Recapturing Our Innocence
Our goal as adults is to return to and recapture our inner child. This is indispensable for proper Torah study. TERUMAH TERUMAH
Fixated on the Details
In this week’s parsha we read of the construction of the Mishkan, the portable Sanctuary in the desert; the place that G-d said will be where He would dwell amongst the people. In other words, the Mishkan— and later the Beit Hamikdash—the Holy Temple in Jerusalem—is the place that G-d chose through which He reveals Himself to the world.
Of all the components of the Mishkan, the most significant one was the Aron-the Ark that contained the Tablets upon which the Ten Commandments were engraved. It was from this Ark that G-d’s “voice” emerged when communicating with Moses.
TERUMAH
The Ark was a rectangular box with a golden cover called a “Kapores.” On the Kapores were two cherubic figures made out of gold. The Torah stresses that these two Keruvim were to be hammered out at the two ends of the cover. The Torah informs us that G-d’s voice would actually emerge from between these two cherubic figures.
What was the reason the Torah devotes such attention to the cover of the Ark? And what was the significance of having the two cherubic figures on the two extremities of the cover, from which the Divine message emanated?
The Challenge of Torah Study
The Chassidic classic Ma’or Vashemesh explains that the word Kapores is related to the Hebrew word Kapparah, which means atonement. Torah study is unlike any other discipline. It requires more than just using our brain. It requires that our heart and soul are also invested in the study of Torah. Torah is not human intellect; it is Divine knowledge presented by G-d in a way that even a mortal TERUMAH can fathom its Divine truths. Thus, while it is true that to access the intellectual aspect of Torah one must use their mind, to access the Divine dimension of Torah one must use their untainted soul.
Pre-Natal Torah Study
Before we are born, the Talmud tells us, we are taught the entire Torah. Only at birth are we made to forget it so that we can invest our own effort in the study of Torah. If we would not forget the Torah, and attempt to master it anew, there would be no value in its study.
But the question that has been asked is if we are destined to forget the Torah anyhow, what was the purpose in being taught the Torah in the first place?
One answer is that there is an aspect of Torah that cannot be grasped with human effort alone. The spiritual light that derives from the Divine origin and is embedded in the Torah cannot be accessed by the intellect alone. One requires a far more sophisticated and sensitive tool to uncover its secrets. Once TERUMAH we are born and subjected to the vulgarities and vagaries of life in the physical world we will be ill equipped to penetrate the Torah’s inner sanctum. Thus, prior to the time we are ready to leave the protected environment of our mother’s womb, we are given a crash course in Torah that is not in any way sullied by the external environment we will enter after birth. Once we get that first exposure to the Divine essence of Torah in utero we are empowered to reclaim it later in life when we apply our minds and hearts to the Torah.
In other words, to fathom the inner soul of Torah requires the innocence of a child in its mother’s womb untainted by the outside world. And even after we are born, the Talmud tells us, the study of Torah by little children possesses a level of purity and innocence that cannot be matched by even the greatest adult sage.
The Talmud states: “The world exists on the merit of the breath of school children.” And when a leading Sage raised the question: “And what about our learning of Torah?” he was told: “One cannot compare the breath that is devoid of sin to the breath that is TERUMAH tainted by sin.” In other words, only the purity and innocence of a child can capture the Divine purity contained within the Torah that is the force that keeps the world going.
Now, despite the fact that we have already been exposed to and absorbed the Divinity of the Torah before birth, it is crucial that we begin every day with a fresh attempt at connecting to the childlike innocence and purity we had before we were born.
Total Immersion
This explains he Chassidic custom of immersion in a Mikveh, a ritual body of water that is connected to a natural source of water, either a spring or rain water. In the Chassidic community it is customary to immerse oneself in a Mikveh every morning—or as often as possible—before reciting the daily Morning Prayers. One aspect of this immersion is that it is a reminder of the amniotic fluid that sheltered us from the outside world in our mother’s womb. It introduces us once again to the pure and holy environment of the soul.
TERUMAH
A more universal form of preparation for the proper study of Torah are the blessings we recite in the morning thanking G-d for continuously revealing Himself to us through His Torah. These blessings serve as the reminder that Torah is not just an intellectual exercise but an exposure to the Divine.
Prayer Before Bedtime
There is also a third form of preparation we make for the proper approach to Torah study. It is the cathartic prayer we recite before retiring to bed at which time we reflect on the past days misdeeds and disentangle ourselves from them. According to our tradition, if we retire to bed with the proper attitude, our souls “travel” to paradise where it absorbs the Divine teachings of Torah—a nostalgic reminder of the days when our souls were being readied t enter this world.
The Cover of the Ark: The cover of Inocence
TERUMAH
This then is the significance of the cover of the Ark—the Kapores.
In order to access the Torah within, one needs to be cleansed—as the Ma’or Hashemesh commentary, cited earlier translates the word Kapores as atonement, or, more precisely, cleansing—of the things that cloud our soul’s ability to touch the Divine element of Torah.
We can now also understand why the Ark needed a cover that had the images of children on it. For us to appreciate where we have to go in order to be cleansed we must be reminded of the innocent nature of children and their level of Torah study. We must disentangle ourselves from the conventions of life that make our lives complicated and gloomy. We must search recapture our innocence.
The Children Moshiachs
Our Sages tell us that the verse in Psalms that says “Do not harm my anointed ones- Meshichai” is a reference to the little children who study Torah with purity and innocence.
TERUMAH
This tells us something about the Messianic Age that it will be a time when we will return to our original innocence.
Thus the Messianic Age is when the Moshiach—the Jewish leader who will usher in the Messianic Age—will expose us to heretofore hidden levels of Torah. Only when the world will experience this heightened state of purity and innocence we will all be able to fathom these deep secrets.
TERUMAH
From the book Light from the Future: Parshas Terumah by Rabbi Heschel Greenberg, published by the Jewish Discovery Center.
