Musar su Esodo 27:20

להעלות נר תמיד. The Torah here indicates that we will never be without the eternal light, even though the Temple may be in ruins due to our many sins. It remains a duty for us to kindle a symbolic eternal light in our synagogues which are called miniature sanctuaries in the parlance of our sages. This light is to burn from evening to morning and during the times when prayers are being recited. Nowadays prayers take the place of animal sacrifices. I believe that this Rabbinic commandment to light an eternal flame in the synagogue is mentioned in the famous book Menorat Ha-Maor. Rabbi Menachem Ha-Bavli wrote that the reason for this commandment is that since the sacrificial service had to be performed with particular intents, and the vestments were worn exclusively for such service, wearing them would jog the priest's memory ensuring he would have the correct thoughts when he performed his part of the service.

We must try and understand why Rabbenu Bachyah was so selective in his comparison of the creation with the construction of the Tabernacle. He could have cited additional parallels. A look at a lengthy Midrash in Shemot Rabbah 33,4 quotes Rabbi Berechyah as presenting a long list of parallels between the Tabernacle and מעשה בראשית. The list includes many items found in the heavens such as ערפל, זבול, עצי שטים, כרובים, אופנים and many others. In each case Rabbi Berechyah demonstrates that the Tabernacle contained something parallel.

The third stage, that when the hole is big enough to allow a small root to grow through it, signifies that we are now dealing with the עפר, earth, part of man, which causes all materialism, and grossness. Nonetheless, even עפר contains elements of spirituality, in fact it is its very root and essence. It is this essence which harbors the potential of growth something rooted in earth but ascending heavenwards. The same applies to the raw material man is made of. Man's growth potential is rooted in his raw material, עפר, and that is why it is described as "a small root." This raw material contains a "small" root, i.e. the soul, which is the root that, though physically small and invisible, has the value of a great root. When the sages of the Talmud call the disputations of Abbaye and Rava as "minor," they do so when comparing them to matters involving מעשה מרכבה, the carriers of G–d's entourage. Abbaye and Rava concern themselves with the practical observance of the laws of the Torah, i.e. something essentially physical, whereas the מעשה מרכבה is something essentially spiritual. Both matters, in fact, are very great indeed. Our Rabbis already debated at great length, whether תלמוד i.e. study or מעשה, practical performance, is of greater importance (Kidushin 40). The Zohar in Parshat Tetzaveh describes Exodus 27,20: "Pure olive oil beaten to produce the eternal light," as referring to Torah study, since Torah provides spiritual illumination. The olive is the size mentioned by Ravah in his fourth example above of an earthen vessel that needs to be rehabilitated from impurity. Olive oil dispenses physical light, whereas Torah study dispenses spiritual light. It is in the nature of Torah study to crush man's physical strength, and he is left as crushed as the olive when pressed to produce its oil. Finally, Rava's fifth example, a hole the size of pomegrantes. This is a veiled reference to the actual מעשים, performance of Torah commandments in practice. Israelites are described as "full of מצות, just like the pomegrantes" (Berachot 57a). So here we have a hint of the spiritual implications of the הלכה concerning the ritual purification of an earthen vessel which has become impure. This corresponds to the five levels of spirituality man could possess, namely, in descending order נפש, רוח, נשמה, חיה, יחידה. Our Rabbis have this in mind when they mention that the soul is similar to G–d in five respects (Berachot 10a).

When commenting on 27,2: ויקחו אליך שמן זית זך, "They shall take for you pure olive oil," the Talmud in Menachot 86 points out that the Torah emphasises the word "for you," not "for Me." The message is that G–d does not need the light of the Candlestick. When the Tabernacle is lit up, however, this reflects glory for the Jewish people. The Table stood in the North, the Candlestick in the South of the Sanctuary. G–d needs neither the bread offered on the Table nor the light of the Candlestick. We read in Kings I 6,4 that Solomon made windows for the House (Temple) שקופים אטומים. This means that the windows were narrower on the inside of the walls than on the outside, emitting light rather than allowing light to come in from the outside. This architectural anomaly reflected the message that whereas G–d does not need our light, we are very much in need of His light, the one that is emitted from the Sanctuary.

ואתה תצוה את בני ישראל. The word ואתה, occurs four times in connection with the construction of the Tabernacle and in each instance it appears to be superfluous. In Exodus 27,20, the word could have been omitted without changing the meaning of G–d's instructions to Moses. In 28,1 the Torah could have simply written: Karev! In 28,3 the Torah could have written: Dabber, and in 30,23 the Torah could have written: Kach lecha. We will concede that on the fifth occasion the Torah uses the word אתה, i.e. in connection with the commandment not to build the Tabernacle on the Sabbath (Exodus 31,13), there is some justification for use of the word אתה. G–d referred to the fact that Moses had a special standing relative to the Sabbath because it had been he who had chosen the Sabbath legislation while the Israelites were still in Egypt, something we mention every Sabbath morning in our liturgy when we recite: ישמח משה במתנת חלקו, "Moses rejoiced when he received his share, etc." The other four occasions when the Torah writes ואתה, present a serious difficulty.

G–d hinted to Moses that He would select the Levites at a future date in order that they could prepare themselves spiritually for that task and become purified. It is also in line with what our sages have said, that if a person takes some steps to sanctify himself while here on earth, then much more sanctity is added to him from the Heavenly Regions (Yuma 39). The Levites needed this preparation even though they had been predestined for their task from the day they had been born, as we know from the statement of Jacob when he forbade Levi to be among his pallbearers (compare Rashi on Genesis 50,13). If nonetheless they needed to prepare themselves for their task, this shows how much a person always has to sanctify himself in order that sanctity should be added for him from Heaven.