Harvesting the Light of the Menorah

by Rabbi Mordechai Rhine

The Parsha of Terumah is a heartwarming Parsha describing the building of the Mishkan/ Sanctuary in the desert, an edifice described as the love palace for the relationship between Hashem and the Jewish people. Ultimately the power of the Mishkan would be that its lofty status would enable the Jews themselves to become great. Thus, the Torah states, “They shall make a Mishkan for Me, and I shall dwell within them.” The commentaries observe that the verse does not state that Hashem will “merely” dwell in the Mishkan. Rather the full promise is that Hashem will dwell “in them,” within each and every Jew.

Among the vessels in the Mishkan was the Menorah which was lit daily by the Kohanim who served  in the Mishkan. Interestingly, the Talmud tells us that if people will “frequently light the lights” of Shabbos candles on Friday eve, and of the Menorah on Chanuka, they will be blessed with wonderful children  who illuminate the world with Torah. Certainly the lights that we light to honor Shabbos and on Chanuka can be understood to parallel the light of the Menorah which represented Torah.  But what does it mean to be “frequently light the lights?” Shabbos only comes once a week; Chanukah comes only once a year. How does one fulfill the statement to light these lights frequently?

Besides simply representing the light of Torah, the Menorah represented the light of Torah in its glory, that is, the ideal, dedicated way to do mitzvos. When Moshe was instructed to fashion the Menorah he had significant trouble. He did not know how to hammer out one block of gold into the intricate details of flowers, cups, and knobs, as he was instructed. The commentaries wonder why he didn’t simply fashion the Menorah out of a different metal, in which case those details would not be required. They answer that Moshe- as could be imagined- wanted to do the mitzva properly, in its ideal form. Therefore it troubled him when he could not fashion it out of gold, even though some other solution could be found.

Similarly, in the story of Chanuka the Jews could have, perhaps, lit the menorah with defiled oil claiming that they were doing the best they could under the circumstances. But they did not. They lit with only the untainted oil, and yearned for a miracle. So dearly did they want to observe the mitzva of menora in its proper way.

No wonder that when Ahron saw the inauguration offerings, and he felt badly that he was not instructed to be among them, Hashem comforted him with the idea that he would be lighting the menora on a daily basis. The princes would come on inauguration day with great fanfare, but you, Ahron, will represent the ongoing commitment of service on a daily basis. It is very nice to do a mitzva with fanfare on an auspicious occasion. But the real mark of devotion is when a person consistently does a mitzva, forever.

The Nesivos Shalom points out that upon the destruction of the Beis Hamikdash, the Menorah is described as being “hidden away.” He compares the “hidden away” of the Menorah to the first light of creation, which is also described as being “hidden away.” The Zohar says about that light, “Had it been totally hidden away, the world would not be able to exist. Instead it was hidden and planted.” Apparently, although the first light of creation was hidden, it is possible to harvest of its produce, and bring that light into our lives. And so it is true regarding the light of the Menorah as well.

Although one can only light the lights of Shabbos and Chanuka at their proper times, one can “frequently light these lights” in a conceptual sense, by living the message of the Menorah. When a person strives to do a mitzva in a proper way, even when a lesser observance might suffice, he has “harvested” the light of the hidden menorah. This can be done most frequently.

Awhile back I took a graduate of a Hebrew Reading Course to a Sofer (scribe) to purchase a pair of Teffilin. The Sofer patiently explained how Teffilin are made, and then showed my friend different parchments with the sections from the Torah for Teffilin written on them.  He assured my friend that they were all “kosher,” acceptable for the mitzvah. But since they were priced differently, he wanted my friend to have the chance to choose.

My friend examined each sample and then said, “I know that everything you are offering is acceptable, but I would like to purchase the nicer, more expensive, set.  You see, I am a Russian Jew, and I just finished learning to read Hebrew with Rabbi. The less expensive set is certainly ok, but I think it is a nicer mitzvah to buy a set in which the writing is so clear that even I- a beginner- can clearly tell the difference between the letters.”

Indeed, although one can only light the lights at the appropriate times, it is possible to light the lights of Shabbos, Chanuka, and the hidden Menorah, in a most frequent way, by personifying their message of devotion to mitzvos in our daily lives.

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