The Mishkan

According to tradition, the Ark was invested with Divine power and energy. Today, the Torah scrolls are kept in a wooden cabinet, symbolic of this Ark of the Covenant. On opening the Holy Ark in the synagogue, the following is said:

³Whenever the Ark set out, Moses would say, Arise, O lord and Your enemies will be dispersed, and Your foes will flee before You.² Numbers 10:35 Chabad Siddur, p. 69, 183

This a direct reference to the tradition of bringing the Ark into battle to assure victory for the Israelites.

According to I Samuel: 1 -12, the Israelites lost an important battle with the Philistines. When the troops returned, the elders of Israel said, ³Why has G-d allowed us to be defeated today by the Philistines? Let us fetch the Ark of our G-d from Shiloh so that it may come among us and rescue us from the power of our enemies.²

In the Battle of Eben Ezer however, the Ark was captured and taken hostage to the land of the Philistines. There, the Book of Samuel records a series of plagues that befell the people, including tumors and destruction of their god, Dagon. Finally the people of Ashdod, Gath and Ekron decided they had to get rid of the Ark.

THE ARK OF THE COVENANT ³Send the ark of the God of Israel away; let it go back to where it belongs and not bring death to us and our people...² I Samuel: 5 : 1 - 12, 6: 1 - 12

The Ark was placed on a cart lead by two cows. The cows headed for Israelite territory (Beth-Shemesh) acknowledging that it was the god of Israel who was responsible for causing harm to the Philistines. The power of the Ark remained strong, even in the land of the Philistines. ³The actual events (described above) whatever their specific nature may have been, served to establish indubitably for both Philistines and Israelites, and perhaps even more for the former than the latter, that the deity or deities of the ark were indeed potent at all times and places, and this too with a power which transcended that of the Philistine deities.² The Ark, the Ephod and the Tent of Meeting, p.87

The capture of the Ark paralleled the loss of political independence and power of the Israelite tribes of Central Palestine.

³The Ark was the visible symbol of the presence of G-d in their midst.² Ibid, p. 86 ³But what must have been contrary to all normal procedure on the part of both Israelites and Philistines, the capture of the Ark and its carrying off as a trophy of victory to the Philistine cities did not by any means terminate its divine power and functioning. Even in the midst of a foreign land the deity or deities of the Ark were able to affirm their potency and authority and that too over the very people which had captured (it)...² Ibid, p. 86

The Mishkan - continued