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Meditative Gazing on Mysteries of the Jewish Temple

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In Yoma 54a in the Babylonian Talmud it describes how during the festivals the priests would roll up the curtain of the Holy of Holies so that the people could see in order to meditate on the two cherubim on the Ark embracing one another like a male for a female which represented God's love or affection for them.

אָמַר רַב קַטִּינָא: בְּשָׁעָה שֶׁהָיוּ יִשְׂרָאֵל עוֹלִין לָרֶגֶל, מְגַלְּלִין לָהֶם אֶת הַפָּרוֹכֶת, וּמַרְאִין לָהֶם אֶת הַכְּרוּבִים שֶׁהָיוּ מְעוֹרִים זֶה בָּזֶה, וְאוֹמְרִים לָהֶן: רָאוּ חִבַּתְכֶם לִפְנֵי הַמָּקוֹם כְּחִבַּת זָכָר וּנְקֵבָה. 

This concept of meditative gazing is also mentioned in Daniel 3:55:

"Blessed art thou that beholdest the depths, and sittest upon the cherubims: and worthy to be praised and exalted above all for ever." (Douai Rhiems Bible)

This same kind of meditating gazing was also connected to the Table of the Shewbread (bread of the Presence or Face) that the priests during the festival would bring out to the Courtyard and lift it up saying "See God's love (or affection) for you" as described in Chagigah 26b.

וְאַמַּאי כְּלִי עֵץ הֶעָשׂוּי לְנַחַת הוּא וְאֵינוֹ מְקַבֵּל טוּמְאָה אֶלָּא מְלַמֵּד שֶׁמַּגְבִּיהִין אוֹתוֹ וּמַרְאִין בּוֹ לְעוֹלֵי רְגָלִים לֶחֶם הַפָּנִים וְאוֹמְרִים לָהֶם רְאוּ חִיבַּתְכֶם לִפְנֵי הַמָּקוֹם סִילּוּקוֹ כְּסִידּוּרוֹ דְּאָמַר רַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ בֶּן לֵוִי נֵס גָּדוֹל נַעֲשָׂה בְּלֶחֶם הַפָּנִים כְּסִידּוּרוֹ כָּךְ סִילּוּקוֹ שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר לָשׂוּם לֶחֶם חוֹם בְּיוֹם הִלָּקְחוֹ 

 Also in Yoma 54a it alludes to the Ark of the Covenant with its protuding staves to the feminine aspects of the Shekhinah and the Ark:

 "How is this so? The staves of the Ark pushed and protruded and stuck out against the curtain toward the outside, and appeared like the two breasts of a woman pushing against her clothes. As it is stated: “My beloved is to me like a bundle of myrrh, that lies between my breasts” (Song of Songs 1:13). For this reason the Ark of the Covenant, where the Divine Presence rests, is positioned so that its staves protrude through the curtain, like the breasts of a woman. " 

הָא כֵּיצַד? דּוֹחֲקִין וּבוֹלְטִין וְיוֹצְאִין בַּפָּרוֹכֶת, וְנִרְאִין כִּשְׁנֵי דַּדֵּי אִשָּׁה, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״צְרוֹר הַמּוֹר דּוֹדִי לִי בֵּין שָׁדַי יָלִין״. 

We thus see the nuptial imagery of the Temple in regard to the Divine Marriage of the Divine King or Messiah ("kiss the son") whose bride is also his daughter and his mother. The Ramban (Nachmanides) writes in his commentary on Genesis:

"...Now Israel, which is called reshit as mentioned above, is the "Kneset Yisrael", which is compared in the Song of Songs to a bride and whom Scripture in turn calls daughter, sister and mother. The Rabbis have already expressed this in a homiletic interpretation of the verse, 'Upon the crown wherewith his mother has crowned Him [Song of Songs 3:11]', and in other places." Similarly, the verse concerning Moses, 'And he chose a first part for himself' [Deut. 33;21], which they interpret to mean that Moses our teacher comtemplated through a Isparklarya (lucid speculum/ clear crystal mirror or looking glass), and he saw that which is reshit (the first) for himself, and therefore merited the Torah. Thus all the Midrashim above have one meaning...."

The Ramban reveals that this Bat Reshit (Daughter of Beginning / Wisdom) is the feminine blueprint (umanuta) of Torah in which Moses gazed and beheld the divine mysteries of the Torah.


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