JUNE 23, 2000 VOL 3, ISSUE 37 20 SIVAN 5760

In this week's Torah portion, Beha'alotecha, Aaron, the kohen gadol (high priest), is commanded to light the menora: "Speak to Aaron...When you light the lamps." According to Jewish law, any Jew, even someone who is not a kohen, is permitted to light the menora and the kindling will be valid. Furthermore, the trimming of the menora's wicks need not necessarily be done by the high priest; any kohen is allowed to perform the task. Why then is the commandment to light the menora directed specifically at Aaron? To explain: The fact that the Torah addresses Aaron indicates that although others are permitted to kindle the lamps, Aaron, the high priest, is the one who should do so. For lighting the menora is an activity best done only by someone with the spiritual standing of a kohen gadol.

The commandment to kindle the menora is symbolic of every Jew's obligation to involve himself with others and exert a positive influence on everyone with whom he comes in contact. All of us are commanded to ignite the Divine spark in our fellow Jews and light up our surroundings. How are we to exert this influence? By emulating the example of Aaron, the high priest, the embodiment of the highest level of holiness. We too must not content ourselves with presenting a watered-down version of Torah and mitzvot to our fellow Jews; only the highest levels of sanctity and holiness will suffice! What was so special about the kohen gadol? One day each year, on Yom Kippur, the high priest entered the holy of holies, the most sanctified place on earth. The chamber itself was bare except for the tablets of the law, the Ten Commandments. Indeed, this is the essence of the high priest: the Torah in its purest form.

And this was the work of the menorah: it was hammered [of a single piece of] gold (8:4) We find that Moses experienced more difficulty in understanding the construction of the menorah than he did in that of all the other vessels of the Sanctuary…. So G-d said to him: Take a talent of gold, cast it into the furnace and take it out again, and the

menorah will assume shape of its own accord. Thus the verse says (Exodus 25:31): "Its cups, its knobs, and its flowers, shall come out of it"...Moses smote [the piece of gold] with a hammer and the menorah took shape of its own accord. For this reason it says, "of hammered work it shall be made" (tei'aseh)--implying that it shall be made of its own accord. (Midrash Rabbah)

The menorah represents the people of Israel—G-d’s "light unto the nations." Its many components attest to the fact that the Jewish nation is comprised of different tribes and includes individuals from all walks of life. But even as the menorah's form expresses the diversity within Israel, there are two laws which point to the menorah’s integrity. One law concerns the making of the menorah, and the second law, the manner of its lighting.

An artifact of the menorah's complexity is usually fashioned by first molding each of its parts on their and then welding them together. The menorah, however, was hammered out of a single piece of gold, originating as a single object and remaining a single object through the various stages of its construction to the finished product. This represents the fact that while there are nations that are a coalition of variant groups, each formed by its own ancestry and experience but welded together by common interest and habitat, this is not the case with the Jewish people: all souls of Israel are of a single essence, and their division into distinct individuals is merely their investment into different bodies and physical lives.

The second law is that although the menorah sheds its light with seven lamps, they must all be turned toward the central stem, in keeping with G-d's instruction to Aaron that "the seven lamps shall give light toward the face of the menorah." This expresses the truth that although the soul of Israel shines not with a single light, but by means of a seven-lamp menorah representing the various prototypes of human character (the seven sefirot), at the same time, all lamps of the menorah face the body from which they extend, emphasizing their singular origin and their singular goal.

Introduction: After being isolated from the chaff and dirt, the grain had to be ground into flour. This grinding process is the Melocho of Tochain.

Definition of Tochain: The Melocho of Tochain is defined as the act of breaking down and reducing a sizable entity into small parts whereby it becomes suitable for a new use. Thus, any manner of crushing, chopping, or pulverizing any object into small particles, whether this is accomplished by hand, with a utensil (grinder, grater, mortar and pestle), or any other implement (e.g. a block of wood, a hammer etc.) is Tochain.

Tochain, however is not limited to the crushing of hard, or dry objects - nor must these objects necessarily be ground into fine powder, or even into very tiny pieces.