TERUMAH - TEN HANDS

 February 9, 1994

"And they shall make an ark of acacia-wood; to cubits and half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and ahlf the breadth thereof, and a cubit and half the height thereof.  And you shall overlay it with pure gold, within and without shall you overlay it, and shall make upon it a crown of gold round about."  Exodus 25:10

One of the most common measurements found in hallachah is 'ten tfochim'.  A 'tefach' is the width of one hand, so ten 'tfochim' is equal to ten hand widths.  This is generally considered to be about 30 to 40 inches, the 'tefach' of Biblical times being somewhere between 3 and 4 inches.  Besides the width of a hand being a convenient form of measurement, perhaps the measurement of 'ten tfochim' has an interesting metaphorical and symbolic significance. 

The hand itself is a symbol of man's physical strength, through which he builds, conquers, and perfects the physical world.  While the tfillin of the head represents our dedicating our mental and spiritual abilities to God, our tfillin of the hand dedicates our physical strength to the laws and goals of Heaven.  So the very use of the measurement of 'tefach', handbreadth, is symbolic of what we do with our human, physical strength. 

The number ten also represents strength.  A minyan of nine men lacks the essential power to bundle and lift its prayers into a collective beseeching of the Almighty.  A minimum of ten men is required for that.  Therefore, 'ten' handbreadths signfiies a collective unity of physical strength bound together for a common purpose in the physical world.  Let's look at a few examples of where the measurement 'ten tfochim' is used in hallachah, and see how this symbolism applies.

A succah must be at least ten tfochim high.  The Gemorah in Succah derives this from the fact that the Aron Kodesh, the Holy Ark, in the Temple, was ten tfochim high, and the Scheenah, God's Holy Presence, rested on top of the the Aron Kodesh.  The Gemorah  there says that man's domain is from the ground up to ten tfochim below Heaven, and that God's domain is from Heaven down to ten tfochim above the earth.  It says that when Moses visited Heaven, he could not go higher than ten tfochim below Heaven, so he had to hold on to the leg of God's golden throne.  Likewise, God does not go down below ten tfochim above the ground, because that is man's exclusive domain, and God chooses to give us authority over that domain.  It's difficult to know what all this means, but it says clearly that from the ground up to ten tfochim above the ground is man's physical domain, that God does not interfere with.  The Aron Kodesh had to be ten tfochim high because the Scheenah didn't descend below that height. And since the schach of the succah reminds of God, that is also why it too must rest on a succah at least ten tfachim high.  We see that the domain of man's physical strength is up to ten tfachim, ten hands, from the ground.

Another area where the measurement comes up is in building a 'lechee' in an eruv.  A 'lechee' is a vertical stick that is often used as part of a hallachic enclosure to turn an area into a private domain to allow carrying on Shabbos.  Usually we put a string on top of a lechee.  But the hallachah states that if a lechee is at least ten tfachim high, it is considered to continue going up all the way to the sky, so that if it is 'under' a string, the string is considered to be actually touching the top of the lechee, a requirement for lechee's in eruv's.  A lechee of 9.9 tfochim is only that tall and no taller, but a lechee of ten tfochim reaches a magic value and is considered to go all the way to Heaven.  The symbolism of this is that if our  physical strength represented by our 'hands (tfachim)' is sufficiently together and bundled enough, then God will take it the rest of the way, and continue that strength all the way to Heaven. 

A third example shows that the power of ten hands can be used for destructive as well as constructive ends.  The Gemorrah in Baba Kamma says that if a person digs a pit in a public domain that is nine tfochim deep and an ox falls into it and dies, we do not hold the one who dug the pit responsible, because we assume than a fall of nine tfochim is not enough to cause the ox's death.  However, if the pit is ten tfochim deep, then the person who dug the pit is financially responsible for paying for the ox, because a fall of ten tfachim is enough to cause an ox's death.  'Ten hands' together can cause death.