Pemikiran Yahudi Mazmur 90:10: Akeidat Yitzchak & The Third Beit HaMikdash

The instructions concerning the details of the appearance of the menorah which are given before its construction, then again while its construction was in progress, and finally- at least partially- in Parshat Beha-alotcha when the lighting of the menorah is commanded, pose the problem "why all this emphasis on the details?" Since none of the legislation in the Torah contains superfluous detail, it must be that the details are very important if they concern nothing more than a vessel that serves as the vehicle of a mitzvah, not the mitzvah itself. Why do we need to be told at that point that the construction of the menorah conformed to its blueprint? Who was it that carried out its construction? The craftsman who made it is referred to only by the words "he made it." The subject is nowhere mentioned by name, however. Why does Aaron need to be praised for not making any changes? Were the problems of cleaning the menorah so extraordinary that changes in its construction seemed to have been called for? Even stranger is the Midrash Tanchuma in Parshat Beha-alotcha, according to which Aaron was told that lighting the menorah was a commandment which would never become redundant, whereas offerings on the altar would cease with the destruction of the holy temple. Did not everything cease at that time, including the lighting of the menorah? Maimonides' answer that the Midrash refers to the lighting of the Chanukah lights seems far fetched. Aaron's mind would hardly have been put at rest by being told that a minor Rabbinic ordinance in the future would compensate him for not participating in the offerings that had been brought by the princes in which his entire tribe had not been represented. This is especially so, since even during the seven days of the inaugural service in the holy tabernacle, when Moses himself performed the sacrificial rites, Aaron's mind had already been troubled. This in spite of the fact that he would perform many more such sacrificial rites in the future. We therefore have to look further in order to understand that particular Midrash. There is a basic difference between the way man looks at things and in the way G-d looks at things. Man begins with the phenomena that he sees and hears, and proceeds by means of those phenomena to comprehend or assume the existence of other less familiar phenomena. Such unfamiliar phenomena may exist only in the abstract, never to be perceived visually or aurally. G-d, on the other hand, proceeds in the opposite fashion. Sof ma=asseh bamachashavah techillah, the final product had been envisaged at the very outset. This is the way He operates. Every manifestation of any phenomenon represents merely a step planned and necessary to lead to the ultimate total structure. Having planned the final product, He comprehends the significance of every step, every constituent part, even if it is apparently unrelated to the whole. He is aware that such a phenomenon is indispensable, an integral part of the whole to be revealed later. On his way to the inner sanctuary, man, observing the sacrificial rites of the burning of animals which symbolise removal of sin etc., begins to comprehend that the inner sanctuary must be approached only in a state of purity, after washing himself from the copper basin placed in front of the sanctuary. Inside the sanctuary are found the holy vessels of which the menorah represents the concept of enlightenment, wisdom, which though one, seeing the menorah has been hammered out of single chunk of gold, nevertheless contains seven arms, branches. These seven arms suggest seven different disciplines of wisdom and knowledge. Indeed, the wisdom that Solomon (Proverbs 9, 1) refers to, is the Torah itself. We find this also in chapter six of Proverbs, where we read "a mitzvah is a light, whereas Torah is the source of enlightenment." The menorah of the spiritual forces in our world is represented by Torah. It guarantees meshivat nefesh, (Psalms 19,8-11), the return to eternal life by the soul. The six arms are mentioned alternatively left and right, representing the physical forces, (left) and the spiritual forces (right). The words "testimony, mitzvot and judgments," refer to the three arms on the left, whereas the words "mandates, reverence and more desirable than fine gold," refer to the three arms on the right of the stem of the menorah. Simple man does not dream of, or aspire to greatness- even in this physical world. "The testimony of G-d is faithful," teaches that this does not hold true in Judaism. An inferior position in this physical world, does not constitute a barrier to reaching one's perfection, Divinely inspired goals. Machkimat peti,” it makes even the fool become wise." Torah promotes that kind of inspiration. The princes which govern this physical world are the willpower and freedom of choice which enable man to aspire to lofty heights in spite of lowly physical surroundings. Since man may have suffered corruption due to other material forces that interact with him, pikkudim, mandates are needed to counteract the inroads made by the aforementioned forces. The purpose of these pikkudim, is to make the positive character traits the norm rather than the exception. mitzvah, are those commandments which ennoble our lives on earth by constituting a symbolic link with our destiny, our relationship with G-d. Examples are tefillin, (phylacteries), tzitzit (fringes), mezuzah, lulav and others. "Enlightening the eyes," refers to the thoughtful performance of the commandments. Yir-ah, refers to the reverence which we demonstrate when we perform commandments which we are unable to rationalise. We demonstrate our obedience to G-d whose superior wisdom we acknowledge by performing these mitzvot. Omedet la- ad, endures forever, means that part of the Torah remains an eternal moral and intellectual challenge. Mishpatim, judgments, refers to the penalties in store for those who choose not to observe the legislation of G-d as revealed in the Torah. This reference is made especially to past generations whose failure in this respect resulted in their being punished in a manner that fitted their crimes. Tzadku, were just. The justness of the punishment suffered by those generations is apparent to the student of history, i.e. the history described in the Torah. Hanechemadim, that are more precious than fine gold, refers to the statutes whose purpose it is to assure us a reward in the world to come, a reward far greater than any material possessions in this world. The symbolism contained in the merit, the right to kindle the menorah which represents man's attempt to perfect himself, becomes clear then. Keeping to the exact order in carrying out this task is laudable since so much depends on its outcome. Just as the name menorah for the whole candelabra suggests enlightenment, its parts, i.e. stem, arms, chalices, and flowers suggest their respective functions. The stem is used to acquire wisdom; the chalice to be the receptacle of such wisdom; the flower suggests additional wisdom sprouting forth once the fundamentals have been observed properly. The height of eighteen tefachim, handsbreadths, represents the height of a man of average height. The number eighteen is symbolic of the word chay, alive, i.e. its numerical value. Man's intellect is divided into two categories, each of which is subdivided into three parts. There is practical as well as speculative reason. The practical reason deals in the first instance with man's personal concerns, in the second instance with the concerns of his household, and in the third instance with matters affecting the society in which he lives. Similarly, speculative reason. In the first instance, man identifies his own feelings and senses. In the second instance, he learns to determine the validity of all these sensations, whether the information they convey to him is true. (i.e. can one trust one's senses?) In the third instance, man acquires the ability to understand the interrelationship between all these phenomena. This third stage is generally known as beenah, insight. The three arms on the right side of the menorah represent the three kinds of speculative reason, whereas the three arms on the left side of the menorah represent the three levels of practical reason. The "knobs" on the stems are to be seen as "way stations." Since attainment of insights is achieved only gradually, step by step, these knobs represent the steps in man's intellectual progress.

Before creation, the term "Time" was meaningless, since it can only assume meaning in relation to events prior and after creation. As long as there was only G'd, there had been no need to create "Time." Once the process of creation had begun, we find "evening" and "morning." These are pivotal points against which events can be measured, can be timed. The concepts of "before" and "after" came into existence once there had been a bereshit, a "beginning." The term zeman, season, refers to time as a general framework for events, the term eyt, "time" as a specific time frame for clearly defined happenings. The term "under the heavens," is applied to all that occurs in our cosmos, which is by definition a mobile one, in constant motion. The same does not hold true for the supernatural. In that abstract world, there is no motion, therefore neither progress nor regression. When the Mishnah in Avot 4,22, states that "one hour of repentance in our world is worth more than the whole of the future world," the meaning is twofold. A) Even a short time frame is extremely precious. B) When such time is spent constructively, it can double and triple its value, since it represents the entrance fee to a world of permanence. For this reason, Rabbi Meir advises people to minimise their earthly activities, and to maximise their Torah study, since "Time" was granted for the purpose of busying oneself with Torah study. "You shall be preoccupied with it by day and by night." (Joshua 1,8.) Should one ask how it is possible to attain worldly goods, seeing that they require much toil and time to amass, the answer is "be of humble spirit before all men." (Avot ibid.) Should one spurn Torah in favour of the acquisition of transient values, one's own end will be as finite as that of the commodities to acquire which one spent so much time and effort. The reverse is true if one concentrates on the acquisition of Torah values. To counteract any possible feeling of despair arising from the monumental nature of the task, Rabbi Tarfon adds: "it is not up to you to complete the task, yet you are not free to desist from it." Should someone not feel adequately rewarded for the effort, Rabbi Tarfon adds "your employer is faithful to pay you the reward for your work, but know that the reward of the righteous will come in the hereafter." This is based on the verse "which I command to you this day, to perform them." (Deut. 7,11) The Talmud Avodah Zarah 3, interprets the meaning as "to perform them today but not to receive the reward today." Since man is apt to lose sight of the swift passage of time, and the brevity of his stay on earth, the Torah commands us to count seven year cycles and fifty year cycles to remind us how quickly the time allotted to us passes, and to alert us to use such time wisely. "Man worries about the loss of his money, but fails to worry about the loss of his time. His money does not really help him, whereas his time is lost irretrievably." (Sefer Hachayim, 10,1) When the Torah legislates the counting of the cycles, (even of forty nine days ) it says "you shall count for yourself," meaning for your own benefit. The seven year cycles are symbolic of different stages of the average man's life cycle.

If one considers, as the Rambam does, for instance, that man is a microcosm compared to the universe, the macrocosm, and that the six days of creation symbolize the six thousand years of human existence on earth followed by one thousand years of transformation pending the advent of the messianic age, one may also see some significance in the seventy years allotted to man on this earth. If the first two thousand years of mankind's history are considered tohu, chaos, a period in which man was subject to juvenile errors, mistakes etc. and that this was why there was a need for a deluge after about sixteen hundred years, then in the life of individuals also, the juvenile years are the underlying cause of sinfulness. G-d’s resolve not to bring another deluge was due to recognition of this factor. Immaturity as a cause of sin is prevalent both in the species and in the individuals. If our sages describe the yetzer hara, evil urge as appearing in seven different guises, they refer to manifestations of the evil urge in seven different forms during seven different decades of man's life. Since with advancing age the evil urge within us weakens, his name changes also. The name ra refers to the way it manifests itself during the first ten years of our lives. At that time, we do not possess within us a force that compensates for the evil urge, something all of us have been born with. A youth's activities are largely dictated by the very immaturity of the victim of this "evil." Moses called the evil urge arel, the uncircumcised one; David referred to ist as tamey, impure. Solomon called it the soneh, the "hater." Isaiah called it michshol, hindrance, obstruction. Ezekiel called it tzefoni, the viper. If one were to subscribe to the theory that life has existed since time immemorial, that the universe existed prior to G-d, we would face the problem of how to account for the sudden depravity of man after millions of years of uninterrupted forward development. According to the theory of Solomon in Kohelet, the concept of kadmut ha-olam, the universe preceding G-d, pyramidical development of the human race is impossible; all there could be would be a never ending repetitious cycle of happenings. Clearly, according to such thinking, the very term "development" would be a misnomer. This is what Solomon means when he keeps talking about "what has been is what will be."