We find the Shulchan has a din of “Tamid” like we find be other keilim – but the “Tamid” is different.
- There’s the Tamid of the Menorah where it says לְהַעֲֹלת נֵר ּתָמִיד.
- There’s the Tamid of the Mizbe’ach which says אֵׁש ּתָמִיד ּתּוקַד עַל ַהַּמִזְּבֵח.
- But then there’s the Tamid of Shulchan which is slightly different – ָוְנָתַּת עַל הַּׁשֻלְחָן לֶחֶם ּפָנִים לְפָנַי ּתָמִיד
The Lashon is L’fanai Tamid. There’s no L’fanai Tamid by the others. To note it differently – by the others, the Ner itself is Tamid, “Ner Tamid,” the Aish itself is Tamid, “Aish Tamid,” but by the Shulchan, the Lechem itself is not Tamid. I want to be masbir that.
Another Ha’arah: The Gemara1 says that by the Regel, the Shulchan was lifted up for all the olei regel to see, and, the Gemara says, the Shulchan specifically was lifted because “re’u chibbaschem lifnei HaMakom,” “see your chibba in front of Hashem.” It needs hesber why the Shulchan shows this chibba more than anything else. I mean, in the Mikdash there were Asarah Nissim, 10 miracles, and l’chora any of those miracles could be said to show Hashem’s chibba for Klal Yisroel. So where are Chazal hearing the chibba pronounced specifically by the Shulchan?
Also, the Lashon is “Re’u chibbaschem.” This is a different lashon than what we find by the Menorah, l’mashal. By the menorah, which has the Ner Tamid, it say the Ner Tamid was an “eidus l’chol ba’ei Olam she’ha’Schina sharuya b’Yisroel.” The Shulchan however is not showcasing “Schina sharuya,” but rather showcasing “chibaschem lifnei HaMakom.” What is this chibba?
We find an idea of “arichas shulchan.” For example in Tehillim2 the passuk says הֲיּוכַל אֵל לַעֲרְֹך ׁשֻלְחָן ּבַּמִדְּבָר – “Can HKBH set a table in the Midbar?” Pashtus the passuk is a metaphor that HKBH can be “zan u’mefarnes” a nation in the Midbar. But why call it arichas shulchan? I mean setting the table is a nice way to eat, but the ikkar is eating. But the passuk could’ve said “Nosein Lechem” “Ma’achil Ochel” or something like that. The Malbim has a mehalech. On the passuk “ta’aruch l’fanai shulchan neged tzorerai.” The Malbim says that the passuk is not talking about HKBH being zan u’mefarnes, but it was a different nekuda: When Dovid was oppressed and on the run, he ate his food from the ground, grazing like a sheep. But HKBH elevated him, so he would eat off a table.
We find that when Adam was cursed to eat from the ground, he cried that “me and my donkey will both eat from the same trough.” Adam wasn’t bothered that he would eat the same food as his donkey, but that they will eat from the same trough, without a table.
A bal chai eats from the ground, because that’s where the food is. However a person elevates his food, not just spiritually, but physically and literally – he lifts it off the ground and puts it on a table. A primitive person slaughters an animal and eats it with little preparation. A more refined person increases the preparation. And not just the cooking or roasting, but also in the presentability. We don’t just drop it on the table, but you have an arichas shulchan, a presentable arrangement that is dignified.
Now, you may argue that why do you need this extra step? Eating is just something gashmi, so don’t glorify it, just keep it as minimalistic as possible! But that’s not what Adam does. Adam makes tikkunim to refine and enhance the act of eating. This elevates it from being purely physical, to something more noble. In all cultures, the tzura of eating is a defined feature of a culture. How to eat, what to eat, how to serve it – these are all from nimusei Ha’das – not das, meaning religious law – this is not something that we need a tziv’ui min ha’Shomayim – but das, meaning culturally. Adam realizes that he is elevated and dignified, and this nobility manifests in his Arichas Shulchan.
Nimtzinu L’meidim, that Arichas Shulchan doesn’t mean HKBH provides food. It’s not even referring to the act of eating food, because eating can be done with the coarsest of manners. Arichas Shulchan is adding dignity to your whole food experience. It’s a simple yet powerful statement that Adam is of nobility.
Chazal say there are 3 crowns: The Kesser Torah, Kesser Kehuna, and Kesser Malchus. Torah and Kehuna are totally spiritual endeavors. The Torah is the word of Hashem, which comes from Shomayim down to Adam. The Torah comes from Nevi’im who are usually detached from mehalchei Teva. Kehunah is also ruchni, where we send our korbanos up to Shomayim, essentially stripping away, or burning away the gashmiyus and being makriv it to Shomayim. When the Kohein is done with his Avodah, there’s not much gashmiyus left. The Kohanim are also mufka from derech eretz. Malchus, however is different. Malchus doesn’t need to come with a tzivu’i min ha’Shomayim. Malchus is something a person recognizes on his own. Malchus is also not a Hakrava – I’m not stripping away the gashmiyus and sending it back to Shomayim. And Malchus is certainly not mufka from derech eretz. Fakhert – Malchus is very much engaged in the Derech Eretz operations of the Tzibbur: How they will build and expand, where they’ll get panassa. These are the issues the Melech grapples with. I remember as a child I would always wonder: If Nassan HaNavi is always reprimanding Dovid, doesn’t that show that Nassan is more chashuv than Dovid? So let Nasson be the “Big man” to run the show! The teretz is that Nasson is good at relaying the word of Hashem, but who’s gonna implement it and orchestrate it, in a way where the gashmiyus is not just preserved or minimized, but also dignified?
This is the difference between the Shulchan and the other keilim. The other Keilim are alluding to inyanim Ruchniyim. The Aron is the Kesser Torah which is koolo ruchni. The Mizbe’ach is the Kesser Kehuna which strips away the gashmi and returns things to the Olam HaRuchni. The Shulchan is the Kesser Malchus – which does not strip away or minimize the gashmiyus but rather frames it with the Nobility that is Shayich to Adam.
This is also why the Tamid’s are different. If you think about it – Inyani’im ruchniyim have built-in tamidus. Ruchniyus is l’olmei olamim. It lasts forever. The Ner is Tamid and the Aish it Tamid because time is not shayich to it – it’s ruchni which makes it nitzchi. However, the Tamid of the Lechem is not a built-in Tamid. It’s shayich for the bread to get stale. The only way it stays fresh is if there’s an injection of Chammimus m’tzad Ha’Adam. Adam m’tzad atmo can also get stale. Because Adam has a gufni element, the nature of gufniyus is to devolve and deteriorate and fall to the most base levels. Adam has to lift himself up with his nobility, and not allow himself to be debased. When Adam injects his chiyus, his chiddush, his chammimus l’fanei Tamid, HKBH reflects that in the chammimus of the Lechem l’fanai Tamid.
I wanna say that this is the k’neitch in Re’u Chibbaschem Lifnei HaMakom. In a sense, it’s like mayim panim el panim. HKBH reflects back to you the panim you show Him. The shulchan is lifted up by Adam’s chamimus – and the declaration is “Look how you appear to HKBH – HKBH sees your chammimus and keeps that chammimus l’fanai Tamid.”
These inyanim are noge’a us in a few ways: First, Adam, m’tzad she’hu Adam, needs to constantly be reminding himself of his nobility. Certainly in the way we eat, but also in the way we talk, in the way we dress, in the way we walk – how do you carry yourself? I remember years back I was speaking with a Yid. He was shomer Torah u’mitzvos, but not much of a ben aliya. I told him the story of a REbbe who wouldn’t lower himself to his soup bowl, but instead would lift the spoon up to his mouth – he felt it is beneath him to “bow down” to his food, he doesn’t eat from a trough! This Yid, unfortunately, looked at me and said “so what?” He didn’t think it was anything special! There are some hanhagos that require a refinement to even notice and appreciate them. An obtuse person won’t appreciate them. But we need to develop that refined sense. Do you rush to get to the dining room, do you just scarf down your food? I’m not talking about aveiros and mitzvos – this is not something that needs a tzivuyi min ha’Shomayim. Arichas shulchan is not about d’varim assurim. It’s about taking the heter and elevating it to something more refined. That is Adam’s declaration that he elevated above animals. And, also important to developing this sensitivity is not being dismissive of d’varim gashmiyim. That very often leads to a coarseness and an undignified approach to d’varim gashmiyim. Arichas Shulchan is a tzura of Malchus that Adam needs to impose upon his iskei Olam HaZe. But there’s another application which is important. We need to keep the Chammimus. The teva of everything is that it tapers off and loses steam. Zman starts with a bang, and wanes. This is normal. But it’s exactly when we lose steam that we need to regenerate our Chammimus. There’s an avodah of l’fanai tamid, which means we need to keep lifting ourselves up. And we have avodos that are aimed at our lifani Tamid: We have Tefilla which is supposed to be our avoda of Omed lifnei Hashem. We have limud ha’Mussar which also fosters this sentiment of arousing ourselves and pushing ourselves and generating our own inner chammimus.
When we generate our own energy in our Avodas Hashem, when we generate and regenerate our chammimus – then, K’mayim panim el panim, there’s the response of HKBH – “Re’u Chibbaschem Lifnei HaMakom,” “How my Klal Yisorel is Omed L’fanai Tamid!”
Good Shabbos!