Dear Emek Parents and Friends:

“This is the structure of the Menorah ... which Hashem showed Moshe…” (Bemidbar 8:4)  The Gemara states that the building of the Menorah was difficult for Moshe, and that Hashem had to actually show Moshe what the Menorah looked like.  When the Torah says, “This”, it refers to something tangible that could be pointed at.  By saying “This is the Menorah”, Hashem is alluding to the fact that he had to show Moshe a visual of the Menorah.

What was so difficult about the Menorah?  Clearly, it was a complicated thing to build.  However, when we think of all the pieces of the Mishkan, it’s not clear what is so hard about the Menorah specifically.  Furthermore, we have to keep in mind the hundreds of thousands of details regarding the Oral Law that Moshe could understand and remember without any difficulties such as those described here.  Thus we return to our original question: what was so difficult about the Menorah?            

It seems the Rebainu Bechayah alludes to an answer to this question.  He explains a Midrash that says, “Does Hashem need light?”.  What is the purpose of creating light for Hashem?  How could He gain from our insignificant light? Perhaps this what was so hard for Moshe to understand.  Hashem had to show him the Menorah in order to impress upon Moshe that He does want our light.  It’s not for Him, it is for us.   Moshe learned that Hashem demands that we put in an effort to create a positive influence.

In probing deeper, we must understand what Moshe saw in this vision of the Menorah that was able to convey this message.  Most of the details of how the Menorah was made are told to us in Sefer Shmos.  Only a few points are mentioned here.  One detail of the Menorah that is specified here is that it must all be made from one piece of gold.  That one piece of gold must be formed into the intricate patterns and shapes that the Menorah is comprised of.  It can not have different pieces that are soldered together.  Rav Hirsch explains that this means that all the resources a person needs to develop in this world, are already within us.  We tend to think that when we want to grow, we need to develop in some new way which is fundamentally different and new then we are right now.  This point of the Menorah is teaching us that everything we will need to grow spiritually, we already have.  Maybe when Moshe understood the incredible gifts that are within every human being, he saw that we actually have the ability to reach tremendous heights and effect our world.

When we want to grow, we shouldn’t look without, but rather within.  There we can find real resources that will facilitate long term, solid movement.  The same is true in parenting.  When we want our students and children to grow in Torah, we must find ways to move them within the strengths of their own personalities.  Perhaps, too often we want them to be something that they are not.  The Menorah was one piece of gold.  We could not weld another piece onto it.  So too, our children must develop as one piece of gold.  We can’t expect to take foreign pieces and stick it onto them, hoping it won’t fall off.  Their growth must be theirs, an extension of the neshamah that Hashem gave them.

Hashem should help us all find our true inner strengths and give us the insight in how to use them to grow in Torah.  Similarly, Hashem should give us the understanding to help our children develop as one pure, strong piece of gold.  He should give us the wisdom to find their inherent resources and channel them into Torah.

Good Shabbos,
Rabbi Dovid Morris