Hot answers tagged ark-aron-kodesh
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Well, here's what comes to mind.
Bowing is not reserved for G-d. There are many cases in the Bible when prominent Jews bowed to kings such as the prophet Natan bowing to David (Melachim 1:1:23) and Yosef’s brothers bowing to Yosef (Breishit 42:6). Even Avraham (Breishit 18:2) bowed to strangers whom he suspected of being idolaters (Rashi to verse 4).
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"The box in which the Philistines sent a gift to the G-d of Israel was placed next to it" (Bava Basra 14a).
To expand on Shalom's answer:
The basic reason that the Philistines made these particular images is that these were the plagues they had been struck with (I Sam. 5:6 and Rashi there). Malbim (to 6:4-5) explains that the Philistine "priests and ...
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Levush Orach Chaim 133 says that this is done to help us have the proper intention by Tefila.
Rivivos Efraim Volume 3:395 says that the reason we open the Aron Kodesh has to do with the Posuk "Vataal Shaavosom El HoElokim ותעל שועתם אל האלקים" which is said regarding the place the Sefer Torah rests upon, and the proof is that we open it up for Shema Kolainu ...
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The suffering question is a complicated one best addressed separately.
As for the Ark: it was cared-for quite well (well it was briefly seized by the Philistines ~3000 years ago but soon after returned). The traditional Jewish view has it that about 2500 years ago, they knew the Babylonians were going to plunder the First Temple. To keep the Ark out of the ...
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Nitey Gavriel (Sukkos pg. 379 footnote 15) brings the custom in the name of the Malbushei Yom Tov to Levush 664:4 and Nitzutzei Zohar Parshas Tzav, who explain that it is in order to leave the sparks of judgment behind at the conclusion of the days of judgment and not take them back home. The custom is also brought in the Bikurey Yaakov (S"K 16). The Nitey ...
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As HodofHod said, we bow in the direction of Jerusalem, and that is also the wall on which we place the ark.
I was taught that this means that if you're at the sides of the room (with the ark in the center), you don't bow toward the ark; you bow toward east. In some congregations I see everybody bow toward the ark, forming basically a semi-circle, but I ...
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It depends on the synagogue, and depends what you're being asked to do. I'll assume the synagogue is Ashkenazic.
If you're being asked to open the aron (cabinet holding the Torah scrolls) for a particular prayer, but the scrolls are not to be removed, then the first step is to approach the aron at the appropriate time. (Actually, as mentioned in the other ...
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A couple of possibilities:
Betzalel may have put them in temporarily (to make sure they fit), and Moshe was the first one to put them in permanently (after which it was prohibited to remove them again, as stated in Ex. 25:15. Daas Zekeinim on that verse in fact explicitly states that this prohibition took effect once Moshe put them in).
Or, וישם in 40:20 ...
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Nitey Gavriel (Rosh Hashana pg. 153) brings the custom to have white paroches etc until after Yom Kippur. In Nitey Gavriel (Sukkos pg. 362) he brings the Maharil, Sharey Efrayim and Minhagei Amsterdam who say to put up white paroches etc. on Hashana Rabba - implying that they had already been changed back from Rosh Hashana. However he writes (without citing ...
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Shulchan Aruch YD 282 prohibits sitting next to a sefer because that would be bizayon to the sefer. It seems to me standing shares the same din.
According to rules of chinuch I would say that one should not deliberately put a child in such a place, if the child goes on his own, at the age of 2 I would assume take him down (or tell him to...)
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The Mishnayot in the last chapter of Zevachim outline the journey of the Tabernacle. When the Jews arrived in Israel:
The Tabernacle was in Gilgal for the 14 years of capturing and dividing the land.
It then moved to Shiloh for 369 years.
When Shiloh was destroyed (I Samuel 4), the Tabernacle was moved to Nov until it too was destroyed (I Samuel 22:19)
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I haven't looked at the relevant g'mara excerpts, but, off the bat, I don't see the problem. If the second set was broken, then it doesn't have to fit upright or the like: it was in pieces. So as long as the total interior volume of the aron is (slightly more than) the total volume of the two sets of luchos, that's enough. The interior volume of the aron ...
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The Philistines had been afflicted by hemhorroids, which were then irritated by rats, as a punishment for stealing the Ark.
By their thinking, they could appease the Ark (or whatever force behind it) and stop this nuisance by returning the Ark, along with some golden rats and golden hemhorroids, for good measure. Nothing to do with how they worshipped; it ...
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Oops, I missed that Alex added this answer above, but I'll keep it here for the comments.
The Meshech Chochma answers that Betzalel placed the staves in the rings on the side of the Aron. This was its mobile positioning. When Moshe set the Aron in place, he set the rings and the staves within on the top edges of the aron's walls. This was its resting ...
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Basic Idea from VBM
First he says your Point with Mareh Mekomoms
Mishna Berura (10), as well as the Arukh Ha-Shulchan and others, rules that one should NOT turn one's back to the aron, even at the expense of praying away from Jerusalem.
The Aruch Ha-Shulchan (94:5) writes that even those to the south of the Aron Koidesh facing east should not face somewhat ...
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My sense is it's just a matter of respect for the visibility of the open Aron; if all the congregants are looking at the Torah scrolls, you don't want to appear like you're hogging the attention and blocking their view.
If for whatever reason you need to be on the other side, I'd say just cross over as quickly and as unobtrusively as possible.
That's just ...
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