Articles

The Two Cherubs

Picture yourself a synagogue, in the middle of which – by the Ark – there stand two golden figures, one of a young man and the other of a beautiful maid, and these two fashioned in the act of love. Is such a synagogue possible? Apparently not, and any rabbi would have undoubtedly thrown these two sculptures out, both on grounds of idolatry and debauchery. But what does not conform at all to Judaism as we know it today, was apparently most appropriate for the old religion of Israel. The sages of the Talmud discuss in great detail how there stood two such figures in the midst of the Temple that Solomon built in Jerusalem, and represented through their erotic arousal the love between God and His People. The Talmud relates that during the three-  annual rites of pilgrimage to the temple the priests would open the curtains of the Holy of Holies and show the great crowd assembled there the love making of the Cherubs, and declare: “See, the love of God to you is like the love of a male and a female”.

The essay “Two Cherubs” attempts to investigate the meaning of the erotic nature of the Hebrew Temple in Jerualem.

The first part of the essay brings evidence from all layers of rabbinical literature – from the Mishnah to the Kabbalah – in which the temple is described through the use of intensely sexual symbolism.

The second part of the essay discusses the meaning of the conscious transition that the Jewish religion had undergone from a civilization of temple, prophecy and ecstasy to a civilization of texts, learning and interpretation. Using teachings from the hidden literature of the Kabbalah and theories of depth psychology, the essay explains how the sages of Israel sought to establish the conscious and autonomous self, and were ready to pay the price for it, including the end of the age of prophecy in Israel.

The third part examines the religious meaning of Eros and Love in Jewish thought. Why did the Talmudic sages claim that the destruction of the temple diminished the poignancy of sexual pleasure – or in their language “From the day that the temple was destroyed the pleasure of sexual union was taken away”? And what is the meaning of the temple in this light?

The fourth part of the essay gets to the core of the ancient Hebrew mysticism that focuses on the spiritual journey to the celestial mansions. The essay interprets in a novel and daring way the legend of “The Four who entered the Pardes” (paradise) and shows how their success in the mystical enterprise directly correlates to their understanding of the feminine dimension. The way the sages regarded the wife, and the feminine principle at large, reflects the quality of their contact in relation to the Shekhinah, and is one of the main conditions enabling the Hebrew mystic to enter into the heart of the secret. The essay proves that the “Pardes” of the masters of the secret, is none but the inner quality symbolized as the domain of the Holy of Holies, in which there are the Ark of the Covenant and the loving cherubs. The essay further proves thatmastery of the secrets of union in love is a required condition for survival in the stormy place of the Pardes.

In conclusion, the essay draws the outlines for a special (unique) Jewish theology, which appears as very relevant to the contemporary thinking person. This theology is based upon the revitalization of ancient motifs from the primeval Hebrew religion and the conscious integration of these motifs with the Jewish thought that has developed since, until today. It is indeed the motto of Rabbi Cook “Let the old be renewed and the New sanctified” – which serves as the name for our book.