Don’t Leave It in the Beit Medrash
Over Shabbos, this author spotted a vort from Rabbi Artscroll in the Stone Chumash (Parsha Terumah, Perek 25, posukim 31-40, page 451 in Stone Chumash) which bears repeating;
“The Menorah, whose flames were fed by the purest oil of the olive, symbolized by the illumination of the intellect. It was placed near the southern wall of the Tabernacle (Mishkan), opposite the Table (Shulchan) on the north. The Ark (Aron HaKodesh) … was equidistant from both. … The Ark , containing the word of G’d, cast its spiritual emanations, as it were, upon the Menorah and the Table, which represented intellectual achievement and material prosperity. This symbolized the conviction that both our spiritual and temporal lives must be guided by, and work to serve, the dictates of the Torah. Jewish life cannot be compartmentalized in the realms of sacred and temporal, or in the modern vernacular, Church and State; the Torah regulates all aspects of life, and demands purity in all of them. Indeed, the requirement that the entire, very intricate Menorah had to be hammered out of one ingot of gold (posukim 31, 39) symbolized the indivisibilty of the Torah; a Jewish life must be constructed entirely from one set of values. It may not be a hodge-podge of separate bits and pieces, grafted together to suit anyone’s convenience. All areas of life must derive from the same set of values.” read more
