Facing The Menorah

Our parsha teaches of the mitzvah, given to Aharon, of lighting the Menorah in the Mishkan. There are a few unusual aspects to this mitzvah that emerge from the text. One of these is the language of the mitzvah itself – “to elevate the candles.” The Torah doesn’t actually say that Aharon should light the candles; he is instructed to raise them up.

The physical description of the presentation of the candles is also strange. Aharon is told to raise the candles until they are opposite “the face” of the Menorah, or shining in front of it. This seems odd because for all intents and purposes the candles are attached to the Menorah and it wouldn’t really be possible to light them in any other position, unless perhaps they were to be lit in some other vessel, which definitely would be counterintuitive.

Rashi explains that the arrangement of the seven flames is such that the three on each side face inward toward the central light. This makes sense, but it doesn’t really help us to understand this idiosyncratic language, and anyway the pasuk repeats itself regarding the “seven candles” (Bamidbar 8:1).

Rav Kook, in his collection of essays entitled Midbar Shor, examined this pasuk, raising another concern about the phrasing of the text. The Torah emphasizes the display of the candles in front of the Menorah, as we noted above. This isn’t what we’d expect to be the focal point of the mitzvah – certainly the lighting of the candles is more important than how they are arranged, yet as we already saw, the pasuk doesn’t even refer to this act. The Midrash on this pasuk (Bamidbar Rabbah 15:7) states that the candles are positioned in relation to the front of the Menorah so as not to disparage the Menorah, and compares these seven lights to the seven visible planets that transit across the sky.

Rav Kook notes that the Menorah in the Mishkan is typically associated with the acquisition of wisdom (see esp. Bava Batra 25b). Although all wisdom comes from a common source, and there is wisdom in recognizing that source, each individual has his own propensities and inclinations by which he approaches the acquisition of wisdom. Sometimes individuals become so wise and learned that they seem to transcend their own individual perspectives and become unified with the universal to such an extent that their biases and talents are no longer apparent. Nevertheless, it’s essential for those truly wise to remain cognizant of their particular path to wisdom and to cultivate it in the manner best suited to them. This is represented by the seven candles, corresponding to seven visible planets. Every wise, enlightened mind corresponds to one star or planet – one supernal light – and the true majesty of the array consists in its unification as a collection of disparate entities.

These entities differ profoundly from one another, but they join together when they face the Menorah, the single individual divine source of all wisdom. At the same time, through these seven lights, the divine wisdom is reflected and amplified into and throughout the world. This can only be achieved when every single light knows its own strengths and weaknesses and shines as an individual member of the collective. But each light also acknowledges the focal point of all wisdom from which and towards which all of the light must be oriented.

This is the Menorah, the vessel before which the candles are arranged – the representation of the wisdom that comes into the world from its single source before being directed as the Creator sees fit through the agency of those who are wise enough to know their proper place in Creation.