The Lesson of the Breads
The Talmud [Chagigah 26B] reveals a connection between the special bread of the Mishkan’s table and the holidays. Raish Lakish teaches that the table and its bread were held up before those who had come to the Temple on the Shalosh Regalim. This bread was placed on Shabbos and remained there until the next Shabbos when it was replaced with new bread. It miraculously remained as warm and fresh when it as removed as it had been when it was originally placed. It was held up on the Holidays to serve as testimony to the warm and fresh love that HaShem felt toward His nation.
The holidays and the trips to the Temple served as spiritual highpoints which were meant to carry us through the trials and tribulations of the entire year. Just as the bread kept its warmth from week to week, we too needed to keep the spirituality warm from holiday to holiday.
Why were the breads chosen to teach this lesson as opposed to any of the other many Mitzvos of the Temple? Perhaps a better understanding of these twelve loaves of bread is necessary. Rav Shimshon Raphael Hirsch zt”l writes that the Table and bread of the Mishkan were metaphoric expressions of nourishment, enjoyment and material prosperity. As such, they taught us the way to deserve and maintain this prosperity.
The loaves were flat with upturned ends. These bent up ends covered a surface equal to that of the base of the loaf. A total of twelve loaves were arranged on the table in stacks of six each. The bottom loaves covered the entire table and the two sides of each loaf rose to support the loaf directly above it. With this shape, each loaf gave as much space toward supporting another loaf as it gave toward its own base. This clearly is the basic condition for prosperity. Each individual acquiring and possessing wealth for the sake of others as much as for his own sake. This same concept is also symbolized by the two esronim (a measurement) of flour used for each loaf. One esaron was the daily ration bestowed upon each person when the manna came down. As such, two esronim contain the daily requirements of oneself and an additional person.
The loaves were baked in pairs and were stacked in two piles. The Oznayim L’Torah writes that these twelve loaves represent the twelve tribes. One stack of six represented the six sons of Leah and the other represented the sons of Rachel, Bilhah and Zilpah. Each of the tribes had different personalities, temperaments and ideas yet they were all united on this table. Looking past their differences they held each other up, being equally concerned for the other as they were for themselves.
The holidays are a time for reflection on the blessings that HaShem has bestowed upon us as a nation and as individuals. Perhaps the way to keep those feelings warm throughout the year is to, in turn, bestow those blessings onto others.
