Our Parashah opens with Hashem's command to Aaron, the priest, to light the candelabrum in the Temple. It then says: \"And this is the work of the candelabrum: a piece of gold, worked from its base to its flower, all worked.\" Biblical commentators ask: \u201cWere the instructions for making the candelabrum not given long ago in Parashah Terumah, and is the text here dealing with the command to light it? If so, why does the Torah repeat the details of its making here?\u201d<\/p>\n
Rashi is not obliged to answer this question directly, since according to his line of reasoning, the text of our Parashah does not speak of the laws of the lamps, but rather of the Parashah of the menorah, and therefore what the Torah does is emphasize that the essence of the menorah lies in its being made from a single piece of chased gold and that its lights must shine toward the front\u2014the center\u2014of the menorah. In contrast, Ramban<sup>4<\/sup> interprets this reiteration in the Torah as a condition for lighting the menorah. That is, what is the correct lighting? That which is carried out on a menorah made "from a single piece of chased gold.".<\/p>\n
LIGHTS AND SOULS<\/p>\n
It is known that the soul is called a light. As it is written: "The light of the Lord is the soul of man." The entire Jewish people are described by the prophet as "a golden candelabrum." It follows, then, that the Temple candelabrum symbolizes the essence of the people of Israel. The seven branches of the candelabrum symbolize seven different levels of service to the Lord that exist within the Jewish people.<\/p>\n
However, despite these differences in status, all types of Jews are unified in the same essence and entity. This is reflected in the fact that the entire candelabrum was crafted from a single piece of wood.<\/p>\n
Moreover, the lighting had to be done in such a way that the lights shine "towards the front - the center - of the candelabrum" so that the specific light of each of the levels that make up the Jewish people is united with the root, the source that unites them all.<\/p>\n
THE COMPLETE CANDELABRA<\/p>\n
There are two levels of unification here, as alluded to in the words of Rashi and Ramban: Rashi, the expositor of the simple and literal meaning of the text, sees in the commandment to light the candelabrum mentioned here, the parashah of the 'candelabrum'. That is, it is required that it be whole, and that all seven lights be joined to its single root - 'a single carved piece'.<\/p>\n
The spiritual significance of this is that the Jew must always aspire to his root and source, to the unified, essential point from which all souls were sculpted, where there is no difference between one soul and another. It is his duty to reveal the common root of his soul, which is bound to his fellow human being by an inseparable bond.<\/p>\n
TO ILLUMINATE THE WORLD<\/p>\n
While Ramban, who in his commentary reveals the inner, underlying meaning of the text, sees in our Parashah the laws of the 'luminaries'. The true objective does not end with revealing the unity of essence of all Jewish souls, but rather with all of them illuminating and fulfilling their function as 'luminaries'.<\/p>\n
The purpose of creation is to reveal in the world the union of essence of the souls of Israel, and through this to reveal in it the unity of Hashem that includes all existence.<\/p>\n
The main thing is to shine outward, to illuminate the whole world with Divinity. That is the inner meaning of the candelabrum\u2014to illuminate the whole world with the Divine light of absolute unity reflected in the candelabrum of the people of Israel.<\/p>\n
(Likutei Sichot Volume 28, Page 60)<\/p>\n
NOTES: 1. Numbers 8:4 2. See Abarbanel, Alshej, Or HaTorah, and others. Sefer HaMaamarim 5566, p. 242 3. When it is commanded\u2014Exodus 25:31 onward. When its fulfillment is completed\u2014Exodus 37:17 onward. 4. Our Parashah on the verse 5. Mishlei 20:27<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Nuestra Parsh\u00e1 abre con el mandato de Hashem a Ahar\u00f3n, el sacerdote, de encender el candelabro en el Templo. A continuaci\u00f3n dice1: Y en esto consiste la obra del candelabro, una pieza de oro cincelado, desde su base, hasta su flor, era toda cincelada\".\"Los comentaristas b\u00edblicos preguntan2: \u00bf Acaso no se entregaron las disposiciones para… Read More \u00bbFinding the unit<\/span><\/a>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5590,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"","neve_meta_content_width":0,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[1021,952,971,954,962,944,1018,973,942],"series":[],"class_list":["post-1036","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-behaalotja","tag-aharon","tag-hashem","tag-hombre","tag-judio","tag-ley","tag-pensamiento","tag-sefer","tag-templo","tag-tora"],"episode_featured_image":"https:\/\/tuviaserber.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/Menora1.jpg","episode_player_image":"https:\/\/tuviaserber.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/avatar1400.jpeg","download_link":"","player_link":"","audio_player":false,"episode_data":{"playerMode":"light","subscribeUrls":{"castbox":{"key":"castbox","url":"","label":"CastBox","class":"castbox","icon":"castbox.png"},"rss":{"key":"rss","url":"","label":"RSS","class":"rss","icon":"rss.png"},"spotify":{"key":"spotify","url":"","label":"Spotify","class":"spotify","icon":"spotify.png"}},"rssFeedUrl":"https:\/\/tuviaserber.com\/en\/feed\/podcast\/rabino-tuvia-serber","embedCode":"Encontrar la unidad<\/a><\/blockquote>