Parashas Bamidbar: Click HERE to See the a Picture of the REAL Aron ha'Kodesh!

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Parashas Bamidbar: Click HERE to See a Picture of the REAL Aron ha'Kodesh!

In the third chapter of Parashas Bamidbar we are informed of the responsibilities entrusted to each of the three Levite families: Gershon, Kehas, and Merari. Each family was responsible for transporting certain components of the Mishkan (Tabernacle):  

The charge of the sons of Gershon in the Tent of Meeting was the Tabernacle, the Tent, its Cover, the Screen of the entrance of the Tent of Meeting, the curtains of the Courtyard, the Screen of the entrance of the Courtyard that surrounded the Tabernacle and the Altar, and its ropes  ...

[The charge of the sons of Kehas] was the Ark, the Table, the Menorah, the Altars, and the sacred utensils with which they would minister, the Partition and all its successors ... 

The assignment of the charge of Merari was the planks of the Tabernacle, its bars, its pillars, its sockets, and all its utensils, and all its accessories; the pillars of the Courtyard all around, and their sockets, their pegs and their ropes (Bamidbar 3:21-37).

At the very end of the parashah the Kohanim are given a mysterious warning regarding the Bnei Kehas:

Hashem spoke to Moshe and Aharon, saying: "Do not let the tribe of the Kehas families be cut off from among the Leviim. Thus shall you do for them so that they shall live and not die: when they approach the Holy of Holies, Aharon and his sons shall come and assign them, every man to his work and his burden. But they shall not come and look as the holy is covered, lest they die" (ibid. 4:17-20).

What does this mean? What, exactly, are the Kohanim being commanded to do or not do? How is the fate of the Bnei Kehas ("lest they die") dependent on the actions of the Kohanim?

The Abravanel [1] offers an explanation which he supports by citing a midrash:

It is possible to explain this in reference to the Bnei Kehas, that they shouldn't enter to look when the holy is covered - in other words, when they (i.e. the Kohanim) cover it (i.e. the keilim), if they (i.e. the Bnei Kehas) see it uncovered, they will die ...

And in the midrash (Bamidbar Rabbah 4:19) it was stated: Moshe said: “Master of the Universe! Is the blood of the children of Kehas prohibited and the blood of Aharon permitted?” Ha’Kadosh Baruch Hu said to him, “No. Rather, Aharon is holy of holies, as it is stated, "He separated Aharon to sanctify him as holy of holies" (Divrei ha'Yamim I 23:13)” – and holy of holies cannot harm holy of holies. But the Bnei Kehas are not holy of holies; therefore, if they see the holy of holies, it will harm them and they will die. 

According to the Abravanel, the pesukim are warning the Kohanim to make sure that the keilim (i.e. the Aron, the Menorah, the Shulchan, etc.) are completely covered and ready to be moved before the Bnei Kehas enter to transport them. If the Kohanim fail in their duty, and the Bnei Kehas see the exposed keilim, they will die. 

This midrash aims to address the glaring double-standard in our pesukim. One can imagine a member of Bnei Kehas asking: "Why should we be subject to death, but not the Kohanim? You're telling me that the Kohanim can look at these keilim all they want, but if the Bnei Kehas so much as catch a glimpse, we'll die?!"

But the answer given by the midrash is perplexing. What do Chazal mean when they say that the holy of holies (i.e. Kohanim) cannot be harmed by the holy of holies (i.e. the keilim), but the Bnei Kehas can be harmed this way, since they are merely "holy" and not "holy of holies"? 

I believe that an insight provided by Rav Hirsch [2] explains this midrash, even though he doesn't cite it directly:

In the preceding verses the order had been given that the Bnei Kehas were to be given the holy objects they were to carry only after they had their covers put on to avoid their touching those objects directly. Now here it is said that they may not even be present when the covering is done. They are not to "see" the holy objects when they are being covered. Unless we are mistaken, the effect of this prohibition would be that the holy objects remain to their bearers as symbolic objects, subjects for the mind, for thoughts, not so much as actual tangible objects, and so all the more fill their minds with thoughts of their meaning. And this keeping constantly in their minds the true meaning of the holy objects entrusted to them would be an essential factor of their duty to which gazing at their being wrapped up for transit could very well have a disturbing effect. 

We have written previously about the power of art. We followed the approach of Ayn Rand who theorized that: "Art is a concretization of metaphysics. Art brings man’s concepts to the perceptual level of his consciousness and allows him to grasp them directly, as if they were percepts." Indeed, this is why the klei ha'mikdash needed to be designed and fashioned not only by talented artists, but by those who possessed "a Godly spirit, wisdom, insight, and knowledge" - those who understood the metaphysical concepts that these works of art were meant to embody.

According to this theory, to the extent that a person's grasp of metaphysics is sound and accurate, the keilim would amplify the reality of his concepts in his mind and help him to better relate to those ideas - but to the extent that his metaphysics is distorted, the keilim would further that distortion by anchoring his faulty concepts in tangible objects which appeal to his imagination and psyche and clouding his intellectual apprehension. 

The Kohanim, whose lives are devoted to the avodah in the Mikdash, and who are kept in check by their many additional mitzvos - they are not likely to be "harmed" in this manner by seeing the keilim, since their grasp of the metaphysical ideas represented by the keilim is firm and well-protected. This is what the midrash means when it says that the Kohanim, who are "holy of holies," can't be harmed by the keilim, which are also "holy of holies." In other words, the average Kohen in the Mikdash has perfected his tzelem Elokim (intellect) to the extent that it will not be overwhelmed by his nefesh ha'bahamis (animalistic soul) upon seeing the keilim; thus, he will be shielded from the type of distortion that would befall those who are on a lower level of kedushah.

In contrast, the Bnei Kehas - and certainly the other Leviim and Yisraelim - are not as grounded in their grasp of metaphysics, nor have they reached the level of kedushah to ensure that their tzelem Elokim will prevail over their nefesh ha'bahamis when confronted with these dazzling, emotionally charged objects. Therefore, if they see the keilim, there is a chance that their psyche and imagination will get caught up in the aesthetic grandeur and mystique of the keilim, thereby endangering their grasp of the metaphysical concepts that the keilim are designed to reflect.

To remedy this, the Kohanim are instructed to cover the keilim before they can be seen by the Bnei Kehas. This allows the Bnei Kehas to "see" the keilim without actually seeing them. As Rav Hirsch explained, this affords the Bnei Kehas the ability to contemplate these keilim as "objects of thought" rather than "tangible objects." The covering of the keilim is, in effect, a warning label which declares: "At your stage of development, these should be objects to think about - not objects to look at. Only those who can think about these objects properly are permitted to gaze upon them."

In other words, the requirement of covering the keilim isn't designed to deny the Bnei Kehas of a privilege reserved for Kohanim. Rather, the covering of the keilim is a boon for the Bnei Kehas, in that it protects them from harm and guides them towards a proper relationship with the keilim - a relationship that is essential for them not only as Jews, but as the family charged with the task of transporting the vessels of the King.

[The actual dvar Torah ends here, but I thought I'd address a follow-up question that some of you might have. I'll place this piece of distracting art in the middle to indicate the break, and making good on my clickbait promise.]

I promised you a picture of the actual Aron ha'Kodesh. Here it is!You might be wondering: "What type of distortion are we talking about here? Do you mean to tell me that the Bnei Kehas will arrive at false conclusions in metaphysics simply because they looked at the keilim?"

No, not quite. The type of distortion we're talking about is far more subtle. I suggest you read/review our post on Ayn Rand, Art, and Avodah Zarah to fully appreciate the type of phenomenon we're talking about. But I'll add a bit of explanation here which might clarify things.

In conjunction with this midrash the Abravanel mentions the boundaries that were created around Har Sinai and the warning that Moshe was instructed to give to the people:

Hashem said to Moshe, "Descend, warn the people, lest they break through to Hashem to see, and a multitude of them will fall. Even the Kohanim who approach Hashem should be prepared, lest Hashem burst forth against them" (Shemos 19:21-22).

According to the Rambam, some of the greatest members of Bnei Yisrael fell prey to this temptation, as it is stated:

They saw the God of Israel, and under His feet was the likeness of sapphire brickwork, and it was like the essence of the heaven in purity. Against the great men of the Children of Israel, He did not stretch out His hand - they gazed at God, yet they ate and drank (ibid. 24:10-11).

The Rambam [3] explains that these pesukim are to be read as a censure - not a praise:

The "nobles of the Children of Israel," on the other hand, were overhasty, strained their thoughts, and achieved apprehension, but only an imperfect one. "They saw the God of Israel, and under His feet etc." and not merely "They saw the God of Israel." For these words are solely intended to present a criticism of their act of seeing, not to describe the manner of their seeing. Thus they were solely blamed for the form that their apprehension took inasmuch as corporeality entered into it to some extent - this being necessitated by their overhasty rushing forward before they had reached perfection. They deserved "to perish." However, [Moshe], peace be upon him, interceded for them; and they were granted a reprieve until the time that they were burnt at Taveirah, whereas Nadav and Avinu where burnt in the Ohel Moed, as is stated in a correct tradition. This having happened to these men, it behooves us, all the more, as being inferior to them, and it behooves those who are inferior to us, to aim at and engage in perfecting our knowledge of preparatory matters and in achieving those premises that purify apprehension of its taint, which is error. It will then go forward to look upon the divine holy Presence. It is accordingly said: "Even the Kohanim who approach Hashem should be prepared, lest Hashem burst forth against them." Accordingly Shlomo has bidden the man who wishes to reach this rank to be most circumspect. He said warningly in parabolic language: "Guard your feet when you go to the house of God" (Koheles 4:17).

This is the type of distortion that the Bnei Kehas would be subject to if they saw the keilim. It's not that the "nobles of the Children of Israel" reached mistaken conclusions about Hashem. If you gave them a test on Hilchos Yesodei ha'Torah, they would all get 100%. Rather, as the Rambam explained, their apprehension of these abstract ideas became subtly tainted with corporeality.

It's one thing to know the correct ideas, but it's another thing for that knowledge to be real to the psyche. This "taint of corporeality" strengthens the veil (to borrow a mashal from the Rambam in Shemoneh Perakim, Perek 4) between our tzelem Elokim and Hashem. In perceptual terms, this "misperception" is more comparable to tinted glasses rather than a full-blown hallucination.

[1] Don Yitzchak Abravanel, Commentary on Sefer Bamidbar 4:20
[2] Rav Samson Raphael Hirsch, Commentary on Sefer Bamidbar 4:17
[3] Rabbeinu Moshe ben Maimon, Moreh ha'Nevuchim 1:5