Or HaChaim on Numbers 8:2/אור החיים על במדבר ח׳:ב׳

1 דבר…ואמרת. speak…and say! We need to understand why the Torah wrote both "speak" and "say!" Also, why did the Torah choose two different expressions when referring to how Moses was to communicate with Aaron? Midrash Tanchuma 8 and others on our verse query the reason why the instructions about lighting the candlestick are written here instead of where the construction of the candlesticks is described. The Midrash answers that when Aaron observed that the princes of all 12 tribes had offered inaugural offerings for the altar, all except the tribe of Levi, he became despondent over the fact that neither he nor his tribe had been allowed to participate in this inauguration. Thereupon G'd assured him that his share in the inauguration would be greater than that of the princes who had just concluded bringing their respective offerings. G'd told him that he, Aaron, would light the candlestick in the Sanctuary on a daily basis and would prepare the oil and wicks both mornings and evenings. Thus far the words of the Midrash. These words themselves beg for an explanation. In what way did G'd console Aaron about not having participated in the inaugration of the altar when He told him he could perform duties relating to the candlestick? How is the candlestick and its function related to the altar and its function? Besides, why didn't G'd put Aaron's mind at rest by referring to all the public offerings he would offer on the altar on an ongoing basis as opposed to the princes who performed a one-time inaugural offering? He could offer the daily תמידים, the additional offerings on the festivals, as well as the twice daily portion of incense which would be offered on the golden altar inside the Sanctuary. He even performed the rites when the bulls of the princes were placed on the altar and their blood sprinkled thereon. So why did G'd choose the matter of the candlestick as the vehicle which would appease Aaron?

2This matter can best be understood in connection with Menachot 88. The Talmud there discusses the cleaning of the lamps on the candlestick and the filling up of the bowls (lamps) with half a log of oil each. The Talmud describes the removal of the bowls (lights) with their wicks, the bowl being deposited on the floor before being cleaned with a sponge and filled with oil and new wicks being inserted. According to the view that these bowls (lamps) were not detachable, the priest had to bend the candlestick in order to perform the cleaning of these bowls and the wicks (compare Rashi on the same folio).

3Had I been present when the scholars discussed if the lamps were fixtures that could not be detached from their respective arms of the candlestick, I would have proven that they were most certainly detachable. Firstly, there is the fact that although the Torah gives us details of all the various parts and decorations of the candlestick, it did not mention anything about the lamps being part of the "cast candlestick." Only the parts which formed part of the single chunk of gold were mentioned in the Torah. Had the lamps been part of that chunk, the Torah would have had to report it. Another proof that these lamps were removable can be gleaned from Numbers 4,9 where the Torah described how the candlestick was to be wrapped up prior to transportation. The Torah there specifies a number of separate components. 1) the candlestick of the light, 2) and its lamps, 3) and its tongs, 4) and its snuff-dishes, 5) and all the oil vessels thereof. This is a clear indication that just as the tongs were separate from the main shaft so the lamps were separate components. If the lamps had been an integral part of the shafts the Torah had no business to mention them separately as they could not have been packed separately.

4In Chronicles II 4,20 where the candlesticks for Solomon's Temple are described we read: "and the candlesticks and their lamps." This means that the lamps are not included when one speaks of the candlesticks. Rashi comments as follows on that verse: "This is stated in order to disabuse the commentators of the belief that the lamps were part of the cast part of the candlestick. This is why the verse mentions the נרות, lamps, separately. Rashi continues at some length on the whole subject of the candlestick. At any rate, the plain meaning of the verse indicates that the lamps were detachable.

5Let us now examine the answer G'd gave to Aaron according to the Midrash. G'd wanted Aaron to know that the task of taking the candlestick apart daily when he would clean the lamps and then reassemble them constituted a daily inaugural. In effect, Aaron put the candlestick together every single day. Every time he would light the candlestick would be like inaugurating the candlestick anew. According to the Midrash G'd told Aaron that he would light and clean the lamps evenings and mornings whereas in actual fact we find that he lit the lamps only in the evenings. We are told in Tamid 6,9 that the נר מערבי the lamp in the middle shaft of the candlestick, had to burn both night and day, i.e. it was cleaned only in the evening and immediately relit. [This is not actually spelled out there. Ed]. Torat Kohanim on Leviticus 24,2 comments as follows: "The words להעלות נר refer to the lighting of the נר תמיד, the eternal flame, the lamp which is to keep burning around the clock. In the event that it became extinguished, Aaron would clean it and rekindle it at once using the fire from the copper altar." Thus far Torat Kohanim. This means that the נר מערבי burned around the clock. At any rate, we see that Aaron inaugurated the candlestick daily whereas the princes performed only a single inauguration of the altar. The expression דבר introduced the commandment which was the necessary introduction to any commandment G'd conveyed to the people or to a specific person. The expression ואמרת describes that Moses should talk so softly when instructing Aaron that he would put his mind at ease concerning the inauguration service of the altar he had not been a part of. Moses did this by pointing out that Aaron's privileges were far greater than those of the princes. We could also interpret the word ואמרת as similar to the word והאמרת in Deut. 26,17, where it implies the spiritually elevated status of the people addressed.

6According to the view that the lamps were an integral part of the candlestick, one must assume that the tubes which contained the oil were very narrow and that the whole candlestick had to be bent until it was almost horizontal in order to perform the daily cleaning of the lamps and the wicks. This too could be understood as a daily renewal, i.e. inaugural process.

7בהעלותך את הנרות. "when you 'raise' the lamps," etc. Why did the Torah use the term "raise" when it could have used the normal term for lighting, i.e. בהדליקך? Our sages in Bamidbar Rabbah 15 as well as in the Sifri offer a variety of explanations about this, such as that the lamps were to be raised. Another problem with our verse is why G'd did not issue the instructions to kindle the candlestick on the first day when the first of the princes offered his offering, seeing that the kindling of the candlestick was part and parcel of the regular service in the Tabernacle? Moreover, the very commandment we have here has been recorded already in Exodus 25,37, i.e. והעלה את נרותיה והאיר על עבר פניה? "He who kindles its lamps will cause its light to shine towards its 'face' (centre)." Furthermore, why does the Torah speak about יאירו, they will cause it to give light, instead of תאיר, you shall cause it to give light? After all, the verse commenced in direct speech? When you compare the verse we quoted from Exodus you will find that the entire verse is in the third person, i.e. והעלה,…והאיר.

8When you take into consideration our introduction to this subject from the Talmud in Menachot you will find that the wording makes perfect sense. The reason the verse commenced with the word בהעלותך is because seeing that the lamps were not an integral part of the candlestick G'd had to give a commandment that whenever the lamps would be removed for cleaning purposes this should be done in a prescribed sequence, i.e. in the order in which the lamps shone towards the centre shaft, the eternal light. The entire commandment was not an instruction to light the candlestick but to arrange its lights in a certain order. This explains why it would have been inappropriate to use the direct תאיר, "you shall let them give light."

9This also explains why the Torah had to repeat what appeared at first glance to be a repetition of the instructions given in Exodus 25,37. Up until now Moses had performed these tasks during the seven days of the inauguration of the Tabernacle. G'd was concerned that Aaron would think that it did not matter in which order the various lamps would be cleaned and filled with oil for the following day. In fact, Aaron would have reasoned that logic dictated that the various lamps be cleaned in a sequential order either from the left to the right, or from the right to the left and not as described in the Talmud that five lamps on one side were cleaned followed by two lamps on the other side. G'd had decided that this was the appropriate moment to instruct Aaron in these details and to impress on him that the correct order for this procedure was an essential part of the whole service. By not informing Aaron of these details when he was informed about other details of the sacrificial service, G'd wanted to demonstrate that He held Aaron in such high esteem that He had accorded him tasks that were more important than those performed by the princes.

10אל מול פני המנורה, towards the front of the candlestick, etc. The reason for this line may be understood when we consider the Talmud Shabbat 22 where the words "outside the dividing curtain" are discussed. The Talmud asks if G'd needed the light of the candlestick? Was it not a fact that the Israelites marched through the desert for forty years receiving their light from G'd and not vice versa? The light of the candlestick therefore was merely testimony to the nations of the world that G'd's Presence resided amongst Israel. The Talmud goes on to ask "what kind of testimony was this?" Rav answered that the middle one of the lamps which did not receive any more oil than any of the other six lamps of the candlestick and which was used to kindle the other lamps nonetheless kept on burning even though all the other lamps went out in the morning. It was the last lamp to be cleaned and replaced on the following evening. Accordingly, the Torah gave instructions to light the lamps so that they faced the lamp in the middle to draw attention to the fact that everyone should point to the miraculous nature of that lamp in the centre called נר המערבי.

11Tossaphot query why the Talmud speaks only of the 40 years the Israelites were in the desert when they enjoyed G'd's light. They say that all of mankind needs G'd's light at all times throughout the ages? They amend the text of the Talmud somewhat. Our author does not feel that Tossaphot's question was justified so that it needed to be answered. A look at the Talmud in Menachot 86 would take care of Tossaphot's question.

12In view of the fact that the function of the candlestick was only to demonstrate the miracle of the נר המערבי burning longer than the lamps on either side, why did the Torah require a candlestick with seven lamps? Three lamps, one on either side of the נר המערבי would have sufficed! We may say that the other lamps were there for aesthetic reasons. It would not do to furnish the Tabernacle with a candlestick containing fewer than the accepted number of lamps.

13If we were to use a symbolic approach we could see in the seven lamps a hint at the seventy nations, each lamp representing 10 nations. The idea would be that the miraculous nature of the lamp in the centre represents the Jewish nation; the other lamps all focus on the Jewish people, who in turn represent the concept of מערב, West, a concept familiar to students of kabbalah. The fact that all the other lamps burn out symbolises the eventual disappearance of all the other nations, only Israel surviving. The fact that the lamps burned only at night are a reminder of our exile, which is called לילה. The time of redemption is referred to by our prophets as בקר, morning, compare Isaiah 21,12. At that time the lights of the nations will go out only Israel's light remaining. When kindling the candlestick, the priest doing so should also think that its light should face the front of the candlestick, i.e. he should think of the needs of the Jewish people and that G'd should turn His face towards them.