Clarifying apparent Torah discrepancy; spiritual enlightenment of sculpture must be expressed within Torah framework; sensitivity to the spirit of Jerusalem – every Jew has a personal stake in it
By the Grace of G-d
7th of Teveth, 5722
Brooklyn, N.Y.
Mr. Chaim Yakob Lipchitz
168 Warbarton Ave.
Hastings-on-Hudson, N.Y.
Greeting and Blessing:
Thank you for your letter of December 10th. I particularly appreciate your candor, which indicates, I hope, a closeness as well as a confidence, and at the same time enables me to reciprocate in kind. I therefore hope that you will not take amiss my pursuing the subject of our recent correspondence further, inasmuch as it is a matter of public concern and of the highest order. After all, Jews are characterized as a “stiff-necked” nation, which means that Jews have the gift of perseverance and tenacity. Moreover, I feel that some points may not have been adequately covered in my previous letters.
First, however, let me refer to the point which you make regarding the apparent discrepancy between the ban on “graven images,” and the existence of the Cherubim, Lion, Ox, and other likenesses in the Beth HaMikdash. Surely, if there had been any discrepancy, there would have been some reference on the spot, since the commandment against graven images and likenesses, as well as the commandment to make the Cherubim on the cover of the Holy Ark, are to be found in the very same Book of Moses. Similarly, King Solomon, who built the Beth HaMikdash and included the said likenesses, could not have overlooked the possibility of a discrepancy. Nor would the Jewish people have accepted it, while at the same time carrying on a fight to eliminate the influences of idolatry of their neighbors, a fight which they carried on for hundreds of years after the erection of the Beth HaMikdash. I cannot go into the explanation of the apparent discrepancy which you question, since the explanation can be
