Terumah

"You should overlay it (the aron), both inside and outside, with gold.” (Exodus 25: 11)

“’Overlay it inside and outside’—Rava says, (this comes to teach us that) any talmid chacham whose inner character is not consistant with his outer demeanor is not a true talmid chacham.” (Yoma 72b)

Rabbi Yosef Leib Bloch, zt”l asked a question concerning Rava’s homiletic explanation of the requirement to cover the inner and outer surfaces of the aron. If the entire thrust of the lesson is to teach us that a sage must be consistently superlative in his thoughts and deeds(inside and outside gold), why was it necessary to make the aron with an innermost layer of acacia wood? Would a solid gold box have been sufficient?

He answers that as long as a man is human, a Divine soul clothed in a physical body, he must reckon with his physical nature throughout his spiritual quest. Whatever degree of purity or holiness he attains, it is impossible to separate oneself from one’s physical needs. Hence, it is impossible for a true talmid chacham to be “entirely gold”; rather our sages focus us on the goal of using all of our spiritual capacities to the fullest. By telling us that both the inside and outside of the aron where gold, they teach that our private thoughts as well as our external behavior must conform with the high standards of the Torah. But the hidden inside of the aron—even the talmid chacham—is wood, a physical nature to be controlled.

Moreover, one can see this same idea in the blessing that Yitzchok Avinu gave to his children. He tells Yaakov to prepare for him some of the delicacies that he enjoys so that “tevarcheno nafsho”, so that his soul could bless him. The connection between the physical pleasure which Yitzchok requests and his blessing is based on the idea described above. Yitzchok’s intent was that both his physical and spiritual qualities join together in blessing his progeny with the greatest possible involvement of his entire being. In this way, the greatest possible blessing can be received. Again, we see from here no matter how spiritual a person strives to become, he can never escape the core of his physical nature completely. Our body exists to be sanctified.

(This d'var Torah is based on the work Peninei Daas, the essays of the Telsher Rosh HaYeshiva Rabbi Eliyahu Meir Bloch, zt"l, edited by Rabbi Noson Tzvi Baron, shlit"a, and Rabbi Avrahom Chaim Levin, shlit"a, vol. 1, p. 214)