Make the cover with two cherubim of gold…Make one cherub at one end and the other cherub at the other end…The cherubim shall have their wings spread out above, shielding the cover with their wings. They shall confront each other…Place the cover on top of the Ark, after depositing inside the Ark of 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…
25:18 – 22
According to the plain meaning of the text the reason that such figures of angels were placed in the tabernacle…is to keep alive the idea that there are such beings whom God designated from time to time to perform miracles on earth…The reason that two such angel-like figures had to be made was to ensure that none of us would think that the solitary angel-like figure represented the Creator Himself…One of the Cherubs was male, the other female…The Torah wanted to teach that the Children of Israel are as beloved of Him as the love that exists between man and woman…
Bachya Ben Asher (13th Century)
The figures of the male and female cherub on the lid of the Ark represented the union of man and wife on the basis of Torah….This is a reminder that God must be part of such a union…
Moshe Alshich (16th Century)
The cherubim (symbolize) the result of the task accomplished that God will “dwell in their midst.”
Samson Raphael Hirsch (19th Century)
Of all the objects in the sanctuary, the ones most difficult for us to relate to are the cherubim placed on the cover of the Ark of the Covenant. Two winged creatures, bearing the faces of children face each other over the Ark. To us moderns, no symbol would appear more pagan or at the very least, provocative. Maimonides, the most vehemently anti-pagan of our philosophers, explains the cherubim as angels symbolizing prophecy. Their position on top of the Ark symbolizes the pre-eminence of prophecy over the law. Maimonides’ explanation becomes even more compelling when we recall that God speaks to Moses from between the two cherubim.
Joseph Polak (Contemporary)
Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik defines the Jewish religionist as one who never seeks to escape this world. On the contrary, challenged to perfect humanity, his entire objective is to bring God in this world. This concept is exquisitely elucidated in the Midrash on (our) verses…How large could the space between the two cherubs have been? Certainly nothing compared to that of an infinite God…The Midrash explains that this narrow space is precisely the point….In other words, according to kabalistic and Hasidic thought, Tzimtzum explains the areas in the world where God is not, and according to the Midrash, Tzimtzum explains the areas in the world where God is!…God’s presence in the world is to be discerned within the four ells of Jewish law, within those spaces to which we bring Him by our actions.
Shlomo Riskin (contemporary)
