Menorah's Mystery
Adapted by Channie Koplowitz Stein
Parshat Terumah begins the instructions for building the Mishkan/Tabernacle and its vessels. The instructions are quite detailed, yet Moshe and the artisans Bezalel and Oholiav have everything under control. Everything, except the construction of the golden menorah. True, the design was quite complex, and it was to be formed completely from one solid piece of gold. No cups were to be screwed in or legs soldered onto a base. Moshe was perplexed as to how to create the Menorah. According to the Medrash, the angel Gavriel appeared to Moshe and demonstrated how to construct the Menorah. Perhaps Moshe tried to follow those instructions, but in the end, Hashem told Moshe to just throw the gold into the fire and the Menorah would miraculously emerge. What was so unique about the Menorah that it defied Moshe’s ability to create it, and Hashem Himself fashioned it?
First, the Menorah is so central to Jewish identity that Titus had it carved onto the Arch of Triumph he erected after he destroyed the Temple and exiled Bnei Yisroel. Titus thought, writes Rabbi Munk z”tl, that he had extinguished for all time the light that sustains us, the light of Torah. In modern times, the Menorah became the official symbol of the Jewish State.
Kabbalah offers much more symbolism for the Mishkan and all its vessels, continues Rabbi Munk z”tl. The Mishkan itself represents the world in microcosm, and each vessel represents a different day of creation. For example, God’s presence hovered over the Ark in the Holy of Holies, just as His spirit hovered over the face of the void at the onset of creation In the Mishkan, the parochet/curtain separated that spiritual sphere from the more physical elements of the Mishkan, just as there is a separation between the upper spiritual realm and the physical world in which our bodies live. The lights of the firmament are represented by the Menorah which brings the light of Torah and mitzvoth into man’s life. The completion of the Mishkan sanctifies space, while Shabbat sanctifies time. The Mishkan was then consecrated for eight days, symbolizing the supernatural world that elevates the physical world, completed in seven days, to the spiritual.
Rav Benzion Zaks z”tl goes into further detail along these lines. He writes how all the vessels are meant to teach us to elevate our physical surroundings. The lights represent Torah study, while our own shulchan/table can be elevated by placing a Torah or seforim upon it to study, or by sanctifying the bread we put upon it with blessings and inviting guests. The menorah exhorts us to recognize our uniqueness and bring light to the world of darkness. The menorah stands higher than the other vessels, for Bnei Yisroel rises above the other nations to bring that light and clarity to the world. The oil that lights the menorah is pressed from olives, as Bnei Yisroel will be oppressed by the nations who want to snuff out our light, so they can live as freely as they want, without a conscience or guilt.
However, one can view the problem from perspectives other than practical or historical. Rather, Letitcha Elyon writes, Moshe’s problem is philosophical. If the Mishkan here on earth is mirrored by the Mishkan in heaven, and when the priest lights the menorah here, the angels light the menorah in heaven, there will be times when the Jewish presence will be almost snuffed out here below. How then will the menorah on high, representing eternity, be lit by the angels? Hashem answered Moshe by telling him to throw the gold into the fire and the menorah will be formed on its own. In the time of greatest destruction, our light will shine the brightest. In those times, Bnei Yisroel will hold most tightly to the fire of Torah. That fire gives us rebirth and creativity. It makes us greater and stronger for eternity. It is our task to keep lighting the menorah, particularly b’ikvisa d’Meshicha/when we hear the footsteps of the Messiah.
As Rabbi Scheinerman writes, just as the menorah emerged from the fire directly from Hashem, so will the final redemption also come directly from Hashem.
Moshe had trouble reconciling the physical world with the spiritual world, the world of science with the world of Torah. But, writes Rabbi Nissian Alpert zt”l, Hashem showed Moshe the menorah of seven individual branches. But they were all unified from the single source. All knowledge, all wisdom, every discipline is derived from Torah, the source of all. The more physical material that is added to the fire, the more we find that wisdom in Torah, the larger the flame becomes. The fire purifies the material as well as the individual who feeds the fire.
Rabbi Goldstein in Shaarei Chaim explains that Hashem sent a similar message when He gave us the Torah on Har Sinai. He brought down the lofty, spiritual Torah and gave it to us on a lowly mountain on earth. Spirituality can and should be infused in everything. Therefore, we must be careful what we allow to enter our senses lest we corrupt their sensitivity to the spiritual.
Moshe was further concerned how Torah study could reveal new insights in the Torah since Torah already contains everything. To this, Hashem responded by telling Moshe to throw the gold into the fire, for the menorah is already fully contained within the gold, as all new insight were already contained in the Torah although still hidden, but Hashem revealed both as a gift, writes Rabbi Sorotskin. [I am reminded that Michelangelo already envisioned within a slab of marble the final sculpture he would produce, lehavdil.c.k.s]
Rabbi Belsky zt’l expands on this idea. Just as the menorah came in three stages, so too does the acquisition of Torah come in three stages. The revelation at Sinai parallels Hashem showing Moshe the image of the menorah. Then the Angel Gavriel showed Moshe how to construct the menorah, representing the learning and transmission of Torah from one generation to the next. Finally, just as the menorah came down from heaven as a gift in complete form, so too is the attainment of Torah knowledge a gift from Heaven.
The menorah also represents the fire and passion one feels for the desire for learning Torah. And since desire and passion cannot be measured and can continue to grow, the Torah provides no measurements to limit the size of the menorah, writes Rabbi Pincus z”tl. Further, unlike the other vessels whose effect took place in a limited space, the light from the menorah filled the entire sanctuary. So, must we too attempt to fill our homes completely with the light of Torah. While Torah is ultimately given as a gift, we must still put in our own effort and strive upward, as the flame strives to reach ever higher. However, if you’ve honestly tried your hardest and are still unsuccessful, you carry no blame, writes Rabbi Gamliel Rabinowitz. Our challenge is that we think we have to do it all. We do our part, in learning or in constructing holy vessels, but it is Hashem Who gives us a gift of success. Moshe tried to construct the menorah. Even Moshe had to ask for help as he threw the gold into the fire. If we fail to recognize that Hashem creates our success, we will fall into the trap of believing it was all the result of “My strength and the power of my hand.”
We are required to put in total effort to study Torah and observe mitzvoth. But we are not required to go beyond our capability, for in the final analysis, our accomplishment is a gift from Hashem. All we can do, writes Rabbi Brazile, is give our desire, and Hashem will bring it to fruition. If we sincerely ask for the tools to do mitzvoth so that we can serve Hashem fully, whether greater intelligence to learn Torah or financial ability to support Torah institutions, or skills to help others, Hashem will give us the tools we need. Our ratzon/desire creates the tzinor/conduit for Hashem’s blessings to flow down to us. It depends on our will rather than on God’s, so before you blame God for your inability to perform a mitzvah, writes Rabbi Wolbe z”tl, ask yourself if you were truly completely committed. There is reciprocity, adds Rabbi Reiss. When we throw ourselves completely into the fire of passion, Hashem will respond and let it happen.
What is interesting is that Moshe had a similar problem with the half shekel that each member of Bnei Yisroel was commanded to donate for the census. Here too the Medrash tells us that Hashem showed Moshe a fiery coin as an example of the half shekel. What was Moshe’s problem with the half shekel?
Rabbi Dunner z’l, the Mikdash Halevi, explains what was troubling Moshe and presents a resolution. Like the menorah, the half shekel was also meant to be a spiritual symbol in physical form. How could something so representative of the physical and mundane as gold or silver also contain spirituality? How could a half shekel be the atonement for sin? In the case of the menorah, fire can definitely be destructive. But it is also constructive as a source of light and warmth. Money intrinsically also contains two opposing powers. The pursuit of wealth can lead someone further and further into an abyss of physicality, or it can serve as a vehicle for the pursuit of mitzvoth, from enhancing Shabbat to funding Jewish organizations to helping the poor. Everything in creation has this duality within it, and it is our choice whether to use it for positive purposes or negative ones. When we use the physical materials of earth for the performance of mitzvoth, we elevate them and ourselves from a mundane, physical existence to a spiritual realm.
Yes, we live in a physical world. But everything can be a tool to be used for spiritual means, writes Rabbi Svei z”tl. If we view the shoes we wear, for example, as enabling us to attend shiurim, or to go about caring for our children as an act of chesed, we elevate those pieces of leather. We have the ability to infuse the physical world with holy energy or to drain it of holiness. That is the message of both the menorah and the half shekel. We must strive to bring light to the world through Torah and mitzvoth. We bring the fire of our passion to live a Jewish, spiritual life, and Hashem gives us the gifts that enable us to be a light to the nations, to our families and to ourselves.