Terumah: Badei ha’Aron (The Staves of the Ark)

In this article we examine three reasons why the staves of the Ark may not be removed. Each reason has implications for the way we relate to the Torah today.

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Actual photo of the real Kohen Gadol (left) and deputy Kohen Gadol (right).

Terumah: Badei ha’Aron (The Staves of the Ark)

The Aron ha’Kodesh (Holy Ark) is of the most important keilim (vessels) in the Beis ha’Mikdash (Holy Temple). Certain features of the Aron are well-known: the Aron is kept in the Kodesh ha’Kodashim (Holy of Holies); inside the Aron are the Luchos ha’Bris (Tablets of the Covenant); the interior and exterior of the Aron are encased with gold; the solid gold cover of the Aron features two golden Keruvim (cherubim) with outstretched wings. But there is another component of the Aron which is often overlooked: the badim (staves):

You shall make staves of acacia wood and cover them with gold and insert the staves in the rings on the sides of the Aron, with which to carry the Aron. The staves shall remain in the rings of the Aron; they may not be removed from it. You shall place in the Aron the Luchos ha’Eidus (Tablets of Testimony) that I shall give you (Shemos 25:13-16).

The Torah forbids us to remove these staves from the Aron (Rambam: Sefer ha’Mitzvos Lo Taaseh #86). The question is: Why? The Sefer ha’Chinuch (Mitzvah #96) provides two reasons, the first of which is as follows:

At the root of this mitzvah lies the reason that the Aron is the “dwelling place” of the Torah, which is our entire mainstay and glory. For this reason, we are obligated to treat it with every honor and majesty in our power. Therefore, we were commanded not to remove the staves of the Aron from it, lest we need to depart with the Aron to some place swiftly, and perhaps, amid the anxiety and haste, we will not check thoroughly to make sure its poles are as strong as necessary, and then, Heaven forefend, it may fall from their hands – and this is not an honor for it. But since [the staves] will be forever ready with it, and will not be removed from it, we will [be sure to] make them extremely strong, and no mishap will occur on account of them.

This first explanation is quite pragmatic. The Aron, which houses the Luchos, represents the dwelling place of the Torah. We are obligated to treat the Torah with kavod (honor). One way of showing kavod is to take preventative measures against any and all mishaps, even those that are improbable. The Aron must be carried by its staves, and if we don’t make them strong enough, they might break. But if we know that these staves will need to last forever, then we will make sure to build them so they don’t break.

The Sefer ha’Chinuch states his second explanation in sparser terms than his first:

Another reason is that the tzurah (form) of every object in the Mikdash, of necessity, alludes to lofty concepts, so that a person will be influenced toward the good through his contemplation of them. And God desired, for our good, that it should not lose that tzurah even for a moment.

The keilim of the Beis ha’Mikdash allude to esoteric philosophical concepts. If the tzurah of a kli is deficient, even momentarily, there is a risk that these representations will be lost or distorted. It is clear from the Sefer ha’Chinuch’s explanation that the badim are a part of the tzurah of the Aron and are not considered to be external or ancillary to it. Thus, they are integral to the philosophical content alluded to in its design.

Since the Sefer ha’Chinuch doesn’t provide any explanation here for the concepts alluded to by the Aron, we cannot know exactly why he insists that the staves are part and parcel of the tzurah which conveys these concepts. However, the Ralbag (Shemos 25:12-16) provides us with his own theory – one which happens to flow nicely from the role of the Aron that the Sefer ha’Chinuch mentioned in his first explanation:

The reason for [the prohibition to remove the staves] is because the Testimony (i.e. the Luchos ha’Bris, which represent Torah) that was placed in the Aron is something which is shalem (“complete” or “perfect”) in and of itself, and that which is shalem lacks nothing. [Therefore,] Hashem desired us to find total shleimus (“completeness” or “perfection”) in the [structure of the] Aron, to the point where nothing else was needed, and it should exist in a state which is continually ready for shleimus without needing to bring anything else from outside.

Later in his commentary (Shemos 25:30, Toeles #3), the Ralbag expands on this idea:

[We are prohibited] from removing the staves from the Aron because the Aron and the Keruvim which rest on top of them indicate existence which is shalem – that is, the existence of the Torah and the existence of the angels, which bring us to a recognition of the Existence of Hashem, Who is the Ultimate Shleimus. Since that which is shalem is that which lacks nothing, Hashem desired that the Aron not be lacking in anything external that would be needed to carry it, but instead, all of its implements would be in a state of readiness.

Both the Sefer ha’Chinuch and the Ralbag maintain that the staves of the aron need to be permanently fixed to the aron to reflect the quality of shleimus (“completeness” or “perfection”) but they differ in what this evocation of shleimus is intended to bring to mind. According to the Sefer ha’Chinuch, the tzurah of the Aron must be complete at all times in order to reflect the complete philosophical concepts that it was designed to allude to, whatever those concepts might be. According to the Ralbag, the tzurah of the Aron must be complete because it was designed to reflect the idea of completeness itself – that is, the shleimus of the Torah represented by the luchos within the Aron and the shleimus of the angels on top, both of which are our means of arriving at knowledge of Hashem, Who is the true Shaleim (Perfect Being). In order to bring to mind the concept of shleimus, the Aron must be lacking nothing at any time – not even its carrying-staves. Both interpretations recall the words of Chazal (Yerushalmi Peah 1:1:16) about what we should do if we find an imperfection in the Torah:

R’ Mana said: [What is the meaning of the statement:] כִּי לֹא דָבָר רֵק הוּא מִכֶּם “For it is not an empty word from you” (Devarim 32:47)? [The expression “from you” seems superfluous! Rather, this means that] if it is “empty,” it is “from you,” because you do not exert yourselves [sufficiently] about it.

Rav Hirsch (Shemos 25:12-15) offers a third theory based on the uniqueness of the rule governing the badim:

In any case, the essential importance of the staves to the Ark is affirmed by the prohibition that they may never be removed from the Ark, in contrast to the staves of the other furnishings of the Sanctuary … The staves of the Ark symbolize the destiny and mission of carrying the Ark and its contents beyond the precincts of its present standing place, if this becomes necessary. The command that the staves must never be removed from the Ark establishes from the outset and for all time to come the truth that this Torah and its mission are not confined to the soil on which the Sanctuary and the Temple once stood. The constant presence of the staves testifies that God’s Torah is not bound to or dependent on any particular place – testimony that is boldly underscored by the contrast between the Ark and the other furnishings of the Sanctuary, especially the Table and the Menorah, which do not have permanently attached poles. The following idea immediately presents itself: Israel’s Table and Israel’s Menorah – the fullness of its material life and the flowering of its spiritual life – are bound to the soil of the Holy Land; Israel’s Torah is not.

The explanation given by Rav Hirsch stands independently of the Sefer ha’Chinuch and Ralbag – yet, I can’t help but see them as interrelated. It is true that “God’s Torah is not bound to or dependent on any particular place,” and that “this Torah and its mission are not confined to the soil on which the Sanctuary and Temple once stood.” However, the Torah can only survive in exile if it is given the proper kavod befitting of its shleimus. Once people begin to see the Torah as incomplete – assuming, contrary to the Yerushalmi, that the “emptiness” they find reflects deficiencies in the word of Hashem rather than in themselves – then the Torah will be at risk. The misguided efforts to “fix” or “update” Torah to remedy these imagined deficiencies will threaten its very existence. The practical implication is clear: the word of Hashem can only be carried if it remains intact, as befits its shleimus.

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What explanations have you heard for the staves of the Aron and the halachos pertaining to them?

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