Gold for a Child’s Chinuch
The Mechilta (end of Parshas Mishpatim) states that if gold cannot be found, all the vessels of the Mikdash may be made from other metals. The only exception is the keruvim, which must be made of gold. It is forbidden to make them from any other metals.
Rav Meir Shapiro zt”l, Rosh Yeshivas Chachmei Lublin, says that the reason for this is because, as Chazal say (Sukkah 5B), the keruvim looked like young children. They were placed on the Aron, which housed the Torah, to symbolize that small children must be educated in the ways of the Torah. Therefore, they must be made of gold, to teach us that our children’s education must be “gold”. It must be on the highest standard possible.
Furthermore, there is no reason to scrimp on chinuch, as Hashem says that money spent on Shabbos, Yomtov or chinuch does not come out of the account of how much money is decreed for a person to receive in a year.
Lechem Hapanim
Rashi states that it is called “Lechem Hapanim” because it has a “panim” (face).
Sefer Likutei Yehuda quotes his grandfather, the Imrei Emes zy”a as explaining that the name “Lechem Hapanim” is akin to the words (Mishlei 27:19): “K’mayim panim el panim.” (Like water, face to face.) This indicates that through this bread everyone could see a reflection of their own face. One could see his inner essence and his personal level of emunah. If a person looked at the bread with emunah and spiritual warmth, the bread would always appear warm to him, even eight days after it was placed on the Shulchan (see Chagigah 26B), but if one looked at with a coldness in emunah, it would seem cold to him.
This explains the Medrash (Toras Kohanim, quoted by Rashi on Vasyikroh 24:10) that says that the Megadef claimed that the Lechem Hapanim was old and cold, and was inappropriate for a King. Why did he think it was cold? Since his emunah was cold, the bread appeared cold to him.
