Immediately after the sin of the Golden Calf, with the commandment against graven images still echoing, comes the surprising directive to place golden cherub statues next to the cover. “Make two cherubim of gold – make them of hammered work – at the two ends of the cover. Make one cherub at one end and the other cherub at the other end; of one piece with the cover shall you make the cherubim at its two ends. The cherubim shall have their wings spread out above, shielding the cover with their wings. They shall confront each other, the faces of the cherubim being turned toward the cover. Place the cover on top of the Ark, after depositing inside the Ark the Pact that I will give you. There I will meet with you, and I will impart to you – from above the cover, from between the two cherubim that are on top of the Ark of the Pact – all that I will command you concerning the Israelite people.” (Exodus 25:18-22)
What did these mysterious cherubim look like, and what do they symbolize?
Innocence beyond innocence
Many artists have depicted cherubim as chubby babies with wings. This image comes from the Talmud, which derives the word “cherub” from an Aramaic word meaning “like a child.” Following this, Rashi states: “They had the face of a child.”
Perhaps the cherubim symbolize a constant attempt to see the world from a child’s perspective – but this time, a child with wings. This is innocence beyond innocence; not immature naiveté that misleads us, but the innocence of a new and pure beginning that brings wisdom and intuitive, direct vision. The cherubim at the center of the Holy of Holies symbolize the aspiration to return to childhood innocence from a new vantage point.
Unlike any other creature
The description of cherubim as children is, of course, only midrash. Flavius Josephus (c. AD 37 – c. 100) writes that the cherubim’s form was unlike any creature humans have seen, and no one can say or conjecture what they looked like. This naturally encouraged speculation. According to Midrash HaGadol, they were shaped like humans with wings; Rashbam and Chizkuni believed cherubim were birds, and Rabbi Abraham son of Maimonides argued they were birds with human heads. Some interpreted them as oxen; others as an eagle’s head, as lions, or as lions with human heads.
Confronting Each Other
The Torah indicates the cherubim were made “of hammered work” and their faces were “confronting each other.” This description is a parable both for human relationships and for the relationship between humans and God. True perfection is achieved only through reciprocity and turning toward the other. We are one and yet many. The cherubim mirror human relationships: we are all made of the same material, and as separate beings, our task is to succeed in looking each other in the eye.
Divine Intimacy
Rav Ketina in the Talmud goes further, describing the cherubim as an expression of the deepest intimacy. “When the Jewish people would ascend for one of the pilgrimage Festivals, the priests would roll up the curtain for them and show them the cherubs, which were clinging to one another, and say to them: See how you are beloved before God, like the love of a male and female.” (Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Yoma, 54a)
Here, intimacy is transferred from person to person toward person to God. The human-divine connection is presented as a spiritual union of merging, almost like the connection between man and woman – a metaphor for the constant yearning for connection to the spirit.
In the Book of Chronicles, the cherubim are described as looking specifically toward the Temple (II Chronicles 3:13). The Gemara resolves this apparent contradiction: “The former [was] at a time when Israel obeyed the will of the Omnipresent; the latter [was] at a time when Israel did not obey the will of the Omnipresent” (Babylonian Talmud, Bava Batra, 99a).
The cherubim serve as a miraculous barometer of the people’s condition. When they do God’s will, the cherubim face each other; when they don’t, they turn toward the Temple. If we live in alienation from one another, we find ourselves in a sanctuary where even the cherubim turn their backs to us.
A powerful symbol
Golden statues are placed at the heart of sacred service to serve as a powerful symbol. Sacred service can confuse us, leading us to prioritize ritual over seeing human faces. The cherubim remind us of holy service’s profound purpose – to see faces, to turn toward one another, to connect person to person, and to connect to the sublime from a place of dialogue and love.
Lior Tal Sadeh is an educator, writer, and author of “What Is Above, What Is Below” (Carmel, 2022). He hosts the daily “Source of Inspiration” podcast, produced by Beit Avi Chai.
For more insights into Parashat Terumah, listen to “Source of Inspiration”.
Translation of most Hebrew texts sourced from Sefaria.org
Main Photo: The Ark of the Covenant By Ben Schumin \ Wikipedia
