February 9th, 2019 — Shabbat Terumah
Deep in the heart of God’s sanctuary, there in the Holy of Holies, stood what appeared to be two golden idols. And these statues of creatures with wings and faces – the “cherubim” – were officially installed in the Tabernacle, right on top of the Ark, by God’s own command. In fact, God promised, “there I will meet with you…between the two cherubim.” How could such a thing have been allowed in a religion that has just prohibited making “a sculptured image or any likeness of what is in the heavens above or on the earth below”?! And what is the significance of these particular sculptures? To understand that, we will have to go way, way back – to the very beginning of our story.