Back in Gan Eden, we partook of the Eitz HaDaas Tov v’Ra — the tree of knowledge of good and evil. And once we did, we could no longer partake of the Eitz HaChaim. You can’t have both.
But through it all — through the trials and tribulations of Avraham, Yitzchak, Yaakov, and the Shvatim, through the slavery and the redemption from slavery, through the desert, following G-d into the unknown — we had somehow removed ourselves from the venom of that first tree.
And so now we can partake of the Eitz HaChaim once again.
But not so fast. It’s one thing to be able to partake of the Eitz HaChaim. But first you have to reach the tree.
And that requires going down the right path.
Remember. After the chet of Adam and Chava. After we were exiled from the garden.
Then (and only then) G-d stationed the Kruvim (vayashkein) to guard the path to the Eitz HaChaim.
וַיְגָ֖רֶשׁ אֶת־הָֽאָדָ֑ם וַיַּשְׁכֵּן֩ מִקֶּ֨דֶם לְגַן־עֵ֜דֶן אֶת־הַכְּרֻבִ֗ים וְאֵ֨ת לַ֤הַט הַחֶ֙רֶב֙ הַמִּתְהַפֶּ֔כֶת לִשְׁמֹ֕ר אֶת־דֶּ֖רֶךְ עֵ֥ץ הַֽחַיִּֽים׃
Bereishis · 3:24And He drove out the man, and He placed the Kruvim east of Gan Eden, with a revolving fiery sword, to guard the path to the Eitz HaChaim.
The English translation hides so much. The Hebrew word is (וַיַּשְׁכֵּן֩) which has the exact same root as the word Mishkan. As in the Mishkan that Hakadosh Baruch Hu is now commanding us to build. That same Mishkan which will have an aron which will have a cover which will have Kruvim on top of it.
What is the connection?
I don’t really know yet. But the word is there and so the (possible, I would say likely) connection is also there.
For now, though, we’ll focus on the word that is easier for us to understand — the word “shomer” (שְׁמֹ֕ר) — to guard.
What does it mean for the Kruvim to guard the path to the Eitz HaChaim?
On the one hand, it is obvious. They are to prevent unwanted visitors — those people who are unworthy — from getting to the tree of life.
After all, if you can’t get to the tree, you can’t partake of it.
But there is another sense which I think is equally obvious (once it is pointed out to you). And that is the sense of preserving.
There is a way to reach this tree. It’s not an obvious way. Not everyone knows it. But it is there. And it has to be preserved — even if no one is presently using it.
Because some day it will be needed. Someday there will be a people worthy of traveling down this road. And when that day comes, the path will still be there — because the Kruvim were entrusted (by G-d Himself) to preserve it.
If we put it all together: there is only one way to the Eitz HaChaim, and that is through the path to the Eitz HaChaim.
And there is only one way to walk that path, and that is by passing through its guards — aka the Kruvim.
Back to the Aron
So we have the Aron. And on top of the Aron, we have the Kruvim. And inside the Aron — the Luchos.
And now the Pasuk I have been waiting for.
וְנוֹעַדְתִּי לְךָ שָׁם וְדִבַּרְתִּי אִתְּךָ מֵעַל הַכַּפֹּרֶת מִבֵּין שְׁנֵי הַכְּרֻבִים אֲשֶׁר עַל אֲרוֹן הָעֵדֻת אֵת כׇּל אֲשֶׁר אֲצַוֶּה אוֹתְךָ אֶל בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל
Shemos · 25:22I will meet with you there, and I will speak with you from above the Kapores, from between the two Kruvim which are upon the Aron HaEidus — everything that I will command you concerning Bnei Yisrael.
Did you catch that? No?
Then read it again. And again. And again — until you see something.
Don’t just have me spoon-feed it to you. Read that verse and see what you come up with. Then, I’ll give you my thoughts.
G-d is going to meet Moshe (וְנוֹעַדְתִּי). And when He meets him, He is going to speak with him (וְדִבַּרְתִּי אִתְּךָ).
And what are they going to talk about? Everything that G-d wants to command the Jewish people through Moshe (אֵת כׇּל אֲשֶׁר אֲצַוֶּה אוֹתְךָ אֶל בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל).
Remember what Bnei Yisrael said to Moshe at Har Sinai?
קְרַ֤ב אַתָּה֙ וּֽשְׁמָ֔ע אֵ֛ת כׇּל־אֲשֶׁ֥ר יֹאמַ֖ר יְהֹוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֵ֑ינוּ וְאַ֣תְּ ׀ תְּדַבֵּ֣ר אֵלֵ֗ינוּ אֵת֩ כׇּל־אֲשֶׁ֨ר יְדַבֵּ֜ר יְהֹוָ֧ה אֱלֹהֵ֛ינוּ אֵלֶ֖יךָ וְשָׁמַ֥עְנוּ וְעָשִֽׂינוּ׃
Devarim · 5:24You draw near and listen to all that Y-K-V-K our G-d will say, and you shall speak to us all that Y-K-V-K our G-d will say to you, and we will listen and do.
In other words, G-d is going to communicate to Moshe the Torah.
And where is He going to communicate it — between the Kruvim (מִבֵּין שְׁנֵי הַכְּרֻבִים)!
That is the path to the Torah. That is the road to the Eitz HaChaim. Through the Kruvim who are on top of the Aron which house the Luchos.
Because that is the only way to get the Torah.
But I get ahead of myself (again).
The Other Direction
It’s starting to become clear.
וַיֹּ֨אמֶר יְהֹוָ֜ה אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֗ה עֲלֵ֥ה אֵלַ֛י הָהָ֖רָה וֶהְיֵה־שָׁ֑ם וְאֶתְּנָ֨ה לְךָ֜ אֶת־לֻחֹ֣ת הָאֶ֗בֶן וְהַתּוֹרָה֙ וְהַמִּצְוָ֔ה אֲשֶׁ֥ר כָּתַ֖בְתִּי לְהוֹרֹתָֽם
Shemos · 24:12And Y-K-V-K said to Moshe: “Come up to Me on the mountain and be there, and I will give you the Luchos HaEven and the Torah and the Mitzvah that I have written to instruct them.”
How will I give you the Torah? By giving you the Luchos.
It’s as if the vav of “and the Torah (וְהַתּוֹרָה֙)” means “therefore”.
I will give you the Luchos and (therefore) I will (be able to) give you the Torah...
Because by putting the Luchos in the Aron HaKadosh (inside the Mishkan), My word will be able to travel through the Kruvim to you.
You see, we had it all wrong. We don’t travel through the Kruvim, onto the path to the Eitz HaChaim. No, the Eitz HaChaim travels on the path, through the Kruvim to us.
We receive the Eitz HaChaim. We don’t take it.
That doesn’t mean we don’t have anything to do. That we just sit back and wait for it to come to us. It doesn’t work that way.
But the direction is clear. What is not yet clear is why. Why this way? Why through the Kruvim?
What is it about the Kruvim that makes this work?