Trumah

The Sedra records the building of the Mishkan and it's furniture. The first piece was the Ark, a box of wood covered inside and out in gold. The second item was the lid of the box, the Kapores. Chpt. 25 Vs. 17.........

" And you will make a Kapores of pure gold. Two and a half cubits long and one and half cubits wide. And you will make two Cherubs of gold, beaten you should make them, from the two ends of the Kapores."

Rashi points out that the Kapores was a lid. The question arises, why not use the Hebrew word for lid. Kapores means "Atonement."

The Cherubs had the faces of children, a boy and a girl. The word C'ruvim

(Cherubs) actually means children.

The Alshich gives a beautiful explanation on this verse. Happiness in this world is seen in Judaism as having three components. Life ( health etc.) Children and Livelihood.

Every aspect and specification of the Tabernacle and it's furniture was woven with meaning and significance.

The Sedra's first object, the Ark, symbolises Torah which we see as being life. In fact it contained the Sapphire cube, through which was bored the letters of the Ten Commandments. The structure and specifications, actually map out how a Jew should lead his life.

The lid of the ark is the stage in a person's life after Torah, founding a family and having children.

The Table symbolises and maps out a Jew's approach to work and business, his livelihood.

The fact that the lid is called a Kapores, (atonement) is the beginning of our journey into the hidden message of the Tabernacle. The Talmud Yerushalmi (Bekurim Chpt.3 Halocho 3) Makes a very famous statement.....

"Anyone who marries, has their previous sins wiped clean!"

Such Atonement is specific to marriage. Our verse says you will make a Kapores (read Marriage) of "Pure Gold" when, like the lid, it rests on the Torah. The length of the Ark is also significant. It was to be two and a half Cubits long or to use the Torah's other standard measurement 15 hand breadths.

There is well known teaching which points to the Hebrew words for man and women. Aleph Yud Shin spells Ish, a man. Aleph Shin Hay spells Isha, a woman. Both share the common letters Aleph and Shin. The man has the letter Yud, The woman the letter Hay. These two letters spell one of G-d's names. If you "remove" G-d from between husband and wife, both are left with Aleph and Shin which is the Hebrew word for fire! The numerical value of this name of G-d is fifteen. A marriage resting on a Torah foundation will carry G-d with it throughout it's length. It is "fifteen" hand breadth's long.

The marriage will also be united. In Genesis Chpt 5 Vs. 2 it says....

"Male and female he created them. And he blessed them and he called their name Adam on the day that he created them"

It should of course say and he called his name Adam. Except that the Torah says that originally Adam was both male and female. He was created that way so that the natural state is for man and woman to come together and be one. The separation is in a very real sense artificial. A marriage based on Torah will be one where the spouses are united as they once were. They will be like they, Adam, were. The numerical value of the word Adam (using the system called Mispar Koton) is nine. The breadth of the lid, maps out the specification of the marriage. It is nine Hand Breadth's wide.

And then you will make two Cherubs of gold. The next stage of the marriage is the creation of children. And they will be gold if you "beat them." As King Solomon said "Spare the rod and spoil the child."

There have been many experiments in family dynamics over the last three decades. Old verities have been challenged and discarded. Corporal punishment is one. I was visited last week by a journalist. She mentioned that her husband does not believe in spanking their children. Their eight year old son had heated a screwdriver over a flame till it glowed. He had then gone and burned his older sister's hand with the metal. She told me of her husbands fury and how he nearly spanked the boy!

Several families I know who follow this fancy, have produed some rather terrifying results. I remember seeing one small child tantruming in public, much to the embarrassment of his parents. The mother attempted to reason with the increasingly distressed and distressing child. A child is not yet in control of his emotions. He will not be able to be reasoned with. He is not reasonable! A spank will help the child and teach it where societal perameters lie.

The verse continues with one crucial condition.

"They should be beaten from both ends of the Kapores"

It is essential that the child who burns his sister and is spanked by the father sees that it is with the support of the mother. Single parents exist within marriages too.

The next verse continues......

" And you should make one Cherub from this end of the Kapores and one cherub from the other side of the Kapores."

A few years ago "Time" magazine (Jan 20, 1992) ran a piece called "Sizing up the sexes" Many feminist-led scientists, believed during the seventies and eighties, that that the differences between the behaviour of males and females was entirely due to upbringing. "Progressive", like minded parents, tried giving the boys dolls and the girls trucks and other boys toys. The children simply swapped the toys. The girls actually preferred to play with dolls. The boys favoured trucks.

The Cherubs are positioned at each end of the marriage. At the stage when a girl becomes a woman and the boy a man, they need the guidance of the parent who has experienced the same transformation. A man cannot tell a girl what she is experiencing, he has never experienced it.

This brief extract is from the wisdom conveyed by the measurements and design of just one piece of the Tabernacle's furniture. The rest of the furniture and the whole Tabernacle, suggest the profit that would flow from studying the rest of the pieces.