10 AM Rabbi Douglas Heifetz Led-Service, 11:15 AM Community Kiddush – please bring a healthy nosh to share (dairy, vegetarian or vegan), 12 PM Discussion “Fantastic Creatures & Where to Find Them (on the Ark of the Tablets, that is)”
Our weekly Torah portion, Terumah, focuses on the details of the mishkan (portable shrine) which our Israelite ancestors were to construct. At the center of the mishkan was the Ark containing the tablets of law. On the cover of the Ark stood statues of two Cherubim, mythical winged creatures, facing each other. God would speak to the Israelites from between the Cherubim. What was the origin of these two creatures, and why were they so central for Israel and humanity? In contrast with the Cherubim, who faced each other, the Roman god Janus had two faces that faced away from each other. What’s the connection between the Israelite Cherubim and the Roman god, if any? What lessons do all of these mythological beings hold for us today?
RSVP : Treasurer@beittikvah.org
