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Ein Ayah (Gemara Shabbat 22b)
“Speak to Aaron and say to him: ‘When you light the lamps, the seven lamps shall cast their light toward the face of the menorah.’” (Bamidbar 8:2). Rav Sheshet asked – Does G-d really need the Jewish People to provide Him light? Didn’t they travel by His light for forty years?! Rather, it is testimony to the entire world that the Divine presence rests among the Jewish People.(Gemara Shabbat 22b)
The Jewish People possess two types of spiritual illumination. The inner light is the light of Torah, prophecy and ruach ha’kodesh.[1] This light, which emanates from the place of the Temple,[2] is exclusive to the Jewish People. The nations of the world cannot relate to it and have no conception of its illumination.
The inner light alone would leave our external conduct unrefined and in a state of darkness. As a people, our affairs would be without development or pleasantness, lacking in harmony and order. But this is a price we would eagerly pay to come close to the Divine.
However, the Torah teaches us that this choice is unnecessary. For there is a second, ‘external’ light – itself a manifestation of the inner light – that we must bring wherever life takes us. We are summoned to conduct ourselves with dignity (lit. קוממיות), to present ourselves as a wise and noble people, by virtue of the unique kedushah that we possess.
This second, ‘external’ light is represented by the Menorah, whose light shines beyond the parochet. The light of the Menorah reaches (symbolically) beyond the narrow confines of the Temple, when the Jewish nation conducts itself in an orderly and cultured manner, in a way that leaves an impression of pleasantness and nobility.
For forty years in the desert, the Jewish People lived without this ‘external’ light, without any worldly sensibilities or practical concerns. Subsisting on miracles, they traversed the desert guided by G-d’s hand and basked in the presence of his Shechinah. Thus, Rav Sheshet asks why the Menorah was needed at this juncture in history. ‘Does G-d really need the Jewish People to provide Him light? Didn’t they travel by His light for forty years?!’ His question is not about the physical light of the Menorah, but its spiritual counterpart.
Rav Sheshet’s answer is that the light of the Menorah is “testimony to the entire world that the Divine presence rests among the Jewish People.” Only by unifying the inner and outer lights can the Jewish People have any influence on humanity. The inner dimension of our spiritual world and our Torah is not something they can comprehend. Torah, prophecy, ruach ha’kodesh – none of these categories are part of non-Jewish reality. But when the broader world sees the Jewish People living a natural and healthy life, conducting themselves with splendor and pleasantness, in a manner that earns respect instead of leaving a bad taste in their mouth – then and only then does humanity possess “testimony that the Divine presence rests among the Jewish People.”
Food for Thought
Prof. William Kolbrener (Open Minded Torah, pg. 22-24): I was invited to the party of a friend… A few of the children, surprisingly, wore kippas, and the parents of my friend, perhaps newly religious, bought a real kosher cake. Those were the days before fancy icy decorations meant making an appointment with a ‘confectionary artist’ in a Greenwich Village loft. True, one of the cars of the blue-frosted train looked like a flower with wheels, but it did not matter to me, or from the looks of it, any of the other children. When it came to the birthday boy to divide the cake, no suitable kosher knife was found. Upon realizing this dilemma, one of the fathers ran from the house, presumably to his car, to retrieve a screwdriver; on his return, he attacked the cake, cutting inelegant jagged pieces. The rest of the parents, unimpressed by the intervention, were silent, the ‘birthday boy’ stunned. That was probably the last time anyone in his family arranged for a kosher meal…
The prophet says, ‘On that day you shall know’ – ve-yadata– and ‘place it on your heart that G-d is one in the heavens above and the earth below.’ G-d’s unity is affirmed in the heavens, and then on earth: through da’at, the abstract ideal rests on the heart, in this world. Da’at– knowledge of the heart – is an act of internalization, bringing the knowledge of Torah down to earth… One who has da’at always waits for the call of the moment, and asks himself: ‘What does this situation demand?’ In heeding this question, he shows that Torah makes a difference in what he does. Like Betzalel, he joins heaven and earth… Torah is not abstract knowledge, but embodied and lived, revealed in his countenance… The Torah reveals itself or, through our engagements in this world, we reveal Torah in its many aspects, as we heed the call of the moment.
Rav Ya’akov Emden (Mor U’Ketziah 307): At a time when one is not able to learn Torah, it is acceptable to study some secular history… so that we should not look like boors in the eyes of the Gentiles amongst whom we live. If we are not able to carry on an intelligent discussion with them, then[3] they will say רק עם סכל ועניי הדעת העם הזה.
Talmud Yerushalmi (Bava Metzia 2:5): Rabbi Shimon ben Shetach dealt in linen. His students said to him: “Rebbe, desist from this trade. We will buy you a donkey [to make an easier living as a donkey driver] and you will not have to toil so much.” They went and purchased a donkey from a bandit. The students subsequently found a precious stone dangling from it. They went back to Rabbi Shimon ben Shetach and said to him: “From now on you need not exert yourself.” He asked: “How so?” The students responded: “We purchased a donkey for you from a bandit and a precious stone was dangling from it.” Rabbi Shimon ben Shetach asked: “Did the donkey’s seller know that the stone was there?” They answered: “No.” He then said to them: “Go return it.” The students remonstrated with Rabbi Shimon ben Shetach: “Although theft from an idolater is prohibited, one permitted to keep an object that an idolater has lost!” He responded: “What do you think, that Shimon ben Shetach is a barbarian? More than all the wealth of the world, Shimon ben Shetach desires to hear [the non-Jew say]: “Berich Elokah d’Yehudo’ei” (“Blessed is the G-d of the Jews”).
Questions for Reflection and Discussion
- If the Menorah represents the ‘outer light’ of the Torah, which other vessel in the Temple might represent its ‘inner light’?
- Rav Kook writes that the inner dimension of our spiritual world and our Torah is not something the broader world can comprehend. Do you agree?
- Can you think of a recent example from the news where Jews conducted themselves in a way that spread the Torah’s ‘outer’ light? Where they failed to do so?
- How does one learn to conduct Jewish life in a way that projects dignity and pleasantness in the eyes of the broader world? Does it require formal education or is it something you learn experientially?
- Is the Torah’s ‘outer’ light the same thing as making a kiddush Hashem, or does it mean something different?
- How do we ensure that earning the broader world’s respect doesn’t cause us to dilute Torah values or compromise mitzvah observance in the process? What if they regard our values as intolerant, outmoded or bigoted?
- Read the excerpts in ‘Food for Thought’ above – each of them is highlighting a different way of bringing the Torah’s ‘outer’ light to the world. See if you can identify each of their different methods.
[1] It is clear that only the Jews have Torah, and there are sources that support the idea that only Jews have prophecy. The idea, however, that only Jews can have ruach ha-kodesh seems more novel. I am not familiar with any other sources that discuss this topic.
[2]In the Hebrew, Rav Kook alludes to the following midrash– ממקום בית המקדש משם אורה יוצאת לעולם הה”ד (יחזקאל מג): “והנה כבוד אלקי ישראל בא מדרך הקדים וקולו כקול מים רבים והארץ האירה מכבודו” ואין כבודו אלא בית המקדש כמה דאת אמר (ירמיה, יז): “כסא כבוד מרום מראשון מקום מקדשנו”.
[3]This is a play on words on Devarim 4:6 – ושמרתם ועשיתם כי הוא חכמתכם ובינתכם לעיני העמים אשר ישמעון את כל החקים האלה ואמרו רק עם חכם ונבון הגוי הגדול הזה.
