From:          "Yeshivat Har Etzion's Israel Koschitzky Virtual Beit Midrash"
Subject:       INTPARSHA -36: Parashat Beha'alotekha
To:            yhe-intparsha@vbm-torah.org


Yeshivat Har Etzion
Israel Koschitzky Virtual Beit Midrash

Introduction to Parashat HaShavua


Parashat Beha'alotekha - The Menora
By Rabbi Michael Hattin



Introduction

"God spoke to Moshe saying: Speak to Aharon and say to him
'when you kindle the lamps, the seven lamps shall
illuminate the center of the Menora.'  Aharon did that,
lighting the lamps to illuminate the center of the Menora,
as God had commanded Moshe.  The Menora was made out of a
single piece of beaten gold, from its base up to its
blossom was a single piece; in accordance with the
appearance that God had shown Moshe, so had the Menora been
fashioned" (Bemidbar 8:1-4).

Parashat Beha'alotekha begins with a brief description of
the kindling of the Menora.  This opening passage is recorded
immediately after last week's description of the Mishkan's
dedicatory sacrifices, and one may therefore surmise that the
kindling of the Menora was itself an integral part of the
dedication ceremony.  The seven-branched candelabrum, unusual in
material, appearance and construction, was destined to become a
potent symbol in and of Jewish tradition, and this week's lesson
will explore its importance.


The Biblical Texts

There are a number of biblical texts that must be
considered if we are to arrive at some understanding of the
Menora's significance.  Let us begin our investigation with the
first and most extensive mention of this object, in Parashat
Teruma.  The context of the passage is, of course, the command to
fashion the Tabernacle and its vessels, and each of the elements
of the undertaking is spelled out in some detail.  After a
precise description of the Ark of the Covenant and its unusual
cover, the Torah enumerates the Golden Table of the Showbread. 
Immediately thereafter, the text spells out the construction of
the Menora:

"Make a Menora out of pure gold, of beaten work shall its
ornaments be fashioned; its base and stem, decorative cups,
knops and flowers shall be fashioned as part of it.  Six
branches shall extend from its side, three of the branches
on the one side, and three of the branches on the other. 
Three cups with ornamentation like almond blossoms shall
decorate each of the branches, along with a knop and a
flower.  This shall be so for all of the Menora's six
branches.  The shaft of the Menora shall have four cups
with ornamentation like almond blossoms, along with its
knops and flowers.  Each pair of the branches shall extend
out of a knop that is placed upon the shaft of the Menora. 
The knops and branches shall be an integral part of the
Menora, as all of its elements shall be hammered out of a
single piece of gold.  Make seven lamps for it so that when
they are kindled, they shall illuminate its center.  Its
tongs and shovels shall be made of pure gold.  The Menora
and all of its parts shall be made out of a single talent
of pure gold.  Make the Menora after the manner of the form
that you have been shown at the mountain" (Shemot 25:31-
40).

In Parashat VaYakhel (Shemot 37:17-24) the Torah reiterates
the description of the Menora along with all of the other
vessels, as the command to fashion the Mishkan is executed.  The
verses are, for all intents and purposes, a close repetition of
the earlier passage, and we shall content ourselves for now with
being aware of that fact.  After all of the work has been
precisely and devotedly carried out, Parashat Pekudei, at the end
of the Book of Shemot, describes the assembly of the Mishkan. 
Subsequent to the positioning of the Ark in the Holy of Holies
and the placement of the dividing curtain, the text describes the
arrangement of the other vessels.  The Table of Showbread was
positioned immediately outside of the curtain on the north side
of the Tabernacle, while the Menora "was placed exactly opposite
the Table, on the south side" (Shemot 40:24-25).

It is not until we reach the latter half of the Book of
Vayikra that we receive additional information concerning the
Menora, this time with respect to the imperative to kindle it:
"God spoke to Moshe saying: 'command Bnei Yisrael to provide pure
olive oil from pounded olives, in order to kindle the lights in
perpetuity.  Outside of the curtain of the Testimony in the Tent
of Meeting, Aharon shall set up its lamps to burn from evening
until morning before God in perpetuity, an everlasting decree for
all generations.  Upon the pure Menora shall he set up the lamps,
before God always" (Vayikra 24:1-4).


The Six Critical Features

The above texts address many details of the Menora, both as
a free-standing object, and as a vessel placed within a larger
framework.  Let us conveniently organize and analyze the texts of
the Menora to address six separate aspects: its material, the
method of its construction, its structural form, its
ornamentation, its fuel and kindling, and finally its placement
in the larger context of the Tabernacle.


1)  Material

Like many of the other vessels, the Menora is fashioned out
of 'pure gold.'  This element was already recognized in antiquity
as being particularly stable and impervious to erosion, unusually
lustrous, especially ductile, and of beautiful appearance.  Many
ancient cultures prized gold as the most precious of metals, and
it is therefore not surprising that most of the Mishkan's finer
and more important vessels were fashioned out of this material. 
What is unusual about the Menora, however, is that the gold used
in its construction was not simply an overlay (as in the case of
the Ark, Table and Golden Altar that were all fashioned of acacia
wood and subsequently gilded) or even an alloy, but rather the
elemental metal in its purest form.  Additionally, the Menora is
the only vessel of the Mishkan concerning which the Torah
specifies the precise amount of material to be used: 'the menora
and all of its parts shall be made out of a single talent of pure
gold.'  A talent is an ancient measure consisting of three
thousand shekels in weight, and the Menora as well as all of its
vessels are to be fashioned out of no more and no less than
exactly this amount.


2)  Construction

Concerning its construction, the Menora is to be prepared
'of beaten work.'  The Hebrew term 'miKShA' comes from a root
signifying 'hardness' or 'rigidity,' and the term therefore seems
to suggest a form of construction in which the solid material is
shaped primarily by blows of a hammer.  Thus, in another unusual
departure form the method employed with respect to the rest of
the holy vessels, the Menora is not to be constructed as an
assemblage of separately fashioned elements that are soldered or
otherwise joined together.  Rather, it is to be prepared out of a
single piece of gold that may be worked and shaped with the
artisan's tools, but not broken apart or divided.


3)  Structure

The structural form of the Menora consists of a central
shaft surmounted by a lamp and flanked on either side by three
branches.  There is disagreement within the sources as to whether
these six branches rose up from the central shaft as gently
curved semicircles, or as straight diagonal extensions.  In
either case, the general configuration was predicated upon the
number seven, for there were a total of six lamps atop the six
branches, and a seventh atop the central shaft.  Although the
text fails to mention it explicitly, traditional sources maintain
that extending from the base of the Menora were three legs (see
Rambam's commentary to the Mishna Menachot 3:7); in fact the
Menora is often so represented in decorative mosaics that have
been unearthed in excavations of ancient synagogues of the Galil
and elsewhere.


4)  Adornment

One of the most striking features of this vessel was its
adornment.  The Torah's description seems to imply that most of
the surface of the Menora was covered with finely executed
ornamentation consisting of 'cups, almond blossoms, knops
(spherical elements) and flowers.'  This ornament was an integral
part of the Menora and not a simple treatment of its surface.  As
stated earlier, the ornament was achieved by working the solid
gold material of the Menora and not by application of separately
prepared elements.


5)  Fuel

With respect to the fuel of the Menora, the Torah specified
'pure olive oil from pounded olives' and the Mishna in Tractate
Menachot elaborates on the oil's unusual clarity: "There are
three grades of olives, each of which yield three grades of oil. 
The best of the olives are those that ripen at the crest of the
olive tree.  They are harvested and carefully hand-pressed.  They
are then placed in a basket and pressed under the beam.  They are
then ground up and pressed under the beam again.  That first oil
extracted by hand-press is suitable for kindling the Menora, and
the rest may be used for the meal offerings..." (Menachot 8:4). 
Thus, the fuel of the Menora is to be especially pure; eschewing
the use of the beam in its production ensures a product that is
transparent and free from precipitate.


6)  Placement

Finally, the Menora is to be placed on the southern side of
the Mishkan, just outside of the dividing curtain and just
opposite the Table of the Showbread.  It is thus presented as an
analogue of the latter and as a significant object in its own
right.  Hierarchically, the Ark of the Covenant occupied the most
holy enclosure of the Mishkan, but it is the Menora and the Table
of the Showbread that are placed directly beyond that enclosure's
partition.


The Theme of Unity

How are we to understand the significance of all of these
details?  What is the meaning of the Menora - its material
properties, its method of construction, and its purpose? 
Considering the six features enumerated above yields a number of
common themes.  The pure and unalloyed gold of the Menora, the
pure oil of the lamps, and the singular method of its fabrication
all seem to point to an idea of oneness, unity and completeness. 
There can be no breakdown into unrelated parts and no division
into elements when we speak of the Menora, and its substance will
countenance no adulteration or taint of purpose.  Composed of
seven branches, its form calls to mind other expressions of that
number, which in Biblical thought is synonymous with the perfect
cycle of time.  There are seven days in a week that culminates in
the Sabbath, seven years in an agricultural cycle that is crowned
by the Shemitta, and seven cycles of the Shemitta that reach
their apogee with the celebration of the Jubilee.  The number
seven is thus associated closely to the ideas of totality and
oneness, for within its initial embrace the cosmos was called
into being from absolute vacuity and fashioned into a harmonious
whole.


The Tree Metaphor and the Idea of Light

Considering its ornamental features, a remarkable fact
emerges.  In its description of the Menora's ornamentation, the
Torah employs a consistent vocabulary: 'cups,' 'almond blossoms,'
'knops' and 'flowers.'  The Biblical GVIim or 'cups' can also be
rendered as 'calyxes,' the cup-shaped leaf structures that form
the base of flowers.  'Knops' or 'KaFToRim' are spherical
ornaments that call to mind the nodes around which the leaves of
a plant or flower may be whorled.  Considering the other
expressions of 'almond blossoms' and 'flowers' we discover that
without exception the language used to portray the ornament of
the Menora is predicated upon a lexicon borrowed from the world
of plants and flowers.  The reference to the 'KaNim' or the six
'branches' of the Menora is now more readily comprehensible, for
in form the Menora resembles nothing so much as a tree!  The
central shaft constitutes the 'trunk' of the tree, and from it
emanate three branches on either side.  The insistence of the
traditional sources on providing the Menora with a curious tripod
as its base can now be deciphered, for these three 'legs' in form
resemble the roots that anchor this golden tree to the fertile
ground of the Mishkan!  The unusual method of its fabrication
from a single piece of gold can now be understood as more than
just a suggestion of wholeness or unity.  In fact, it points to
the object's organic properties, for the Menora 'grows' out of
its elemental material and emerges from the lustrous mass as one.

Having established that the Menora signifies a tree and
that its material properties point to notions of completeness and
purity, we must still ascertain its exact meaning.  Let us begin
by noting that the term 'Menora' is derived from the Biblical
root 'NOR' which can mean fire or light.  In other words, the
Menora is a vessel for holding fire or light, and this is its
essential purpose.  Elsewhere in the Hebrew Bible it means
precisely this, for in other non-Temple contexts it signifies
simply a lamp or a light.  The early Midrashim are quick to point
out that God is not in need of light in order to see, and so
clearly the purpose of the Menora in the Mishkan and Mikdash must
be sought in another direction.  Significantly, the Hebrew Bible
again provides us with guidance, for in a number of places it
distinctly associates light and illumination with wisdom and
understanding.  This metaphor is not confined to Jewish
tradition, as many cultures ancient as well as modern celebrate
light as a metaphor for 'enLIGHTenment.'  Considering the
Menora's primary utility as a vessel for shedding light, and also
cognizant of its unique organic form that is obviously derived
from a tree, it now becomes clear that the Menora is in fact a
"TREE OF KNOWLEDGE."


The 'Seven' Branches of Human Knowledge

As human beings we recognize that there are many types of
knowledge, wisdom and endeavor.  We conveniently tend to
bifurcate between the Sciences and the Humanities, and then to
further break down each category into more precise divisions such
as Life Sciences, Natural Sciences, Literature, History, Music,
etc.  While we may speak, at the cusp of the twenty first
century, of almost innumerable 'branches' of knowledge, we are
beginning to realize more and more that many of our discrete and
narrow categories are much broader than we had thought, for
knowledge traditionally associated with one discipline in fact
tends to spill over into others.  To return to the metaphor of
the Menora, the seven branches are the Biblical way of suggesting
'all' branches, for as we saw earlier, the number seven suggests
a complete and whole cycle.  The Menora indicates that all areas
of knowledge are organically related, and part of the complete
whole. Even if they share nothing else, they at least share one
fundamental commonality: knowledge, according to the model of the
Menora, is ultimately a gift of God Who graciously bestows it
upon humanity.

The Table of the Showbread on the North, signifies at the
most profound level, the idea of God as the Provider of physical
sustenance.  The twelve loaves (one loaf per tribe) placed upon
it speak of basic human nourishment, for bread is the proverbial
'staff of life.'  By placing this object within the confines of
the Mishkan, the location in space where we may have an
experience of God, we assert that God is the Guarantor of our
physical survival, and the Sustainer of our physical lives.  The
Menora, placed just opposite to the South, is the affirmation
that God supplies and inspires our intellectual and spiritual
needs and accomplishments as well, for the knowledge and wisdom
associated with its pure and precious light are hereby presented
as deriving from God.  The binary message afforded by both of
these vessels is thus singularly significant.  The human being
who can acknowledge the precious gift of physical life as well as
the invaluable boon of intellectual potential is well on the way
to leading a life of not only enhanced meaning, but also of more
responsible and God-like behavior.

Shabbat Shalom   


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