Parshat Terumah by Stephen Rabinowitz, MD
February 22, 2012 · Print This Article · Make a Contribution
Parshas Trumah, the seventh of the eleven parshios in Sefer Shmos, contains 96 verses, including two positive mitzvos (to build a sanctuary for HaShem and regarding the showbread and frankincense) and one prohibition, not to remove the poles from the Ark/Aron Kodesh. To explore this unusual negative precept, look at these verses in Chapter 25 (trans. adapted from Rabbi Chaim Miller, based on Rashi (1040-1105)):
Gemara Yoma 72a and Rashi’s comments on it say that the poles were free to move within the rings, but were thicker at their ends than in the middle of the shafts, so that they would not slip completely out without deliberate effort, which, says Gemara Makkos 22a, was prohibited under the penalty of lashes. When Bnei Yisroel travelled, Kohanim prepared the Ark to be carried by the poles on the shoulders of men of ages 30 to 50 of the Kehos family of Levites, as explained in BaMidbar 4:5-6 —
Or haChayim (1696-1742) discusses the apparent implication that the poles may have been removed when preparing for travel, despite the prohibition in our parsha. He notes and rejects the suggestion of Tosfos (1100s) that the permanent poles were symbolic and that additional rings and temporary poles were used for transport. Perhaps “adjusting the poles” just means putting the completely covered poles onto the shoulders of the bearers, says Ramban (1194-1270), who also suggests that “adjusting the poles” means sliding them back to the carrying position, since they had been slid forward to touch the Partition while at rest (see below). The Netziv (1816-1893) agrees with Ramban.
Gemara Shabbos 92a says that Bnei Kehos carried the holy vessels more than 10 tefachim (at 5 or 6 tefachim per amoh this amounts to 30-40 or more inches) above the ground. The Ark was nine tefachim high (about 1.5 amos) and its cover added another tefach of height. By tradition, objects carried on shoulders are arranged with 1/3 of the height above the shoulder, and 2/3 below. This means that the poles had to rest on shoulders at least 17 tefachim above the ground, between 51 and 68 or more inches, depending on the size of a tefach. The Leviyim were said to be tall men, and Moshe Rabbeinu the tallest among them. Gemara Sotah 35a says the poles gave the illusion that the bearers used them to carry the Ark, but, in reality, the Ark carried its bearers. Yehoshua 4:11 relates the crossing of the Jordan River: “When the entire nation finished crossing, the Ark of HaShem and the Kohanim (who seemed to be carrying it by the poles) crossed to the head of the nation.” Maharal (1520-1609) notes that the verse does not say that the Kohanim carried the Ark across the river. The Ark is mentioned before the Kohanim. Just like the human soul has no physical dimension apart from the body it inhabits, and yet it animates the body, the Ark’s supernatural qualities enabled it to carry its bearers. Talelei Oros quotes a parallel from R. Nosson HaKohen Adler of Frankfurt (1741-1800), the rebbe of the Chasam Sofer: When a person emulates Zevulon by running a business and supporting a Yissochar Torah scholar, in reality, the Torah supports the business.
Gemara Menachos 98a-b says that four Leviyim carried the Aron, two standing between the poles behind the Aron and two between the poles in front. When the Aron was installed in the Bayis Rishon, after 487 years in the Mishkan, it was placed so that one looking west into the Holy of Holies would have faced the 2.5 amos length of the Ark, viewing end-on the poles to the right and left of the Aron. Melochim I 8:8 tells us that the front ends of the poles reached to the partition curtain, creating bulges in the curtain, like a woman’s breasts within her garment. These bulges, demonstrating that HaShem’s love for Yisroel is like a man’s love for his wife, were the sole visible evidence in the Sanctuary that the Ark was within the Holy of Holies. Tosfos quotes a Midrash stating that the poles were miraculously extended in length at that time, to enable them to reach the curtain, but, as Ramban suggests above, the poles may simply have been slid forward to reach the curtain. On Yom Kippur, the Kohen Godol burned incense, the most beloved offering, between the poles in front of the Aron, like a woman wearing a sachet of myrrh close to her heart. Gemara Bava Basra 99a says that the Ark did not occupy any space within the Holy of Holies, despite the fact that its dimensions are provided in our text. The Holy of Holies measured 20 amos by 20 amos; but, the open spaces on either side of the Ark and in front and behind each measured a full 10 amos, as though the Ark were not present at all.
Rambam (1135-1204) says in Hilchos Klei haMikdosh 2:12-13 that leaving the poles in place was to remind us that the Aron could not be put on an animal or a wagon (Bamidbar 7:9). Radak (1160-1235) suggests that sliding the poles forward the touch the paroches was done in the Beis haMikdosh to show that the Aron had found a permanent resting place, and would no longer move. Tzror haMor (1440-1508) says that not removing the poles was not only a prohibition, but also a promise, that Yisroel would always support and learn Torah. Kli Yakar (1550-1619) says that verse 13 specifically calls the poles “baday” rather than “badim” because the gematria value of “baday” equals 16, the total number of men called to the Torah in a standard week (zahav/gold = 2nd, 5th and 7th days). The poles therefore signify the perpetual connection to Torah.
Rabbi Hirsch (1808-1888) says the poles suggested mobility. The Aron containing the stone tablets and the Torah it symbolizes is not limited to any particular place. Poles were also used for the Shulchan, the Copper Altar, and the Gold Altar. No prohibition of removing those poles was stated. Only the Ark had to be ready to move at a moment’s notice. The Shulchan, representing material well-being and kingship, and the Altars, representing sacrificial service and priesthood, are not as essential as Torah itself, which can blossom anywhere. Priesthood and kingship only thrive in Eretz Yisroel. But Chizkuni (13th century) gives a much more prosaic explanation: The Aron was visited only once per year, and only by the Kohen Godol, so the poles were not in anyone’s way. The Shulchan and the two Altars were in constant use by many people, so their poles had to be removed for the sake of convenience.
Meshech Chochmoh (1843-1926) says the poles must never be removed from the Ark precisely to show that their use was only an illusion. Just as they served no purpose when the Ark was at rest, they were not needed when the Ark was in motion, because the Ark carried its bearers. The Menorah taught the same lesson. The western lamp remained lit not only at night, but also by day. In Gemara Shabbos 22b, R. Sheishess tells us that HaShem didn’t need this light. For 40 years in the desert we travelled by His light. Just as the light wasn’t needed by day, it wasn’t needed by night, but only served to remind all mankind of His Presence.
Gemara Yoma 53b-54a tells us that before the Babylonians destroyed the Beis haMikdosh, the Aron was taken away. R. Eliezer said that the Aron went into exile in Babylonia, but R. Yehudoh ben Lakish said that the Aron was hidden. He quotes the verse from Melochim cited above, ending, “… (the poles) remain there to this very day.” Rashi says “to this very day” means forever. R. Nachman bar Yitzchok says that the Aron was hidden in a place accessed from below the floor of the chamber in the Beis haMikdosh where wood was stored, in the northeastern corner of the women’s courtyard. The Ark waits there for us until today. For information on one present day search for the Ark, see http://www.bnainoah.net/VJRI/FAQ.html . May we very soon merit seeing the covered Ark carried on its poles into the Third Beis haMikdosh.
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