Today’s daf begins where yesterday’s ended, with a discussion about the kruvim, the golden winged creatures that stood before the covering in front of the Ark of the Covenant in the Temple. Although commonly translated (transliterated, really) into English as cherubim, these are not necessarily the chubby-cheeked angels we might know from Renaissance paintings. While Rashi (Sukkah 5b, relying on a description in II Chronicles 3:10) notes that the faces of the kruvim were child-like, the prophet Ezekiel describes a more fearsome four-sided head with several possible visages, including those of various beasts. The kruvim were formidable figures.
In a passage on today’s daf, the rabbis note that there were two of them, and ask: Which way were they facing? The Gemara notes a discrepancy.
How were they standing? Rabbi Yohanan and Rabbi Elazar disagree. One says: Their faces were turned one toward the other. And one says: Their faces were turned toward the house (i.e., the sanctuary). But according to the one who says their faces were one toward the other, isn’t it written: “And their faces were toward the house” (II Chronicles 3:13)? This is not difficult. Here it was when the Jewish people do the will of God. There when the Jewish people do not do the will of God.
The rabbis are faced with a conundrum. In Exodus, the kruvim are depicted as facing each other, but in II Chronicles, they’re described as facing the sanctuary. How can this be? The rabbis pose a fascinating solution: The kruvim, normally appearing as inanimate gold statues, could move. They could turn to face each other, or they could turn towards the sanctuary depending on the status of the relationship between God and the Jewish people. If the kruvim were facing each other, all was well. If they were facing away, it was not. This binary solution explains how the kruvim could turn either towards or away from each other.
But the Gemara doesn’t leave it there, offering one more possibility: Maybe the kruvim were actually positioned on a diagonal.
And according to the one who says their faces were toward the house, isn’t it written: “With their faces one toward the other” (Exodus 25:20). They were angled sideways, as it is taught: Onkelos the Convert said that the kruvim were of the form of children, as the verse states: “And in the Holy of Holies he made two kruvim of the form of children, and their faces were angled sideways, like a student taking leave of his teacher.
Relying on the description of the kruvim as having child-like visages, the Gemara now compares them to students taking leave of a beloved teacher. When a student leaves the presence of her teacher she doesn’t turn her back completely, which would be unconscionably disrespectful. Instead, she might angle her body slightly away from the teacher and toward the door of the classroom, indicating her hesitation to leave.
In considering how the relationship between the Jewish people and God is like that of a teacher and student, the Gemara elevates not any specific content under discussion, but rather the foundation between those whose lives are bound up with the study of Torah. The Jewish people are constantly in relationship with God — sometimes doing God’s will and maintaining the ideal closeness that comes as a reward for doing so, and sometimes missing the mark and needing to repair the relationship. In both situations, the relationship between the parties isn’t broken, but rather open to improvement. If even the immutable kruvim can turn towards one another rather than away, so can we.
Read all of Bava Batra 99 on Sefaria.
This piece originally appeared in a My Jewish Learning Daf Yomi email newsletter sent on October 2, 2024. If you are interested in receiving the newsletter, sign up here.
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