“And This is How the Menorah is to be Made” (BaMidbar 8:4) Moshe did not understand initially how the Menorah in the Mishkan was to be constructed. And it was not for lack of engineering aptitude that this was true. It was because the Menorah was to be a unique entity – “...of a single hammered-out piece of gold; from its base to its flowers, it is a hammered-out piece; according to the vision that HaShem showed Moshe, so did he make the Menorah.” (ibid) And Rashi cites a Midrash, among other dissenting Midrashim, that the Menorah had to be constructed by HaShem Himself. All the branches and all the details were not attachments; they were hammered-out from the initial feature-less piece of gold. And modern science has only just begun to tackle the mystery of how a single genetic source, though betraying no apparent potential for specificity, can be “chiseled and hammered out” such that it becomes the source for all the cells of the heart, the brain, the lungs, the eyes, etc. “How great are Your Works, O HaShem, Very deep are your thoughts!” (Tehilim 92:6) The Menorah was the site of the holy fire of the Temple. Yet in the verses that describe the role of the High Priest in kindling the Lamps, the word “Aish,” Fire, does not appear. Rather, words that express the illuminating character of the lamps are found. The Torah says, for example, “...When you kindle the lamps, towards the face of the Menorah shall the seven lamps illuminate.” (BaMidbar 8:12) The contradictory nature of fire: its constructive and destructive aspects, are indicated in the well-known Midrash that says that the Hebrew word “Ish,” Man, spelled “Aleph,” “Yud,” “Shin” as well as the Hebrew word “Ishah,” Woman, spelled “Aleph,” “Shin,” “Heh” together contain the words “Aish,” Fire, spelled “Aleph,” “Shin,” and the abbreviated Name of HaShem, “Yud,” “Heh.” The meaning is that if the couple merit it, HaShem is always present between them and their fire is warm and loving and constructive, but if they don’t merit, HaShem is absent from their marriage, and they are left with “Aish,” Fire, in its full destructive potential. Aharon HaKohen was the High Priest who was initially charged with taking care of the Lamps of the Menorah. He is also described by Hillel in Pirkei Avos (1:12) as “loving peace and pursuing peace, loving people, and bringing them closer to the Torah.” Every morning we say in the “davening,” “...sweeten the words of Your Torah in our mouth and in the mouth of Your People, the Family of Israel. May we and our offspring, and the offspring of Your People, the House of Israel – all of us – know Your Name and study Your Torah for its own sake...” The Torah is also compared to Fire, as in the expression “Torch of HaShem.” (Shir HaShirim 8:6) In today’s Parashah, we find that HaShem, in response to Moshe’s request not to be the solitary leader of the entire People of Israel, says, “I will descend and speak with you there, and I will take from the spirit that is upon you and place it upon them...” (BaMidbar (11:17), where “them” refers to the Seventy Elders of Israel. And Rashi writes, “To what can Moshe be compared at that time? To a lamp that is placed on a Menorah, and everyone kindles from it, yet its light is not diminished at all.” We all, men and women, pray that HaShem illuminate the way for us to reach our human potential. When the “Tefilin shel Rosh,” the Tefilin worn on the head are securely in place, men recite the prayer, “From Your Wisdom, O Supreme G-d, May You imbue me; from Your Understanding, give me understanding; with Your Kindness, do greatly with me...May You pour goodly oil upon the seven branches of the Menorah, to cause Your Good to flow to Your creatures. May You open Your Hand, and satisfy the desire of every living thing.” (The last verse is the 16th verse of Chapter 145 of Tehilim, the “Ashrei” Prayer, in which we testify to our certainty that we have a glorious share in being the People of G-d). Rabbi Pinchas Frankel |
