and shaped the cherubim in the protrusion of its ends."
44) 25:20.
45) As the plain meaning of the verse, "And I will meet with you and I will speak . . from above the Kapores etc." Note that in Rashi on Tetzaveh there he wrote, "from above the Kapores, as it says, 'And I will speak with you from above the Kapores,'" and did not mention "from between the cherubim." Likewise here in our parsha, on the verse, he quoted from the end of Naso only "from above the Kapores," and alluded to the continuation with "etc." — And the resolution, according to this, of "He Who dwells among the cherubim" requires further study — see below.
46) On the verse here, 25:21.
47) I Shmuel 4:4; II Shmuel 6:2; I Divrei HaYamim 13:6.
48) And see also Ramban on Eikev 10:5: "And the first command there was 'And they shall make an Ark of acacia wood,' for it is the main purpose of the entire Mishkan — that G‑d should dwell among the cherubim."
49) 25:18.
50) Although on the words "he shall make it with cherubim" regarding the Paroches (our parsha, 26:31), he wrote: "images of creatures shall be made on it." And see at length the commentators on the Torah here, and the commentators on Rashi on the word "cherubim." And see Torah Shleimah, supplements to Parshas Terumah (printed in Torah Shleimah vol. 22), section [OCR unclear].
51) Note the variations in the wording of our Sages when they enumerated the five things that were missing in the Second Beis HaMikdash: In the Jerusalem Talmud (Taanis 2:1; Makkos ch. 2, [OCR unclear]; Horayos 3:3; and see Shir HaShirim Rabbah 8:9 (3)) only the Ark is listed; in Yoma (21b), the Ark, Kapores and cherubim* (but "it is all one thing" (Rashi, Yoma there, s.v. "Ark") in the count of the five things**); and in the Midrashim (Bamidbar Rabbah 15:10, toward the end; Tanchuma, Behaaloscha, at the end) the Ark and the cherubim are listed as two of the five things***.
And seemingly it is forced to say that the intent of "cherubim" in the above Midrashim is the cherubim of Shlomo, which stood on the floor of the Holy of Holies, not on top of the Ark — see Yoma 21a, end, and Rashi there; [OCR unclear] 99a, and Rashbam there.
*) And in [OCR unclear] 222b: "The Holy of Holies, and the Ark and the Kapores."
**) And the Meiri on Yoma there counts them as two: a) the Ark and Kapores; b) the cherubim. And in the Kesef Mishneh on the Rambam, Laws of the Chosen House, beginning of ch. 4: "And our master [the Rambam] possibly counts the Ark, Kapores and cherubim as one (the Shechinah, Ruach HaKodesh and [OCR unclear] he counts only as one)" — unlike Rashi. Note the wording of the Gemara (Menachos 27b, end): "except for the Second Beis HaMikdash, where there was no Ark and Kapores."
***) A separate category is the statement of our Sages (Yoma 52b, and the sources cited there; and see Rambam, Laws of the Chosen House, there) that when the Ark was hidden, the jar [of manna] was hidden with it, etc.; no proof can be brought from there, from the fact that it does not mention the Kapores and cherubim separately, for there the discussion concerns things that were in the Holy of Holies on their own and were nonetheless hidden with the Ark, which is not the case with the Kapores and cherubim. And see Avos d'Rabbi Nassan 41:2.
52) Hoshea 11:1.
53) [OCR unclear] 25:22.
54) Our parsha, 25:18.
55) 54a.
56) This is the wording in Yoma there. In Rabbeinu Bachaye it is cited with slightly different wording.
57) And see what he continues there: "And it would have been possible for the cherubim to be, one in the form of a grown man and the other in the form of a small child, like what Yechezkel saw (Sukkah 5b) . . and this would allude to His love for Israel like the love of a father for his son, which is a strong love; but He wished to make a parable of physical closeness, than which there is none greater."
58) As explained at length in the Midrashim of our Sages and the commentators on the Torah.
59) 25:[OCR unclear].
60) Shemos Rabbah 34:2. And see Rabbeinu Bachaye and Abarbanel on the verse; Shach on the Torah; and elsewhere.
61) Ramban, in the introduction to his commentary on the Torah, at its end.
62) See Zohar III, 73a.
63) See Likkutei Dibburim vol. 3, 491b. And elsewhere.
64) As in the saying of our Sages that Israel preceded the Torah (Bereishis Rabbah 1:4; Tanna d'Vei Eliyahu, [OCR unclear]). And see Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 19b–c; Hemshech 5666, the maamar beginning "Vayedaber… BeMidbar Sinai"; and elsewhere.
65) See the maamar beginning "Amnam Adayin Tzarich Lehavin" of Shabbos Parshas Haazinu (continuation of the maamar beginning "Uvchen Yiskadash") 5657; Likkutei Sichos vol. 8, p. 408. Note Or HaTorah, Emor (vol. 4), p. 1105ff., on the bond through teshuvah, which is higher than the bond of "Israel is bound to the Torah, and the Torah to the Holy One, blessed be He."
66) Unlike the version "three levels."
67) See note 64.
68) See Likkutei Amarim of the Maggid, at the beginning; Or Torah, at the beginning.
69) See at length Likkutei Sichos vol. 21, p. 20ff., and the sources cited there.
70) Tanya, beginning of ch. 2.
71) See at length the maamar beginning "Zos Toras HaBayis" 5689 (in Sefer HaMaamarim Kuntreisim vol. 1), ch. 4ff.
72) Note the Shach on the Torah here (25:18), s.v. "And some explain," who writes that the cherubim allude to the learning of young children, "and therefore they were on the Kapores and the Tablets below the Kapores, to say that the main Torah study is the learning of young children, etc." And see also Tzror HaMor here (25:17).
*) Note Or HaChaim here, at the end: "For it comes to hint to him (in the order of the verse) that although the Kapores is above the Testimony, which is inside the Ark below the Kapores, etc."
73) Note Likkutei Levi Yitzchak (notes on the Zohar) vol. 2, beginning of p. 376: "When the cherubim are sanctified to the Ark, it is along the lines of 'the power of the son exceeds the power of the father' . . and the sons add an advantage to the father by virtue of their root, which is above the father (in revealed terms)."
74) See Zohar III, 222b; Likkutei Torah, Shelach 51a; and elsewhere.
75) Zohar I, 12b.
76) See Shemos Rabbah 3:4; Tanchuma, Vayakhel 10. And see Ibn Ezra on our parsha, 25:17, and in his short commentary — cited in Sefer HaChakirah of the Tzemach Tzedek, 96a, end.
77) See Hemshech 5672, vol. 3, p. 1252ff. And elsewhere.
78) See Sefer HaChakirah there: "According to the words of Yefes (in Ibn Ezra there, who explains 'Kapores' like 'to atone for it,' as 'a covering of sin'), one can say that it is along the lines of 'Love covers all transgressions'; thus love is the covering of sin."
Accordingly, the connection to the cherubim, which had "the likeness of a child's face," is understood — in light of what is written in Aggadas Bereishis (5:1): "Just as a man's son, when he is a small child, if he sins, his father does not cast him off because he is small . . so too Israel, even when they sin, etc."
79) Iggeres HaTeshuvah, ch. 2.
Key Lesson
The Kapores and its child-faced cherubim express G‑d's essential love for every Jew, a bond that is even higher than the bond formed through Torah. Because that bond is rooted in the very essence of the soul, a Jew who has fallen short in his Torah observance always has the power to restore his connection and gain atonement, and even to rise higher than before, becoming a source of gratification to his Maker.