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 A Keruv has a human face. 

 Summary 

 Abayye to Rav Acha bar Yaakov: The possuk states “The face of a keruv and the face of a man”; aren’t they the same thing?

 Resolution: The keruv is the face of a baby (the Rambam says that all four face of the merkavah were human faces). 

 Challenge: From where do we learn that there must be 10 tefachim underneath the schach? Perhaps the entire structure needs to be 10 tefachim? 

 Resolution: We derive the height of the sukkah from elsewhere. The heichal in the Beis Hamikdash was 30 amos high and the keruvim there were 10 amos tall. So we understand that in the mishkan, which was 60 tefachim high, the keruvim reached 20 tefachim. But the first 10 tefachim were taken up by the aron and its lid, hence the keruvim were 10 tefachim high. 

The possuk states: “The keruvim spread their wings above like schach”. So we see that schach is above 10 tefachim. 

 Challenge: Perhaps the wings were not above the heads of the keruvim, and were measured in the 10 tefachim? 

 Rav Acha bar Yaakov: The possuk states “spread their wings above”. 

 Challenge: Perhaps they were raised very high? 

 Resolution: It doesn’t state “Very high above” only “above”.

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Rabbi Chanina: The Torah provides measurements for all Mishkan objects except for the thickness of the aron’s lid, so we learn it from the smallest measurement given for anything in the mishkan; the height of the misgeres; one tefach.

Challenge: Why learn from the misgeres? Learn from one of the keilim?!

Resolution: “If you take hold of too much, you may be left with nothing. If you take hold of the least, you’re left with it.”

 Summary 

 Challenge: We can learn the lid’s size from the small tzitz. 

 Beraisa: The tzitz was a golden plate, two fingerbreadths wide. It would surround the forehead from ear to ear. It was inscribed with two lines. The top line had Hashem’s name on it while underneath it, it read “Holy to” (Holy to was at the beginning of the bottom line and Hashem’s name was at the end of the top line, when read from right to left, it said “Holy to Hashem” only that the name of Hashem was raised).

 Rabbi Eliezer b’Rabbi Yosi: I saw the tzitz in Rome, and it was written in one line.

 Resolution: The lid was a keili, so we learn its dimensions from the misgeres which is also a keili rather than from the tzitz which was a personal ornament. (Personal ornaments are always small).

 Challenge: We can learn the lid’s size from the small zeir. 

Resolution: The zeir is only an accessory to a keili, it cannot be considered a keili. 

 Challenge: The misgeres was also an accessory? 

 Resolution: We follow the opinion that the misgeres was not a rim on top of the shulchan as the zeir was to the mizbeach. Rather, it was part of the keili below. 

 Challenge: What about the other opinion? 

 Resolution: The measurements of the tzitz and zeir are not specified by the Torah. We can only learn from the misgeres whose size is specified. (Although the tzitz’s size is specified by Torah sheBaal Peh, we cannot interpret a Torah law by what we know of Torah sheBaal Peh elsewhere.)

Rav Huna: The possuk states: “On the face of the lid”. A ‘face’ is at least a tefach. 

 Challenge: Perhaps it was the size of the face of Bar Yochni (a giant bird of antiquity like the pterodactyl)?

Resolution: “If you take hold of too much, you may be left with nothing.”

 Challenge: Perhaps it was the size of a small bird, smaller than a tefach? 

 Rav Acha bar Yaakov: Rav Huna derived the measurement from a gezeirah shaveh. It states “The face of the lid” and “The face of his father Yitzchok”, so it means the face of a human being. 

 Challenge: The possuk also states “Like the face of Elokim”?

 Resolution: “If you take hold of too much, you may be left with nothing.”

Challenge: The possuk also states “The face of the Keruvim”?

 Rav Acha bar Yaakov: Indeed, Rav Huna learns from here, because a Keruv’s face is a tefach. 

 Question: What is a “Keruv”? 

 Response: The likeness of a child. In Bavel a child is called Ravya; Keruv is “keravya”.

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