ספר שמות

Exodus 25,15. “the staves shall remain in the rings of the ‎ark; they shall not be removed from it” “you shall place ‎within the ark the testimony (Tablets), etc.”The ‎reason why the Torah emphasized only in connection with the ‎holy ark that the staves by means of which the ark will be carried ‎must not be removed from it [although also the table was ‎carried by means of such staves, and the boards of the Tabernacle ‎itself were held in place by staves, Ed.] requires analysis.‎The author says that in order to explain this he must give a ‎lengthy introduction. He takes it for granted that man, i.e. a ‎human being, is viewed as a microcosm of the universe ‎He also takes it for granted that the reader is aware that the ‎‎613 commandments are divided into 365 negative ‎commandments and 248 positive commandments and symbolize ‎the human body i.e. are expressions in tangible form of 613 ‎different spiritual concepts, both 248 positive ones and 365 ‎negative ones. Similarly, the various parts of the Tabernacle are ‎also to be viewed as representing these 613 concepts that form ‎part of the universe and are placed before our eyes as the ‎universe in miniature. In other words, each component part of ‎the Tabernacle represented one of the 613 commandments.‎When analyzing these 613 commandments, the reader will ‎find that not all of them are essential, in the sense that not all of ‎them can be fulfilled by each Israelite, and some of them are in ‎the nature of “rearguard actions,” i.e. when certain sins have ‎been committed they are designed to repair the spiritual damage ‎the universe, i.e. the collective soul of the Jewish people, has ‎suffered and the performance of the commandment is designed to ‎repair that damage. Other commandments are so important that ‎we must never lose sight of them, and we are told to remember ‎certain events on a 24/7 basis during all our waking hours. One of ‎these is the commandment to remain aware that there is only one ‎Creator and that it is He Who is the source of all the phenomena ‎that we observe in the universe. The second such commandment ‎is that He has no partners, senior or junior, and is the Only Deity. ‎The third such commandment is that we are commanded to love ‎Him, i.e. that it is our duty as an expression of our love for Him ‎to perform acts that will please Him. The means we are to employ ‎to please Him are observance of the laws of the Torah, turning to ‎Him in prayer, performing charitable deeds for the needy, all of ‎whom have also been created in G’d’s image. At the same time as ‎loving G’d, we must also remain in awe of His presence, i.e. be on ‎guard against transgressing any of the negative commandments ‎in the Torah. Under no circumstances are we to commit acts that ‎we know to contradict His expressed wishes. All the above-‎mentioned commandments are absolute and apply to each one of ‎us at all times. Faith in the Lord includes that we remain ‎constantly aware of these cardinal points of Judaism.‎There are other positive commandments, i.e. wearing four-‎cornered garments with fringes, ‎ציציות‎; putting on phylacteries, ‎which are to be performed only during hours of daylight. The ‎same applies to the offering of sacrifices, something that is not ‎acceptable when performed at night. Nowadays, owing to our ‎exile these commandments are incapable of being performed ‎altogether.‎The ‎ארון‎, holy ark, represented the totality of all the ‎commandments, [seeing that the written Torah was ‎deposited within it in addition to the Tablets. Ed.]. In ‎order to symbolize the concept that Torah is indispensable to the ‎Jewish people at any time day or night, Sabbath or weekday, the ‎staves which served as the supports for carrying the ark on the ‎shoulders of the priests, (compare Joshua 3,15) therefore had to ‎remain firmly attached to the rings that enabled them to perform ‎their function.‎There are still other words of G’d which are also hinted at in ‎the text of the Ten Commandments, on the Tablets which were ‎the principal item inside the holy ark. These too ought to be ‎remembered at all times as if they were commandments that had ‎been spelled out as such.‎The table, which was also equipped with rings and staves as a ‎means to carry it, symbolizes other commandments, and the ‎Levites were charged with carrying it by using them (Numbers ‎‎7,9). The table too, had to be carried on the shoulders of the ‎Levites who were descendants of Kehat, not transported on the ‎wagons like the boards and roof coverings of the Tabernacle. The ‎commandment to carry certain parts of the furnishings of the ‎Tabernacle on the shoulders of the Levites charged with ‎performing service in or around the Tabernacle shows how these ‎furnishings symbolized the commandments, i.e. what is most ‎sacred to the Jewish people. During the wanderings in the desert ‎when the Tabernacle and its constituent parts were being moved ‎regularly, carrying these parts on the shoulders was the way the ‎need to observe the commandments at all times was being ‎demonstrated. The Levites were agents, messengers, of the Jewish ‎people and at the same time agents, i.e. messengers of G’d. The ‎holy ark which symbolized the most important commandments, ‎the ones that apply on a year round basis to every Israelite ‎reminded its carriers of this fact when they considered the ‎prohibition to detach the staves by taking them out of their ‎rings.‎