As
reported by Artnet News, on February 2, joggers in New York’s Central
Park may have come across a curious, rather illustrious sight. A cube composed
of 400 pounds of pure 24-karat gold, conceived by the German artist Niclas Castello,
was wheeled out to the Naumburg Bandshell at around 5 a.m.
Although the work is not for sale,
according to the artist’s team, based on the current price of gold at $1,788 per
ounce, its material worth is around $11.7 million. Flanked by a heavy security
detail, the 410-pound work is set to be displayed in the park until the day’s
end.
I
found it to be an unusual coincidence that the week of Parshas Teruma, a
perfectly constructed box of gold found its way into Central Park. After all, the
most central if not most important vessel to be found in the mishkan is, of
course, our golden box, the Aron.
Rav Soloveitchik would often emphasize the opinion of the Rambam, that
it is the Aron and in particular, the luchos, the tablets which were kept in
the Aron, which endowed Kedusha on the Mishkan and later the Beis HaMikdash.
There is a debate, though, about how many Arons there were, at
least in the Mishkan, and this debate hinges on two different approaches in the
Talmud Yerushalmi, the Jerusalem Talmud.
Rashi quoted the first approach arguing
that there were actual TWO ARONS. One for the shivrei luchos, Moshe made, and a
second Aron that Betzalel made, which had the second luchos and was kept in the
Kodesh HaKodashim. The Ramban
points out the 2nd approach in the Yerushalmi, that “Luchos V’Shivrei
Luchos Munachos B’Aron”. Both sets of
tablets were housed in the same Aron.
What is fascinating, though, is that both approaches assume that
not only were the second, whole luchos kept in the Aron, in the most holy, most
important element of the mishkan, but even the broken, shattered FIRST luchos
were kept there as well. And the question, of course, is why? Why was it important to keep the broken, shivrei
luchos in the Aron as well?
Maharal (Chiddushei Aggados Menachos 99) explains that there were a number of differences between the first
and second set of luchos:
–
The first
set was Maaseh Elokim, made by Hashem Himself, the second set were made by Moshe,
as Hashem commands him: Psal Lecha.
–
The
Beis HaLevi writes that the first set of luchos had all of Torah Shebichsav and
Torah Sheb’al Peh on them, whereas the second set just had the aseres HaDibros.
–
The
first luchos had letters floating within the stone, whereas the second luchos
were chiseled out.
The first set of luchos, then, says the Maharal, where clearly on a
higher plane, an altogether different level of Kedusha, of holiness. At the
time of Matan Torah, Am Yisrael was in a place, on a level where we merited the
level of Luchos rishonos. We messed up at
the Chet HaEgel, the Golden Calf, and dropped down a level. However, says Hashem, I want BOTH luchos in
the Aron.
And explains the Maharal, this is because sometimes in life, a
person is not at his or her highest level right now. But even during those
times, it’s important to remind ourselves of the levels we once reached, the way
we once found ourselves in a more connected place. Because if we were once connected at that
level, we still have the ability to reach that place again. Our greatest moments reveal to us our realistic
potential. Says Hashem, yes you sinned
at the Chet HaEgel and fell from the place where you were, but DON’T DISCARD
the broken luchos. Hold onto them, to remind
yourself always of the levels you can reach.
The Sefas Emes, the Gerer Rebbe,
offers a different answer. He writes that whenever Hashem gives a gift, it is
never temporary. There are always remnants.
True, we couldn’t keep the luchos whole, but the impact of the luchos continues
to linger. Gemara in Brachos 8 teaches that one should always have respect for
a Talmid Chacham, even a Talmid Chacham who loses his learning, because even
the shivrei luchos, the broken tablets, were still placed in the Aron.
The gemara tells us that every child as it develops in the womb is visited
by a Malach, a special angel that teaches him or her the entirety of Torah,
only for it all to be forgotten once the baby is born. Many ask on this gemara,
if the baby is going to forget all of the learning anyhow, why waste all of
that time teaching him Torah? And one of
the answers offered is exactly this point: Every experience we have, especially
when it comes to the world of Torah and Avodas Hashem, has an IMPACT on us
forever, no matter where we end up later on in life. So says Hashem, don’t discard the first set of
luchos because the impact they had on you remains even after they have been
broken.
My good friend and colleague, Rav Yehuda Turetsky offered a
third approach as well: Every individual, throughout the course of our lives,
achieve moments and contain elements of whole, beautiful luchos, as well as
elements of ourselves and times in our lives that feel more like SHIVREI
LUCHOS, times we messed up, things we did which we regret. And there are two ways to address the shivrei
luchos: We can stash them deep inside ourselves, trying our best to forget they
ever existed and hope they will go away, or we can remember that they are part
of our story, they are part of who we are, and accept that reality. After all, whether we like it or not, we will
take both our whole luchos and our shivrei luchos with us wherever we go. Am Yisrael needed the process of having
luchos that broke in order to help us move forward. Yes, we wish the Chet
HaEgel had never happened. But in the
end of the day, it is part of the story of our people, and all we can do now is
learn from it and move forward.
We mentioned earlier the approach in the yerushalmi that there were
two Arons, one for each set of luchos. According to this approach the whole
luchos were placed in the Aron which remained in the Kodesh Kodashim. The Aron with the shivrei luchos was the one
we took out to battle. When we are fighting
through the battles of life there is no more important message than the knowledge
that we have been broken but have been able to soldier on and find success
again later.
We all have experiences about which we aren’t proud. Choices we wish we would have made
differently, failures we wish we could have avoided, the collection of shivrei
luchos of our lives. The message of the true, valuable golden cube is not its
golden outside, but it’s valuable contents.
It’s whole luchos, and maybe more importantly, it’s broken ones. A reminder
that our failures, our missteps, and our missed opportunities are not to be
cast aside. Rather, it is when we are willing to see that there is value in
carrying those broken pieces along with us, that we will set ourselves on a
path to a brighter future.