(2011/5771)

Have you ever had the feeling that you can’t picture something correctly, even when said object has been described in great detail? According to Rashi, Moshe Rabbeinu has that very same feeling in this week’s Parashah. Hashem tells him the details of how the Menorah should look and instructs that it be hewn out of one piece of solid gold. Moshe, though, is unable to understand how the Menorah is to be formed. Based on the Pasuk, “UReih VaAseih BeTavnitam Asher Atah Mareh BaHar,” “See and construct, according to their form that you are shown on the mountain” (Shemot 25:40), Rashi writes that Moshe is perplexed about the construction of the implement until Hashem shows him a fiery Menorah. Why does Moshe have so much trouble conceiving the Menorah? And why does the fiery Menorah help him understand?

In his Sefer Aderet Eiliyahu, the Vilna Gaon offers a possible insight from a Kabbalistic point of view into Moshe’s difficulty. The Menorah has various decorative and functional details. When the 7 Kanim (branches), 11 Kaftorim (knobs), 9 Perachim (flowers), and 22 Gevi’im (cups) are added together, they total 49. When the Menorah itself is added, the total reaches 50. These 50 “pieces” correspond to the 50 Kabbalistic gates of understanding. Moshe Rabbeinu, though, understands only 49 of those gates. Having not reached the 50th gate of understanding, Moshe has much difficulty perceiving this fifty-gate Menorah.

The Ari HaKadosh, in his Sefer Likutei Torah, suggests an alternative answer. He writes that before the sin of the Eigel HaZahav, Moshe had achieved perfection by understanding all 50 of the gates of understanding. After this great sin, however, the 50th gate is obstructed from his view. This is derived from the Pasuk in Parashat Ki Tisa, in which, after the sin of the Golden Calf, Hashem instructs Moshe, “Lech Reid,” “Go down” (32:7). The Gematriya of “Lech” is 50. Hashem commands Moshe to descend from his 50th level of understanding. However, we see that just before his death, Moshe regains the 50th gate of understanding. The Ari learns this from the Pasuk, “VaYa’al Moshe MeiArvot Mo’av El Har Nevo,” “And Moshe went up from the plains of Mo’av to Mt. Nevo” (Devarim 34:1). The Ari explains that Mo’av, in Gematriya, is equal to 49. The word “Nevo,” spelled Nun Bet Yud, can be re-formed as “Nun Bo,” “Fifty is in him.” As Moshe went up the mountain, his level of understanding went from the 49th level to the 50th and highest level.

According to this view of the Ari, Moshe had already reached the summit of understanding necessary to construct the Menorah. The “mountain” that the Pasuk alludes to is Har Sinai, where Moshe had comprehended all 50 gates of understanding. Hashem is telling Moshe that he should strive to achieve that higher level of understanding once again. When he would do so, there would be no problem constructing the Menorah. However, as Chazal tell us, Hashem eventually has to show it to him in an image of fire.

Another Rashi (25:31 s.v. “Tei’aseh HaMenorah”) writes that Moshe never fully grasped the construction of the Menorah. He eventually threw the gold into a fire and Hashem crafted the implement for him. No matter how wise we are, we must remember to rely on Hashem.

-Adapted from a Devar Torah by Rabbi Yitzchak Meir Goodman