Parshat Terumah begins the long and detailed plan for the building of The Mishkan, the portable sanctuary that will travel with the Hebrews through the wilderness. This home for Gd was to be built by the hands of humans through voluntary donations, each according to their talents and abilities. In these p'rakim we read of poles and borders, planks and sockets, curtains and loops, curtains and linen.
As one of the many items that were part of the Mishkan, the Hebrews were ordered to smelt golden cherubs, or keruvim, which faced each other over the cover of the ark and between their two faces Gd would communicate with Moshe.
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.
Exodus: 25:18-20
Interestingly enough, keruvim are also found in the Garden of Eden as they guard The Garden with a fiery sword following the expulsion of Adam and Chava.
He drove the man out, and stationed east of the garden of Eden the cherubim and the fiery ever-turning sword, to guard the way to the tree of life.
Genesis 3:24
According to My Jewish Learning, "The etymology of the word “cherub” is uncertain but some scholars think it comes from the Akkadian word karābu meaning “to bless” (an inversion of the same root, baruch, in Hebrew). Others have connected it to the Assyrian kirubu which is a name for a winged bull.
Despite these indications that connote size and strength, there is a playful midrashic folk etymology — one that is certainly not correct in the historical sense — that connects the Hebrew word keruv (“cherub”) to the Aramaic expression ke revaya meaning “like a child” (according to a statement of Rabbi Abahu in Sukkah 5b). Rashi agrees that the cherubim have child-like faces. This tradition is the origin of the idea that cherubim look like winged babies."
For the poem that follows, I am picturing the keruvim not as part of the Mishkan, where they appear as the conduit for Gd's voice, but in the book of Breisheet where they were posted at the entrance to The Garden. I hope that the meaning of this poem will become clear as it is read.
Submitted respectfully and with sorrow that flows like a river.
Leann
Two Golden Cherubs
In the Sacred Garden,
a hidden spot of sun and shade,
the water of four rivers flow.
A mourning dove pecks at the ground,
repeating its sorrowful tune.
The forbidden trees are pregnant with fruit
while flies buzz over those fallen
in an orchard overgrown.
Somewhere in That Garden,
that elusive Garden,
that Garden of forbidden entrance,
sleep a lion and a lamb
together
in peace and harmony.
At the thorny entrance are suspended
two golden cherubs
between a fiery sword.
Perhaps they have been there
since the beginning of time
or perhaps they have just arrived?
Such beautiful cherubs
with their small, golden faces.
Just innocent babes,
they gaze forever with astonishment
at each other,
unblinking
across holy space;
ancient eyes
no longer weep.
In that charged space between the cherubs
God speaks,
or perhaps
it is the sound of weeping
as a puddle of tears ripples
on the hallowed ground below.
***
Dedicated to the memories of Ariel and Kfir Bibas
and to the many cherubs who have guarded The Garden over the course of our history.
May their neshamot be elevated.
שְׁנַ֥יִם כְּרֻבִ֖ים זָהָ֑ב
No words left…. Just tears.
Beautiful, Leann. You got it just right. Thank you.